Peter and the Big Word.

I just read a biography of Peter Green, some of whose early songs with the fledgling Fleetwood Mac remain favourites of mine. It mentioned that he suffered long periods of schizophrenia, so I thought I’d brush up on my understanding of that eminent condition. This is what Wiki had to say:

‘Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to understand what is real.^[2] Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, hearing voices, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and a lack of motivation.^[2][3] People with schizophrenia often have additional mental health problems such as anxiety disorders, major depressive illness, or substance use disorder.’

Ye gods and little fishes! Most of this is startlingly familiar to me. How on earth, I wonder, have I managed to stay free of incarceration all these years? Probably by being very good at playing roles so people didn’t notice that I should be locked up, I expect. And although I don’t know what ‘real’ is, for example, I do at least understand what most of the Normals out there think is real, so I can play along with them when I can’t escape their company.

This whole issue raises some big questions about the hum of Mother Culture, but I’ve already done that one so I’ll leave it there. I think I might repeat, however, that I’m mostly harmless.