back to previous page
Swope Helps
Phillip Conquer Schizophrenia
The last thing Phillip Dudley
expected was to have his life
derailed by a brain disorder.
Phillip is a Swope Behavioral
Health patient and credits Swope staff
with helping him cope with schizophrenia
and get back on track.
As a child, Phillip displayed no symptoms
of the disease. There were some
rocky times, but he excelled in school
and entered the University of Kansas
with a 3.9 grade point average.
"While on campus I started
hanging with some guys and started
smoking weed," Phillip recalls.
Soon it became a daily habit and his
grades began to suffer. "I ended up
on academic probation," he says.
Philip enrolled at Johnson County
Community College, but instead of
attending classes, he continued to
get high and drive to and from Kansas
City and Lawrence to see his friends. "I
didn't know what was happening to me.
I lost track of my priorities," he admits.
Because of his strong command of
Spanish, Philip got a job as a bilingual
customer-service representative. But,
continued to abuse marijuana and soon
his schizophrenia intensified. "I started
to hear things," he remembers. "At first,
it was just noises when I was driving,
but then it became voices."
He lost his job and the symptoms
worsened. Phillip's family convinced him
to seek help.
After two unsuccessful diagnoses
and treatment regimens by different
psychologists, Phillip came to Swope,
was accurately diagnosed with schizophrenia
and given appropriate
medication to stop the voices and regain
his mental focus. He learned that his
heavy marijuana use most likely masked
the disorder, making an accurate diagnosis
difficult. Counseling sessions improved
his confidence and within months, he
was working again, enrolled at the
University of Missouri/Kansas City and
on his way to a productive life. "Sessions
with Tom, my therapist, made all the
difference; he really listened to me and
helped me find my way back," says Phillip.
Phillip graduated from UMKC in
May 2004 with Dean's list honors. He
majored in Spanish and his teachers
were so impressed with his linguistic
skills that they urged him to enroll
in an immersion program at the
University of Vera Cruz, in
Mexico. Philip comments, "When I
return, I plan to enroll at UMKC
for a master's degree in business.
With a business degree and my
command of Spanish, many
opportunities will be open to me."
"Phillip is an extraordinary
young man," says Tom LePique,
his therapist. "We don't see many
patients able to function at such a high
level with schizophrenia; but he's
extremely intelligent, a survivor and
we're proud of him. We know he'll
continue to succeed."
Phillip refuses to take all the credit.
"I couldn't have done it by myself. I
have the love of my family, my friends at
Swope and now, I have my life back."
Top of page