The Soloist Mental illness does not discriminate. Despite Nathanial Ayers' talent as a musician, artist, and overall good upbringing, schizophrenia still found a way into his life. Through meeting compassionate journalist Steve Lopez, Nathanial Ayers was able to begin his path to healing and learn to trust again. Schizophrenia is a chronic and disabling brain disease. It can be caused by a number of things, such as a difference in brain chemistry and structure and even genes. Most men develop schizophrenia in their late teens and early twenties. This was seen in the case of Nathanial Ayers as it slowly became more apparent that something was wrong when he entered Juilliard at the age of twenty, as witnessed not only by his teachers and classmates but also by his family. The positive symptoms of the disease lead people to enter their own world and, in doing so, lose contact with reality. Some positive symptoms shown by Nathanial Ayers include hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorders. The positive symptom that came up repeatedly in The Soloist was thought disorder as when Steve Lopez asked a simple question like why he loved Beethoven, Nathanial would be sent to answer the question in such a confusing way that it would be very difficult. to understand what he was trying to say. Another symptom that many people with schizophrenia have is substance abuse problems, the most common of which is nicotine addiction. Nathanial Ayers was the exception to this common symptom as he hated smoking and anyone who smoked. Even in schizophrenia there is often bigotry and/or hyper-religiosity, as evidenced by Nathanial's concern with race, ethnicity, and sexual preference when describing Los Angeles' Toy District “Los Angeles is a Beethoven city, but you have Walt Disney, Colonel Sanders, LAPD, blacks, all the Yo-Yo Man people, Jews, like JEW-liard, homosexuals. There are one, two, three gay bars down there” (Lopez 60). Despite these symptoms, Nathanial Ayers was often a charming and charismatic person. Other times, however, the symptoms took hold of him and sometimes created a very angry and unstable person. Knowing the challenges ahead, Steve Lopez still wanted to be a part of Nathanial Ayers' life to make a difference. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Nathanial Ayers had a generally good upbringing. However, things began to fall apart when his parents divorced and he was forced to move away with his mother and sisters from his father, which devastated him. He especially had trouble adjusting to his new half-siblings when his mother remarried. One positive aspect of the move was that in their new city, Nathanial was able to access new opportunities to further his musical talent. He had many different music teachers, one of which is William Moon who lit a fire in Nathanial to continue improving his music and made him emotional for the first time since his father left. His next teacher was Gary Karr who soon realized that he "seemed to struggle with his racial identity in an almost entirely white environment" (Lopez 164). When Nathanial's problems with racial hostility worsened, Karr approached the administration to suggest that he might have a mental disorder, but they fired him, and Nathanial lost the opportunity to get the help he hadneed. As Nathanial progressed, his talent eventually led him to Juilliard on a scholarship. During his first semester, he did incredibly well despite the pressure he felt to do well on a daily basis. During the second semester, however, after a summer in Aspen, something had clearly gone wrong. His grades began to slip, he began hearing voices, he became nervous and defiant, and his family barely recognized him. A particularly unnerving experience was when Nathanial began undressing while visiting classmate Daniel Spurlock. Alarmed, his guests called for help and Nathanial was taken to a hospital where he was officially diagnosed with schizophrenia. His classmate later realized that Juilliard was not a stimulating environment at all at the time, and due to Nathanial's background and difficulties, it was probably the worst place to be. Nathanial's complete nervous breakdown led him to abandon his studies and end up on the streets. When Nathanial Ayers first met Steve Lopez, he was very nervous and wary, as stated by Steve Lopez "He's still suspicious of me, he seems suspicious of everything around him" (Lopez 4). After a few initial meetings with Steve Lopez, Nathanial Ayers began to see him as a less sketchy person, becoming “a little warmer each time” (Lopez 12). When Steve Lopez began bringing Nathanial Ayers music-related items such as new violin strings and new instruments, Nathanial's gratitude towards Steve Lopez began to grow. With the tools now in Nathanial's possession, Steve Lopez began to realize that the tools could make Nathanial a target for robbery and suggested that Nathanial go to the Lamp Community agency for help. He soon realized, however, that Nathanial was very worried about receiving any treatment. Steve Lopez saw how important music was in Nathanial's life and used it to get him to better himself, convincing him to start going to the Lamp, getting him into an apartment of his own, and even attending concerts at Disney Hall which made him led to even more opportunities for him. Through these opportunities, Nathanial becomes more and more open and six months after meeting, a friendship develops between the two men. As time passed, his illness seemed to improve, and his transformation was most evident when he went to Steve Lopez's house to spend time with his family for Easter, as noted by Steve Lopez “The transformation of this man who is I went back and the fear at our first meeting is dizzying. He is currently completely unattended and free, enjoying his own resurrection. He seems to savor the day, the food, the company” (Lopez 222). Other times, however, his illness came with waves of extreme anger, most often when he believed someone was trying to have him committed to a mental hospital, such as when Steve Lopez arranged a court hearing so his sister could handle Nathanial's legal and legal issues. business affairs. Suffering from a delusion, Nathanial believed it was all a ploy to get him to commit, he became angry and began shouting expletives at Steve Lopez feeling betrayed by him. Despite his outbursts, Nathanial eventually realized he was wrong and always came back to apologize. After Nathanial receives his music studio and enjoys a concert at the end of the book, he comments on how he doesn't know if he can ever go back to the way he was before his illness, not realizing how far he had come. they have already come not only for the help provided by Steve Lopez, but also for allowing himself to receive the help. Mental illness has been the subject of.