He described himself in the preface to his 1975 book as "a hippie, son of a counterculture hero, BA in religion, (with a) genetic disposition to schizophrenia.

During the Vietnam War, he filed an application with the draft board to be considered a conscientious objector, which was denied.

[3]: 33 He is the author of The Eden Express (1975), which describes his trip to British Columbia to set up a commune with his friends and his personal experiences with schizophrenia,[4] which at that time he attributed to stress, diet and, in part, drug use.

During this period, he lived mainly at the commune at Powell Lake, located 18 kilometres by boat from the nearest road or electricity.

[citation needed] On February 14, 1971, he was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia and committed to Hollywood Hospital in Vancouver.

[7] After the publication of his first book, Vonnegut studied medicine at Harvard Medical School and later came to the conclusion that he actually had bipolar disorder.