How to live next to a schizophrenic patient: 3 first steps to calmness

Let’s not have any illusions, the condition of a loved one will most likely affect everyone who lives with him under the same roof. But don’t panic. A few first aid rules will help, if not 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 gets sick, it will not be easier for anyone.

Studies show that when a person with a diagnosis of schizophrenia appears in the family, his next of kin increases the risk of depression. Relatively recent, we can mention a study by Austrian psychiatrists who studied the manifestation of symptoms of depression in parents of patients with schizophrenia.¹.

It turned out that such symptoms of schizophrenia as unpredictable reactions of the mentally ill (or the loss of normal reactions) increase the risk of depression in both parents, and delusions and thought disorders, hallucinations – only in fathers. So let’s turn our attention to ourselves.

Once you know the relative’s diagnosis, think about which specialist you could turn to for help if needed. A clinical psychologist or psychotherapist can help you adapt to the diagnosis of a loved one and take care of yourself, save and correctly calculate your strength, and establish a new lifestyle.

2. Be in contact with the relative’s physician

At first, when you are stunned by the diagnosis of a family member and are looking for something to rely on, you are especially vulnerable to misinformation. A lot of things 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 hard, we want to feel sorry for the patient. And some near-scientific or completely unscientific articles that will offer an “easy” solution to problems may come across.

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 the change in symptoms, other treatments, side effects from drugs. So you will help him adjust the treatment at different stages. And 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 (“come on, 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 has broken his leg. Immediately after the operation, you cannot force him to go on the treadmill and show the same results. But if you put him to bed, then the muscles will remain atrophied.

The most reasonable option is to gradually increase the load, checking how successfully his body copes with it. And like a person with a fracture, a person with schizophrenia may need aids to “walk”—his medications.

Fortunately, modern drugs are much more effective for patients and with fewer side effects than in years past, and in most cases allow confident control of the disease.

¹ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26158713/