Schizophrenia

In most of the posts I've read, it looks like most Schizophrenic people have some expectation of returning to a "normal" life - I assume that means going back to being fully, or at least mostly, functional as part of a family and a community.

The Schizophrenic person in our family is 47, was diagnosed at 15, is not now, and has never been since diagnosis, what I would call "normal" as described above. In addition, I don't recall anyone involved in her treatment ever mentioning that she could be "normal".

Her early treatment seemed simply to be about medicating her enought to get her past the bulimia and suicidal phase in her teens and twenties - a see-saw of hospital admissions when she was acutely ill, then back home and mildly pshychotic the rest of the time.

Her current treatment - well, apparently her treating professionals have advised that it's none of anyone's business but her own. Perhaps that's true...?

She still hears and responds to her internal characters every day, but otherwise maintains a comfortable life of daily self-care, a bit of craft, and a bit of grocery and other shopping. Her social contact is limited - by her own choice - to her elderly mother, a family friend, her brother - my husband - and our adult children from time to time, and such immediate family as comes to this state to visit her mother.

A pshych nurse we were once friendly with described her good-humouredly as "truly mad".

I'm curious to know if this kind of "truly mad" is a) common, and b) generally permanent.