Noah’s Schizophrenia: A Mother’s Search for Truth by Kartar Diamond

One unremarkable night, Kartar Diamond’s remarkably talented 15-year old son walked into the living room and shouted, “every musician in L.A. is stealing my ideas!” and went back into his room. Minutes later he came back, belt in hand, and began whipping the couch and shouting with escalating paranoia. Little did his mother realize, their journey into hell had begun.

As her son crumbles before her eyes, Diamond powers through the endless confusion and ineffectiveness of the modern mental health care system and demands not only a diagnosis but a way to treat her son and help him live the fullest expression of his life possible. The mental health “system” – emergency rooms, police, counselors, psychiatrists, hospitals, nurses, clinics, mental health administrators and homeless shelters - keep spitting him back out on the streets of Skid Row where predators take his meager belongings, cell phones and money. Street drugs are his only relief. The cycle goes on and on, spiraling downward toward one of two conclusions: death or the slimmest of chances of finding safety.

Diamond’s clear-eyed story-telling brings wisdom and insider information on how to navigate the murky waters of public mental healthcare and its legal ramifications. She takes us through the horror of endless encounters with angry police officers and the deep frustration of unreturned phone calls from doctors and administrators. She refuses to accept there is no place for her son. In addition to running a business, she tracks him through the streets, demanding he be given a bed where he needs to be. She does this for years.

A chance encounter with a retired mental healthcare administrator opens a path forward. Noah is put in a series of locked wards, ensuring he will not hit the streets again. His medications are stabilized and the street drugs withheld.

Kartar joins other families of schizophrenics in a new model of healthcare: A boarding school and hospital designed for them and paid for by their families. She gains conservatorship over her son’s care and, for the first time in years, he shows progress, even playing guitar for other patients.

Noah is returning; he’s coming back to life.

Kartar Diamond has a long-established career as a classically trained Feng Sui consultant, author, and educator. She has worked with thousands of clients and students in the area of Chinese metaphysics as well as having a background in yoga practices and meditation. Based in Southern California, Kartar volunteers as a family member presenter for law enforcement’s Crisis Intervention Training programs, designed to give police and sheriffs tools they need to better serve the mentally ill. She has also been a member of her local NAMI group and intends to use this book as a national advocacy tool to better the lives of those living with schizophrenia. She may be contacted through www.noahsschizophrenia.com