January (Jani) Schofield is 6 years old. She's severely schizophrenic. Most people are diagnosed with the mental disorder in their late teens/early 20s. Jani appears to have been born mentally ill.
A video accompanies the article, putting faces to the names. I chose to read the article first; I wanted to get all the details about Jani's illness before I watched her in action. The article is extremely powerful. I can't imagine what it must be like to have a 6-year-old who has no control over her own mind. She has numerous imaginary friends, some of which are "good," and others, who encourage her violent behavior, are "bad."
Many different psychotic medications have been tried for Jani, but only doses that would stagger most adults have the slightest positive effect on her. Her parents have had to make numerous sacrifices to maintain as much stability for her as possible. They traded in their 2-bedroom apartment for two 1-bedroom apartments, a move made to protect the safety of her 18-month-old brother, whom she tries to attack at least once a day.
It's not expressly stated, but her parents' marriage is suffering immensely. Jani's father did most of the video's commentary, while her mother only appeared once. To me, her father seems to be her primary caretaker, the one who loves her in such a heartbreaking and devastating way; it seems like her mother wants to scoop up her healthy son and forget about her ill daughter. Such a shame.
The pairing of the video with the article was a very effective way of telling this story. Reading about Jani talking to imaginary friends is one thing; seeing it is another. It adds an element of reality that you can't always get from words alone. The sad truth about this young girl is that she'll never get better. But maybe, through the telling of her story, another family like hers can begin to cope with this immense tragedy.
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