grammar - "an (among other things) schizophrenic" or "a (among other things) schizophrenic"?

I'm lost on whether I should use "a" or "an" in the part of the sentence: "an (among other things) schizophrenic". How does the part in the brackets affect the rest here?

• Next syntax - Is this sentence correct? "What I want to do is read this book."
• Previous expressions - When you want to refer to "family" in general, which should be used: "family" or "families"?