When award-winning actor Taye Diggs isn’t on the big screen, he makes sure to show up for his family, especially his younger sister, Christian, 49, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in her early 20s.
“It’s been a tumultuous journey, as you can imagine,” Diggs, 54, tells CNBC Make It. “Watching her through support and love and patience, watching her kind of figure out how best to move forward with this diagnosis, has been just amazing.”
About 24 million people worldwide are affected by schizophrenia, according to the World Health Organization. The condition impacts how a person perceives reality and can cause hallucinations, disorganized thinking and drastic changes in behavior.
In honor of World Schizophrenia Day, Diggs and his sister partnered with Bristol Myers Squibb for the Live Your PosSCZible campaign.
“When I was first diagnosed, it was very shocking and a bit scary,” Christian said in a video made to spread awareness about schizophrenia. “But of course, after receiving my diagnosis, I felt a little bit calmer about the whole thing, and I actually had hope because I could put a name on everything that was happening.”
I’ve learned a lot about myself, so much more about my sister, and so much more about schizophrenia.
Supporting his sister through her diagnosis and helping her to receive the care she needed caused Diggs to take a closer look at his own mental health. “I’ve learned a lot about myself, so much more about my sister, and so much more about schizophrenia,” Diggs says.
“Watching her monitor herself, and making sure that she doesn’t drink a certain amount, and making sure she is very aware of the crowds that she’s going to be exposed to, just watching her making those necessary adjustments has helped me kind of deal with my level of anxiety.”
When Diggs feels really anxious, he does deep breathing exercises and focuses on the present to ground himself, he says.
“I have to remind myself to just let go,” Diggs says.
During a talent showcase the siblings hosted for the campaign earlier this month, he found himself getting anxious about how everything would turn out. “[My sister’s example] helped me monitor myself and follow her lead,” Diggs says.
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