Herbert Wolffe’s proudest moment was the day he was hired as a houseman at the Elbow Beach Hotel.

The possibility of ever being employed seemed remote when he was first diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager.

Now 47, he has spent most of his life either living at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute or in a group home.

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder often characterised by abnormal social behaviour and failure to recognise what is real. Symptoms can include auditory hallucinations and paranoia. There are no statistics available on the prevalence of schizophrenia in Bermuda, but it affects at least one percent of any given population.

“Sometimes I laugh to myself or talk to myself,” Mr Wolffe said. “I don’t think I will ever get over that. That is just how my mind is, now. If I didn’t take my medication I’d be a lot worse.”

His family first took him for treatment because he was hearing voices, and his behaviour was out of control.

“The doctors tried to explain what schizophrenia was, but I wouldn’t listen and I didn’t care,” he said.

Mr Wolffe blames himself for his own mental illness, at least in part. As a teenager his father warned him against smoking marijuana and drinking.

“I didn’t listen to my father,” he said.

His behaviour became worse because of his substance abuse problems, and he was kept on a locked ward during his early years in hospital.

“All I cared about at that time was pleasing myself,” he said.

The idea of cannabis use causing schizophrenia is a controversial one in the medical community. Some researchers believe that drugs can trigger schizophrenia in some people who are predisposed to the disease. Other scientists believe that people who are predisposed to schizophrenia are more likely to abuse substances.

“We definitely see young people coming in who seem to have had the disease triggered by substance abuse,” said Akilah Lapsley-Dyer an occupational therapist at MWI.

Mr Wolffe said it’s obvious that cannabis doesn’t treat everyone in the same way.

“I have smoked with some people and they didn’t get sick,” he said. “It’s like cancer. Some people smoke and smoke and they don’t get cancer.”

Today, he expresses some wonder that his family and the staff at the hospital continued to lovingly care for him through the worst behaviour he could dish up as an angry teen.

“They put me on a ward where I had to be locked up, that’s how bad I was,” he said. “I was hearing voices. It wasn’t stressful to me. That was my normal. I wasn’t worrying about anything but what I wanted to do. All that sickness, I was not worrying about that. Drinking and hanging out was all I cared about. It took me more than ten years to get past that. I took my medication.”

Mr Wolffe said he gradually calmed down and came to understand his illness. He has been living in a group home for 20 years.

MWI maintains 16 group homes for high-functioning patients with mental health issues.

Many people with mental health problems struggle to find jobs and maintain them. Hotels such as Elbow Beach sometimes offer to provide employment to MWI clients. That is how Mr Wolffe found the job as houseman at the hotel. He was a loyal employee for seven years and even once voted employee of the month. One of his saddest moments came recently when he had to give up the job due to kidney disease. He is now on regular dialysis treatments.

He is remaining optimistic however that he may have a job again one day.

“When I got my first cheque for working at the hotel, it felt so good,” he said. “It felt good knowing that I had earned that money.”

Now he loves to help out around MWI, particularly in the kitchen. One of his hobbies is making popcorn for other clients at the facility.

“I am lucky,” he said. “In some places, patients are kept in locked rooms their whole lives and don’t get to go outside or do nothing.”