SINGAPORE: In his 20s, James McLure was a social, footy-playing, self-confessed science “boffin” who regularly attended church but also enjoyed a drink and a joint with his friends.

Until slowly, his grip on reality started shifting, his paranoia grew and he slipped into psychosis as a severe case of schizophrenia took hold. For seven-and-a-half years, Dr McLure says, he existed in “a living hell”.

“I started thinking by feelings and imagination and started to lose contact with reality, and it was a different reality that I was living in,” Dr McLure tells AAP.

At his lowest, he was 25 kilograms underweight, tormented by delusions and living with his parents in Geelong as a 33-year-old dependent. “I’d suffered a spiritual death,” he says. “I wasn’t far off physical death either.”

Hitting rock bottom was “the turn of the tide”, forcing him to assess where he was heading and – finally – ask for help.

Now, years later, Dr McLure is engaged, raising two boys, leading peer support workers at Barwon Health and employed as a research fellow at Deakin University. His work involves developing potential new treatments for the same illness that once almost destroyed his life.

His story is one mental health advocates hope Australians will hear during Schizophrenia Awareness Week, from May 18 to 24, as campaigners push back against decades of stigma and fear surrounding the condition.

Schizophrenia affects about one in 100 Australians, according to the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia. However public understanding has “never kept pace with the reality of living with it”, says chief executive James Maskey.

“Historically, people with schizophrenia have been portrayed as villains or as people to be feared in movies and in television and at times as well in reporting in the media,” Mr Maskey tells AAP. “In reality, many people with schizophrenia are more likely to be victims of serious crime than perpetrators.”

Maskey says the stigma attached to schizophrenia often prevents people seeking help early and contributes to worsening illness, broken relationships and social isolation. “That stigma has a cost we measure in delayed treatment and fractured families and lives that should be expanding rather than shrinking,” he says.

“More often than not, (people with schizophrenia) can be incredibly peaceful and loving people.”

Maskey says community-based psychosocial support is critical for helping people with schizophrenia remain connected to housing, employment and relationships, yet Australia’s mental health system still prioritises crisis care over long-term recovery support.