Maintaining Your Own Health

For Family Members Caring for Relatives
with a Mental Disorder

Introduction

So often families coping with a brain disorder in a close relative neglect their own health. They are so emotionally involved that they fail to realize that they are under tremendous strain. This page is based on ideas from families around the world.

When anyone gets sick with any serious disorder they go through the various stages outlined in this page. Disbelief and denial are the first to appear, followed shortly after by blame and anger. When someone becomes ill with a brain disorder like schizophrenia, feelings and emotions are not very much different. What may be different is the long time people take to recognize mental illness and the need to seek treatment.

We hope that the pointers presented here will help families understand that feelings of loss, blame and sorrow are quite normal and that there are ways of overcoming them in time.

Denial

Most people, when faced with the diagnosis of schizophrenia in a loved one, go through a phase of denial. This makes it very difficult for other members of the family to cope. Any efforts they make on the "patient's" behalf may be stymied when another family member won't accept the diagnosis. Removing the defences of a family member who is protecting himself by denying that a real disorder is at work is difficult and distressing. Arguments may occur to disrupt the household even further.

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There is no particular solution to this problem except to provide information about schizophrenia, so that the person can see that many of the events happening in his family could be related to the disorder. Time may be the ingredient necessary for acceptance even when knowledge and support are available.

Blame

Sometimes families look around for a scapegoat for their situation. A common one is the doctor/psychiatrist. Sometimes the victim himself comes in for some blame. The sooner everyone realizes that the real enemy is the brain disorder itself, the sooner they can begin to cooperate with each other and work towards the person's recovery.

top | cont: dealing with shame, guilt, anger
also in this section:
how can others help the schizophrenic?
maintaining your own health
schizophrenia: how should one behave?
helpful resources
where to get mental health help

home | schizophrenia defined | causes | treatment
patient support | prognosis | schizoaffective disorder

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