He struggles with telling hallucinations from reality, and it becomes more difficult for him to keep his schizophrenia a secret. Since it’s unsafe to just stop the drug, the dosage is gradually lowered, but this causes Adam to experience more distressing hallucinations. For his safety, he will be taken off the drug and out of the research study. In March, Adam learns his body shows signs of resisting the ToZaPrex. These words solidify his desire to hide his schizophrenia, sure he would be shunned if people knew the truth. The shooter had also been diagnosed with mental illness, which leads to unkind things being said at Adam’s school. Right before Christmas, his mother tells him she’s pregnant, and after the holidays, he learns of a school shooting in Connecticut.

After he saves Maya from drowning, they spend more time together, eventually becoming boyfriend and girlfriend.Īnother increase in the ToZaPrex dosage has Adam experiencing more hallucinations, but he can tell they aren’t real, so doesn’t worry about them. As his ToZaPrex dosage increases, Adam struggles less with determining what’s real, and his hallucinations don’t frighten him like they used to. He hopes the ToZaPrex will work well enough that he never has to tell anyone he has schizophrenia.Īt school, Adam makes friends with Maya Salvador and Dwight Olberman, and makes an enemy of Ian Stone. Adam is grateful for this and decides he, too, will keep his schizophrenia a secret.

The school staff knows about his illness and that they are not permitted to tell anyone about it. Shortly before the school year begins, aside from his schizophrenia and the ToZaPrex trial, Adam worries about things “normal” teenagers worry about-life at a new school, making friends, and his relationship with his stepfather. Throughout the book, Walton has Adam describe himself as “crazy” and refer to life without mental illness as “normal.” Adam was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia several years ago, and he hopes ToZaPrex will let him live a “normal” life. The book is told in a series of journal entries Adam writes as part of his clinical drug trial for ToZaPrex. Words on Bathroom Walls takes place during Adam Petrazelli’s junior year of high school.

This guide follows the 2017 Random House version of Words on Bathroom Walls.

Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton