Christine Ross
Interviewed by: Katie Cadigan
Christine attended USC and Cal State Northridge. After she experienced periods of hearing voices and feeling delusions, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and hospitalized several times. Christine began to recover with the support of psychiatrists and therapists, and she additionally overcame a period of homelessness. At a social worker’s recommendation, she became involved with NAMI, whose support helped Christine further understand her illness. Today, Christine is a drug and alcohol rehabilitation counselor, and she dreams of owning a sober living facility. She also loves speaking, and she has volunteered with “In Our Own Voice” since 2007. Asked what she would like the public to understand about people with mental illness, she says, “We’re people. We’re people with a bigger hurt at the time, but we are people with feelings. Just because you may have seen someone on Skid Row and you may have seen someone down on their luck…they’re human…There’s a beautiful person inside each and every one of us.”