1995 Oil painting of Clive Travis by a FORMER PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIC

Let me explain why this portrait is a portrait of hope. The artist said he/she only had 20 minutes to do it as he/she had to get down the pub. He/she says I can use this painting of his/hers but does not wish to be identified despite my offer of a link to his/her site. This is because of the stigma of schizophrenia. He/she tells me he/she spent the years from 1969 to 1979 in and out of "lunatic asylums". I am trying to get his/her story so you can read it but he/she describes his/her 10 years of paranoid schizophrenia as like living in a Stalinist state and anyone who has been forced Chlorpromazine/Largactil, Stelazine or Haloperidol I am sure will know what he/she means.

The reason this portrait is a portrait of hope is that the artist falls into the 1/3 to a half of sufferers of schizophrenia who recover to the point where they no longer require medication (as described by Prof Liddle in my book extract section). I can vouch for that and the artist, through the decades I have known him/her has remained well and seems to be able to drink with impunity (though I'm not sure what his/her liver thinks!). The same FORMER PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIC took the rather good though admittedly not very pc photo of me elsewhere on this site.

I know this story will mean a great deal to many of you and if you, a family member or friend are now struggling in seemingly unending pain right now, there is hope. You may recover completely or, at least, you may find a drug which makes your life worth living like I have.

Clive