"I had been trying to be somebody," says Mike P. "No one in my family was real successful, so I tried to be the one who did it all, who could change everything for the whole family." Now 23, Mike thinks that self-imposed expectation added to his instability — and a life that had become so painful he tried to burn down his family's house to escape the misery. But, Mike was actually trying to deal with something much more serious. At 19, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia — a disabling brain disease that affects more than 2 million Americans each year, often striking young men in their late teens and early twenties. Today, largely thanks to OHI's many programs and support services, Mike works full-time as a cook and is developing as an entrepreneur — he sells original artwork and music. He's also achieved a lot of the goals he set for himself when he first arrived at OHI: to be responsible for his own medication; to improve his money-management skills, and to learn more about his illness so he can help others.