I have been battling Schizophrenia for the past 8 or so years of my life. For the past 5 years, I have been on top of it, and in control. Recently my symptoms have returned. Basically I hear things such as my name being repeated constantly, or negative things about me on the top of any background noise.

Things seem to be falling apart.

In a separate topic in the Energy Work forum I have mentioned how these symptoms returned after practicing energy work as part of a martial art.

For the past two days 'the voices' have been plaguing me. I am unsure about whether there is some kind of imbalance in my mind or whether it is my soul that is sick.

What I am curious about is this - do you think a mental illness such as Schizophrenia is a physical illness (due to something going wrong in the brain), or a spiritual illness?

And, if it is a spiritual illness, what can be done to "fix" it? (If that is even possible).

It all started when I took LSD about 8 years ago. This was when I encountered some kind of entity (or it could have been an aspect of my subconscious mind) which started saying negative things about me. I was bullied through most of my years at school, so this is where I feel it all started.

I feel like God has deserted me - if there is a God then why should people suffer so much.

Basically, I need a ray of hope about the future. A whole lifetime is a long time to suffer like this (and I have many many years ahead of me).

How can I heal? Would it be helpful seeing some kind of energy healer, or is medication the only thing I can rely on?