You have learned that your loved one has schizophrenia. You have probably heard a lot about this mental illness and know that it is a serious condition. How to build a relationship with a relative? Recommendations of a clinical psychologist will help.
Let’s not harbor illusions, the state of a loved one is likely to affect everyone who lives with him under the same roof. But don’t panic. Several rules of “ambulance” will help, if not to return to normal life, then quite confidently keep the disease under control. So the first thing to do is …
1. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
Such advice may seem strange, but if everyone in the family is ill, it will not become easier for anyone.
Studies show that when a person with a diagnosis of schizophrenia appears in the family, his immediate family increases the risk of depression. Among the relatively recent ones, we can mention a study by Austrian psychiatrists who studied the manifestation of symptoms of depression in the parents of patients with schizophrenia 1 .
It turned out that such symptoms of schizophrenia as unpredictable reactions of the mentally ill (or loss of normal reactions), increase the risk of depression in both parents, and delusions and thought disorders, hallucinations – only in fathers. Therefore, let us immediately pay attention to ourselves.
Once you know a relative’s diagnosis, think about which specialist you can turn to for help if needed. A clinical psychologist or a psychotherapist can help to adapt to the diagnosis of a loved one and take care of themselves, maintain and correctly calculate their strengths, and establish a new way of life.
2. BE IN CONTACT WITH A RELATIVE’S DOCTOR
At first, when you are overwhelmed by a diagnosis from a family member and are looking for something to rely on, you are especially vulnerable to inaccurate information. There are a lot of things that can be confusing.
A serious diagnosis can be difficult to accept, you want to deny it and hope that “everything will work out anyway.” Or the treatment may seem too difficult, we will want to feel sorry for the patient. And you may come across some pseudo-scientific or completely unscientific articles that will offer an “easy” solution to problems.
But here it is important to understand that schizophrenia is a serious disease that requires qualified treatment and, most often, the use of medications. You can dispel all doubts by talking to your doctor. Get to know him and talk about what has changed in your life, how your loved one behaves.
The doctor is your most important and reliable ally in the fight against the disease. With him, you can and should discuss changes in symptoms, other methods of treatment, side effects from drugs. This will help him adjust the treatment at different stages. And the therapy will be better suited to your loved one.
3. FIND A BALANCE IN RELATION TO THE PATIENT
In the case of mental illness, it is easy to “fall” into one of the extremes – overprotection of the patient (“do not do anything yourself”) or denial of his illness (“well, get ready, get up and go!”). Of course, a mentally ill relative should participate in everyday matters and take care of himself, but only as much as his health allows.
Imagine that your relative is an athlete who breaks his leg. Immediately after surgery, you cannot force him to go out on the treadmill and show the same results. But if you put him to bed, then the muscles will remain atrophied.
The smartest option is to gradually increase the load, checking how well his body is coping with it. And as a person with a fracture, a person with schizophrenia may need aids to “walk” – his medication.
Fortunately, modern drugs work on patients much more effectively and with fewer side effects than in previous years, and in most cases they allow you to confidently control the disease.
