|
Loved One With Bipolar Disorder?
Discover How to Cope and Deal with
Your loved One's Bipolar Disorder
Do You Have Bipolar Disorder?
Learn the Secrets to Cope and Deal
With Your Bipolar Disorder
Child With Bipolar Disorder?
Learn How to REALLY Help
And Support Your Child
Dating Someone With Bipolar?
Secrets to a Successful
Relationship Revealed
Marrying Someone With Bipolar?
Learn How to Support Your Spouse
and
Avoid Common Mistakes
Need Money Because
of Bipolar Disorder?
Learn How to Be Successful Even if
You are Dealing with Bipolar Disorder
Drug Addiction and Bipolar Disorder
Secrets to Beating Drug Addiction
When Dealing with Bipolar Disorder
Need Affordable Health Insurance?
Information You Can't Live Without
If You are Dealing with Bipolar Disorder
In Debt Because of Bipolar Disorder?
Get out of debt fast!
Improve Your Emotional Health
Reduce Your Stress Levels and
Increase Your Brain Power
|
Schizophrenia
HOW CAN OTHER PEOPLE HELP?
National Institute of Mental Health
A patient's support system may come from several sources, including the
family, a professional residential or day program provider, shelter operators,
friends or roommates, professional case managers, churches and synagogues, and
others. Because many patients live with their families, the following discussion
frequently uses the term "family." However, this should not be taken
to imply that families ought to be the primary support system.
There are numerous situations in which patients with schizophrenia may need
help from people in their family or community. Often, a person with
schizophrenia will resist treatment, believing that delusions or hallucinations
are real and that psychiatric help is not required. At times, family or friends
may need to take an active role in having them seen and evaluated by a
professional. The issue of civil rights enters into any attempts to provide
treatment. Laws protecting patients from involuntary commitment have become very
strict, and families and community organizations may be frustrated in their
efforts to see that a severely mentally ill individual gets needed help. These
laws vary from state to state; but generally, when people are dangerous to
themselves or others due to a mental disorder, the police can assist in getting
them an emergency psychiatric evaluation and, if necessary, hospitalization. In
some places, staff from a local community mental health center can evaluate an
individual's illness at home if he or she will not voluntarily go in for
treatment.
Sometimes only the family or others close to the person with schizophrenia
will be aware of strange behavior or ideas that the person has expressed. Since
patients may not volunteer such information during an examination, family
members or friends should ask to speak with the person evaluating the patient so
that all relevant information can be taken into account.
Ensuring that a person with schizophrenia continues to get treatment after
hospitalization is also important. A patient may discontinue medications or stop
going for follow-up treatment, often leading to a return of psychotic symptoms.
Encouraging the patient to continue treatment and assisting him or her in the
treatment process can positively influence recovery. Without treatment, some
people with schizophrenia become so psychotic and disorganized that they cannot
care for their basic needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter. All too often,
people with severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia end up on the streets
or in jails, where they rarely receive the kinds of treatment they need.
Those close to people with schizophrenia are often unsure of how to respond
when patients make statements that seem strange or are clearly false. For the
individual with schizophrenia, the bizarre beliefs or hallucinations seem quite
real-they are not just "imaginary fantasies." Instead of "going
along with " a person's delusions, family members or friends can tell the
person that they do not see things the same way or do not agree with his or her
conclusions, while acknowledging that things may appear otherwise to the
patient.
It may also be useful for those who know the person with schizophrenia well
to keep a record of what types of symptoms have appeared, what medications
(including dosage) have been taken, and what effects various treatments have
had. By knowing what symptoms have been present before, family members may know
better what to look for in the future. Families may even be able to identify
some "early warning signs" of potential relapses, such as increased
withdrawal or changes in sleep patterns, even better and earlier than the
patients themselves. Thus, return of psychosis may be detected early and
treatment may prevent a full-blown relapse. Also, by knowing which medications
have helped and which have caused troublesome side effects in the past, the
family can help those treating the patient to find the best treatment more
quickly.
In addition to involvement in seeking help, family, friends, and peer groups
can provide support and encourage the person with schizophrenia to regain his or
her abilities. It is important that goals be attainable, since a patient who
feels pressured and/or repeatedly criticized by others will probably experience
stress that may lead to a worsening of symptoms. Like anyone else, people with
schizophrenia need to know when they are doing things right. A positive approach
may be helpful and perhaps more effective in the long run than criticism. This
advice applies to everyone who interacts with the person.
NIH - 1999
Posted 04/09/2004
|
If you are in a crisis please call:
1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433) or
1-800-273-TALK (8255) |
|
