Psychosis is brain damage???

I Have a close friend that is Schizophrenic. He used to be a real mess. He has had a team of Psych Doctors to help him in times of crisis.He suffered severe abuse as a boy. He is a recovering Alcoholic (four years sober) and no longer takes medications. He is considered Brilliant from his IQ scores. He has never looked or behaved Healthier than He is now.
I love him dearly and He is not let this illness hold him back from leading a productive and full life.
One

To the persons who actually think brain damage is caused by repeated psychotic episodes and it not actually being the medication itself: How is it then that there is verified proof that an overwhelming majority of people who have been diagnosed schizophrenic in third world countries who have no access to medication make full recoveries from this mental illness or at the very least have far less psychotic episodes than those diagnosed with schizophrenia in western countries who have access to and take antipsychotic medication? How would you explain that?

"Many psychiatrists, and others who care for the mentally ill, are often trained from schizophrenia textbooks written at the turn of the last century by such notables as Kraepelin and Bleuler whose books state flatly that improvement and recovery are not to be expected; and the American Psychiatric Association's newest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual also repeats this old pessimism (Harding, 2002). The belief that schizophrenic disorders have an irrevocably progressive and deteriorating course with a malignant final result, will inevitably color the treatment goals (Perris, 1989). This can be seen in the fact that the most commonly used therapy in treating schizophrenics is the administration of neuroleptic drugs, which are known to cause severe and often irreversible brain damage, which is justified on the basis that schizophrenia is a biochemical imbalance in the brain (Modrow, 1995). These are the same drugs that are known as pharmaceutical lobotomies or chemical straightjackets which have been used in controlling the mentally retarded, animals, Soviet political dissidents, rebellious children, and prisoners (Modrow, 1995). If at least one-third of the patients can fully recover and two-thirds socially recover it seems a serious matter to produce brain damage; and there is also evidence that regardless of short-term benefits, long-term medication may have the consequence of precluding a full recovery (Karon, 1995). Another problem is that by insisting that the cause of schizophrenia is totally biological it becomes virtually impossible for patients to achieve psychological insight into their situation and they are left to view aspects of themselves as meaningless and inscrutable conditions of disease (Modrow, 1995)."