‘Funny, thoughtful’ man’s life cut short by schizophrenia
His long struggle with mental illness ended in suicide
Every fall, Benjamin Weiss would try to apply to universities around Montreal so he could continue his education.
Weiss killed himself in July at the age of 41 after suffering from paranoid schizophrenia for much of his adult life. He had been a strong student, and was previously accepted into McGill University’s biology program. Weiss always wanted to return and complete his degree.
“He would get better, then he would say, ‘Oh my god, I have to do something,’ ” said his mother, Sabine Haferland.
Eventually, Weiss would feel overwhelmed and not follow through with the applications.
Weiss was born in Berlin, and moved to Montreal with his mother when he was a child. He went to Royal West Academy and Marianopolis College, earning high grades and a reputation as the class comedian.
After CEGEP, Weiss travelled to Western Canada to work at a hotel. He came back to Montreal two months later a “totally different person,” Haferland said. Weiss became socially isolated, and the family took him to psychologists. Following a trip back to Germany with his mother, he received a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.
“He was very well spoken, and you wouldn’t even notice that he was sick,” she said. “After some time, you would, but not at the beginning.
“He was a funny, thoughtful, intelligent guy. He lived in Verdun, and the janitor there said that he was so friendly, always greeting her and asking how she was. The people in the building (said similar things) too,” she said.
Besides biology, Weiss was interested in history. “He took a real interest in that, the idea of Indigenous people,” his adoptive father, Alan Weiss, said.
The Weiss family faced challenges after Benjamin lost access to social services when he seemed to be getting better. His mother became his primary caregiver. “When he was OK for four or five years, then (the government) would again get rid of his social worker and he wouldn’t have anybody,” Haferland said.
Haferland and Alan Weiss said the government could have done more to help their son. “In the end, it was always us,” Haferland said. “We had to help him, I had to help him in crisis situations. I wish they had given Benjamin more services and support when he was alive.”
Weiss’s condition made it difficult for him to keep a job. In the final years of his life, he volunteered at the Montreal General Hospital in the cafeteria. He’d bring meals and drinks to visitors and patients. For the Weiss family, it was a beneficial relationship. Benjamin got to spend time around other
people, while the hospital had the services of another volunteer. He also forged connections with fellow volunteers.
“They were very nice, very helpful, very friendly to him,” said Alan Weiss. “There were others helping out who were in their 90s, and he knew them and their personal histories.”
One of his mother’s favourite memories of Benjamin involved a visit from his grandmother, who lived in Germany. The family was out in the Old Port, enjoying a nice meal at Casa de Mateo.
“We went there for lunch or dinner, and we were all sitting, and there was live music,” Haferland said.
“All of a sudden, he got up and my mother got up and they were dancing. And that was really cute. He wasn’t shy to get up and dance with his old grandmother in front of all the different tables.” Special to Montreal Gazette