Words on Bathroom Walls

Words on Bathroom Walls centers on Adam’s experience with schizophrenia, as well as his struggle to deal with and understand the illness. Latin for “splitting the mind,” schizophrenia is typically diagnosed in the late teens or twenties, putting Adam’s diagnosis early at the age of 12. Schizophrenia manifests in different ways for different people. Adam experiences visual and auditory hallucinations, reduced motivation, and trouble focusing—the last shown by journal entries that sometimes jump around and present information in a disorganized way.

Throughout the book, Adam tries to view himself as separate from his illness. His goal is to eliminate his schizophrenia so that only a “normal” Adam remains. This motivates Adam to keep the illness a secret, as schizophrenia symbolizes everything about him that he hates and wishes to change. While his mind fights a battle against itself, Adam fights against the disease’s existence. He believes the schizophrenia makes him “abnormal” and “crazy,” something only medication can manage.

The novel tries to demonstrate that this illness is not something to be feared. While Adam’s life would likely be easier without schizophrenia, the disease does not mean he is incapable of living a life he deems “normal.” The novel does not shy away from showing the real struggles people with mental illness face: Apart from Adam’s sometimes disturbing hallucinations, he must deal with his classmates’ lack of empathy and understanding and society’s stigma around mental illness. In Chapter 18, the school shooting brings out the school’s fear that mental illness is inherently dangerous; the novel emphasizes that the danger most often is to the person living with it rather than those around them. Adam is not violent and has no desire to be violent. Rather, he wants his hallucinations to leave him alone, and when he believes they are real, he resorts to harmful actions to get rid of them.