Melbourne researchers are growing a brain bank to fast-track treatment for schizophrenia patients who often wait years for the correct medication, in what could be a game-changer for the 24 million people worldwide living with the debilitating mental illness.

Former AFL player James McLure has revealed how he lost years of his life to schizophrenia while at the height of his football career, suffering from intense paranoia off-field.

“I was just stuck in a different reality and all the grandiose delusions turned into terribly depraved and tormenting delusions and hallucinations,” McLure said.

Like many sufferers, it took years for James to be treated correctly — a common story that researchers are now trying to change.

“Trying to get the right medication from the start would, I thin

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