How do you live with someone who has Schizophrenia .?

Question

This person is on medication but still has irrational behaviour,and is also getting counseling.

Answer 1

ok, what relationship do you have with this person? This can be very hard and stressful in any case. Know that there are different levels of severity. A person I know had to place his mom in a foster home cause he could not live with her anymore, although he tried very hard. But in my case I have a boyfriend who is schizophrenic. He is the sweetest man I know! He is well regulated on his meds and he does volunteer work 5 days a week. There are some tasks that overwhelm him though. If this person you are talking about is still acting irrational than perhaps there needs to be a change in meds. It can take time to find the right balance of meds and counseling! It can be hard depending on the relationship you have with this person. Whoever it is, understand this must be very hard on them and scary to at times. I think you should get some sort of counseling yourself on this matter on how to cope! Good luck!

Answer 2

I think if you want to live with this person then you need to talk to them and get a better idea of how Schizophrenia effects them. You could also do a bit more reading around the the subject, you'll probably not be as 'put off' by it if you have a better understanding.

You could also chat with this person about their behaviour and look at ways you can maybe help them manage it.

It can be hard work living with someone with Schizophrenia, and affect you in different ways depending on the relationship you have with this person. Maybe you should seek advice from a support group, try sites like mind and mental health matters.

Answer 3

Voilet Pearl - how can you say such an awful thing - If we didn't live with people that have mental disabilities what should they do?

Would you leave your parents to look after themselves if they developed a mental illness? Why do people not deserve someone to live with if they have an illness?

In answer to the question - perseverance - if you love the person and care for them you just have to be patient. If it seems you have lost the person you once loved just remember they are in there somewhere and they may surface again - make the most of the good days and just soldier on through the bad ones.

Good luck...

Answer 4

Try not to be controlling. Let them rationalize what's important to survive. Co-workers and friends aren't always supportive and sometimes push their buttons without realizing by "cryptic" triggers. There are movies that I think can be helpful like Beautiful mind. My family tried to take control of my life and I started to hate them. The number one thing you can do is be someone they can trust. I think they need to feel they are in a safe place to think things out rationally. To me it's like being autistic.If you are willing to be a care-provider or assistant to the health care professional this would be very helpful. If you don't have the right amount of empathy you might be making things worse.Don't talk negative about them behind their backs or where they can hear you. That's really ignorant and supports negative behaviors. As far as irrational behaviors; look at the current world situation. 9/11/01 put many people in this category. I haven't worked in four years. I still have sleepless nights and flashbacks of my childhood. I think mine started when I was around five years old when I first started hearing voices and seeing things at night. Funny thing though I wasn't the only one in my family who saw them. Family hysteria? Mental illness can be hereditary. Good Luck anyway

Answer 5

There are support groups for families of the mentally ill. People who've been through it will have some good tips. Talk to your relative's therapist for suggestions. And keep reminding yourself...it's not personal. This person has a damaged brain that's every bit as "physical" a problem as MS or blindness.
Good Luck!

Answer 6

Unfortunately my mother is schizophrenic. From a very early age i had to live with her being irrational.

I found it very hard and at the age of 15 decided that i couldnt live with her and left.

There are many support groups out there for you and i'm sure they will be able to help you. It is all dependant on you really and how much you can deal with.

Answer 7

i grew up with a schizophrenic brother.

it's difficult. are you married to one?
the reason i ask is because most times it happens in late teens to mid 20s. if you got married young , you wouldn't have known this was going to happen. get a divorce (if it becomes violent in nature) and be supportive of him/her.

my brother lives on his own and takes medication. it happened after he got in his 20s, but was also mildly mentally retarded (still is - you don't get over it - none of it). he has a drivers' license and has LOTS of friends. he's such a social butterfly!

it's not ALL bad.

Answer 8

it may seem very hard at the moment, but there is no reason with the right help, treatment and medication this person can make a complete recovery and lead a completely normal life.

Answer 9

I don't think you should live with someone like that. They should be institutionalized and come home for weekends/ holidays. That way professional help will be there for them when they need it. You don't have the training to be able to handle a bad situation if or when it happens, so let it be handled under someone elses supervision that can help.

Answer 10

a great website for support of the spouse or family of a schizophrenic person is www.schizophrenia.com

the webboards are great........

the person with schiz. could benefit from the "people diagnosed" board..... i loved going there before my husband made me stop... he felt it was making me worse when in reality i was just having a tough time because i had stopped taking one of my meds.....