Schizophrenics are real people first of all.
Congrats to your brother. I have heard it's possible for psychotic episodes to be a one-time thing and not recur. I have also seen people not get better. The whole thing is tough. It can be legit to get off the medications, but some people will need it for life. So how do you tell which situation you or a loved one is in?
I was just trying to emphasize that the diagnosis is never final, even after doctors have concluded it to be. In our case we never gave up. I think that the antipsychotic drugs make recovery extremely difficult, which is where alot of patients get trapped. The withdrawl symptoms themselves cause psychosis.
It sounds harsh, but when he's in that illness 'phase', the person seems more like a demon-possessed creature and not even like much of a person. When you hear the things and intonations that the person will say in conversations to themselves in particular.. that's what sounds the least person-like.