David is not his real name.
Although he is not ashamed of living with schizophrenia, David has been looking for a job for more than two years and says he finds there is still a stigma around the illness.
The Masterton man has applied for about 20 jobs during that period - construction, maintenance, painting - and never been successful.
"They look at you differently. They may not be saying anything, but they're putting a cross by your name."
David is now aged 52. He started hearing voices when he was about 46, seeing things that weren't there, and started isolating himself.
He knew something wasn't right, and so visited the mental health unit at Wairarapa Hospital. "I knew something wasn't quite right with myself. I worked it out on my own. I was showing these symptoms. I thought people were monitoring my brainwaves. I was quite worried at the time."
Over the next week David talked to a psychiatrist about what was happening, and was released after being put on medication to manage the schizophrenia - although he had heard the word, he did not know what the illness was. Over the next few months David struggled with a loss of identity and loss of independence.
He started visiting old houses to find clues about who he was, and became reliant on a mental health support worker.
After getting sick again, David went to live in one of the Richmond Fellowship homes - now run by Pathways - in Opaki Rd, which he describes as a "little community".
There, he said, about eight people living together were given small jobs to do to get their confidence back.
Even just watching TV and preparing lunch together were helpful.
After a month David went out on his own again and with the help of a support worker started making decisions for himself again and working through the practical stuff like where he was going to live.
Looking for work was on the list, too.
David said what he would really like was for employers to look at him as a person, not an illness.
"Take a person at face value and given them a chance, even if it's just for three months to prove themselves.
"All people are asking for is that they can be normal and do the job."
tessa.johnstone@age.co.nz