Owen had moved to Germany to learn a new language. He was an intelligent young man embarking on his travels with optimism and hope of adventure. He was 20 years old. He found a job in a hotel and began his studies.
He found himself becoming more and more isolated. He spent his spare time in his flat with his girlfriend. The paranoia began. When he walked home from work he began to think that people in the streets were talking about him and judging him harshly. He began misinterpreting any broken German words that he heard and would spend hours worrying and thinking about what people were saying about him. Losing sleep did not help.
"My life became a living hell, I could not concentrate and I failed my exams. It became impossible to have a normal conversation with people. I became depressed, anxious and very scared. I thought the world was against me. One day I began a journey to Prague but ended up back home in Ireland. It was then that I fell apart completely. Words that had once just been misinterpreted became audible voices in my head," says Owen.
Imagine many voices talking continuously about different contradicting things. Most of the voices are saying negative harsh words. This is schizophrenia.
"The voices became so loud that I could not hear my own thoughts. My confidence crashed and I became angry and resentful. After a week of only two hours sleep at night I collapsed... I was referred to the Regional Hospital in Galway," he explains.
Although it was recommended that Owen be admitted into the psychiatric unit, his mother, Una, refused and took him home. So began a five-year nightmare.
On 20 milligrams of daily medication Owen's symptoms never completely went away.
Owen's father, Sean, then took him for an appointment with Harvey Wasserman. Under careful supervision he took Owen off all the supposedly offending foods.
"Within one week of giving up gluten the voices had completely gone," says Owen. "Over the weeks I got better and better. I am now on only five milligrams of medication. I have my life back: I am working again, I have a girlfriend and I am going back to college next month. I hope to eventually come off my medication completely."
"Owen was lucky," says Sean. "I believe that this approach could help many other families deal with this terrible illness. Unless you have experienced schizophrenia it is impossible to know how devastating it is to watch your child go through such torture and not be able to help."
It has since been discovered that Owen's sisters and mother suffer from wheat intolerance. They have all given up gluten and have recovered from a range of digestive complaints.