How would you be impacted if someone in your family was afflicted with schizophrenia?

Answer 1

Each family deals with it differently and each individual has a different thresh hold for these kinds of things.
Sadly in most cases it does not turn out well, it puts a constant strain on the families day to day life and at times breaks them up. But like I said every story is different some battle it through and get the happy ending some don't.
My family has had numerous people in it with schizophrenia my self as one, we all dealt with what we had on hand and got through it, I have had it since I was a child and I have learnt to deal with my self and keep my self under control seek medication and make the family work.
75% of people with schizophrenia who get medicated and stay on their medications make their lives work. There are mothers who have kept them selves in line with medications and been just like any other mother and been able to get through the good and the bad that life deals them, it is a matter of staying on the meds once you are on them, if you slip up and go off then it will all become once again a down ward spiral.
Some are harder to treat than others on medication it is a degernative disease over time it will be worse the longer left unmedicated and chronic schizophrenia is ment to be harder to medicate.
With love support and the right medication for the person (sometimes it takes time to find the right meds) a family will get through anything it also depends on the families view of the situation.
Untreated then things will probably get worse and often unmedicated schizophrenia leads to suicide. My family coped more than well and we got through with the support of each other.

Answer 2

I've had two people in my family afflicted with schizophrenia, my aunt and uncle. I feel pretty bad for them and I wish that there were something that I could do to help them but there isn't. So I think that the feelings of someone impacted by schizophrenia in the family is pretty much sadness and feelings of helplessness.

Answer 3

My mother is, and it's hard to deal with. Most of the time she has it under control, but sometimes, it pokes it's little head through and she's completely out of it. She gets paranoid, loses touch with reality, sees and hears things that aren't there. It's scary for our family, but we keep an eye on her and call her doctor if she's too gone to do so herself. She was put on disability because of it and she's had several trips to the hospital throughout the years. After a while, it gets kinda routine. We can distinguish the signs and she's getting better at doing so herself as well. But I think her illness caused quite a bit of my own issues. Not that I blame her at all. In fact I blame her abusive father for it. But her being in and out of hospitals while I was a baby and child affected me. I had to stay with my aunt and grandmother a lot. She never hurt us though and was never seen as an unfit mother. My parent's were and are still married so luckily my dad was there to help her and us when times were rough.

Answer 4

With any mental health disease/disorder there is always a huge amount of worry and stress that accompanies family members when a loved when is faced with one, i.e schizophenia. The best way would to get educated about the disorder and help find ways to debrief about your feelings and thoughts about what your loved one will go through, and as well for yourself. I would accept that my loved one has the disorder, support them in every way that I could, and live life. That's all any one can really do.

Answer 5

Our next door neighbour had scheizophrenia, and her family's lives where extreamly afflicted because she refused to take her medication.

Once she started taking a newer medication with less side effects, she began to live a normal life, and her family wasn't so affected.

Answer 6

It is very stressful for the person who has the disorder as well as those who are in his immediate family. The obvious affect for the later is that the patient is not able to work and requires much attention by those around him or her while in the acute phase(s) of the illness. Psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses and medication require a lot of money as does hospitalization. The patient's reactions to what is happening to him may vary from withdrawal to odd speech, beliefs and behavior.

Try to understand that these are his or her symptoms and arise from his or her adjusting and trying to explain to himself or herself and others the unwelcome "voices", visual hallucinations and sensations being experienced. The experiences usually decrease with medication and time. But remember that the patient is going to suffer profound changes in beliefs and mental acumen even after the experiences cease. You can't suffer a voice in your mind, for example, which you know is not yours shouting at you to "kill yourself" without it effecting your psyche even after it quits.

The patient needs care and the caregivers may empathise with him or her and feel helpless. In the acute phase it is best to just be there. Don't try to argue with the patient that it is all in his or her mind. They know that! It is happening to them and they wish it would cease or someone would explain it. They eventually will probably explain it to themselves and that may be a pretty irrational explanation if they choose to tell another about it.But don't blame them for that; what has been happening to them is not a normal or rational thing in their experience. Psychology still doesn't know what causes schizophrenia (DDD).

DDD = Dopamine Dysfunction Disorder. This is a label for the disease that a group of British psychiatrists have suggested be used instead of the scientifically meaningless label "schizophrenia". That label generally just serves to cancel the life of the individual to which it is affixed.

In conclusion just try to help the individual recover; it can be done given medication, loving care and time. By giving the patient as much personal responsibility as he or she can handle after the acute phase is over his or her return to normalcy will be hastened.

Answer 7

It can be very stressful. Just rember that they are in an altered state and don't take things personally if they become moody. You can also try to reduce stress as much as possible to ease the burden for eveyone. there are also some medications available that can help with the affected person such as Abilify, or Zyprexa.

Answer 8

If that person had a minor case, like my aunt, then they can take medications to control it, but if not, then try and help them have as normal life as possible.