About 40% of schizophrenics have problems with substance abuse, and the ones that do ARE at a greater risk of being involved in violent crime. Violent crime isn’t the only concern here though; plenty of unmedicated schizophrenics lose the ability to function properly, and suffer from severe self neglect. Vitamin deficiency from neglecting to eat (or eat properly,) various infections from poor hygiene, and lack of exercise all have a high co-morbidity with schizophrenia. </p>
<p>I don’t know if the OP is seeing a doctor regularly; antipsychotics can take a while for their efficacy to be noticeable, but serious side effects can appear immediately. To give an example, the neuroleptic Olanzapine has been confirmed to have a causative relationship with diabetes mellitus. Regular wellness checks for signs of hyperglycemia can detect the prodrome, and the medication can be switched before the symptoms progress to full on diabetes.</p>