How to live with a person suffering from schizophrenia? You need a lot of patience, but most of all knowledge about this disease - what it actually is. If you understand what a loved one is feeling and learn to act in difficult times, it will be easier for you. Get tips on how to live with someone with schizophrenia.
Contents:
- How to live with a person suffering from schizophrenia
- Encourage additional activities
- Try to convince the patient to see a psychiatrist
- Make sure that the patient does not forget about medications
- Accept the sick
- Be careful with the tone you speak
- It is worth persuading to use psychotherapy
- Make time for yourself
How to live with a person suffering from schizophrenia
Disruption of contact with reality and incorrect perception of the world makes schizophrenia a drama for patients and their relatives. In Poland, 400 thousand people suffer from it. people. It is most often diagnosed in young people (18-19 years). The sooner it appears, the more severe it is and the worse the prognosis. The most commonly diagnosed is paranoid schizophrenia.
A sick person may behave strangely, talk to himself, open electrical contacts, look for cameras at home, destroy computers because he is convinced that someone wants to track him down. He usually stops sleeping, afraid that someone is trying to hurt him. He lives in an irrational world, e.g. he believes that he has chips implanted, that people can hear his thoughts. He believes that movies or TV shows are created on the basis of his life, that the editor from the screen addresses him personally.
The sick person begins to hear voices, eg commenting on an event: "You did it great". As the disease continues, hallucinations become more brutal in content. Most often they criticize the sick person (often with offensive words) or refer to his sexuality: "Everyone knows you're gay."
Hallucinations are produced in relation to what is going on around you. Once the sick were afraid of the police, the mafia, now they are afraid of the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, and the Islamic State. If something is loud, it carries over to a psychotic experience. Fear breeds suffering, sometimes aggression, because a person tries to defend himself against someone who allegedly hurts him.
The prevalence of negative symptoms makes the patient suffering from schizophreniaretires from life . Becomes reticent, closed, takes time to think. Emotional shallowing, difficulties in making decisions, apathy, slowing down of movement, less self-care - this is the so-called invisible symptoms of schizophrenia.
The sick person often jumps from topic to topic without a logical connection. It is impossible to have a dialogue with such a person. Sometimes he is pseudo-philosophical, uses strange words and linguistic structures. He does not laugh at jokes and has difficulties with abstract thinking. The problem is that such behaviors are common among he althy people, so they lull the vigilance of the environment.
Delusions: What can cause them?
Antipsychotics: Effects and Side Effects
Inheriting schizophrenia: what do genes have to do with this disease?
Schizophrenia treatment: what are its methods?
Save for additional activities
Schizophrenia does not have to be excluded from social life. People who undergo treatment, graduate, work, and start families. Illness cannot be a ground for discrimination. Fortunately, it keeps getting better. This is largely due to the patients' associations that spread knowledge about schizophrenia and activate patients to a normal life. It is important to include sports in your life, get enough sleep, and not take on too many responsibilities. People with schizophrenia must also learn to deal with stress.
Try to convince the patient to see a psychiatrist
The psychologist will not make a diagnosis. If you choose a psychologist, choose one who works in a hospital or has clinical experience - he will understand the problem better and will convince you to consult a psychiatrist if necessary. In acute conditions, it is worth going to the emergency room of a psychiatric hospital - there are doctors who can give consultations.
Waiting for an appointment with a psychiatrist in the area is long, and early diagnosis and treatment gives a greater chance of managing the disease. A person with psychotic symptoms most often thinks that the whole world is sick, not her, so she will not go to the doctor herself. Why go to a doctor if you really hear voices, because the brain produces them (schizophrenia is caused by disturbances in the biochemical balance of the brain).
However, if you observe pathological behavior early enough, you can still convince your loved one to see a specialist. As? It is worth referring to emotions. I see that you are scared, you don't go out to people, you can't sleep, let's see the doctor, let's see what's going on. Maybe it's depression or some other illness, your doctor will help you solve the problem.
Do not hesitate to persuade - after recovering from psychosisthe sick will appreciate it. Also, don't blame yourself if you see your doctor too late - remember that schizophrenia is an insidious disease. Sometimes the parents or partners come to the specialist to find out what to do.
People with delusions generally have a bad attitude towards their loved ones, they say: you want to make me crazy, lock me in a hospital. They are afraid of being marked. But maybe a friend with whom the sick person has good contact will try to convince him to visit. When a sick person is a threat to himself and the environment, compulsory treatment is used under the Mental He alth Act. All of this is very difficult for the family. Remember, you do it for the benefit of a loved one, your he alth generally improves after taking medication.
Make sure that the patient does not forget about the medications
Schizophrenia comes in phases. When symptoms worsen (psychotic state), there is a remission (stabilization phase), after which an acute state may reappear. Intervals between successive psychotic states, their duration and the severity of symptoms are an individual matter. Treatment reduces the risk of relapse. New generation drugs reduce both positive and negative symptoms, significantly improving well-being, and they also have fewer side effects. This allows you to function normally, provided you take it continuously as recommended.
Unfortunately, 70-80% of patients, when they feel well, stop taking their medications and the disease returns, and each relapse of psychosis is stronger than the previous one and it is more difficult to treat. Modern drugs with prolonged action are an ideal solution for patients and caregivers. They are administered intramuscularly every 2 weeks or once a month, and even once every 3 months (unfortunately, the latter are still unavailable in Poland). However, due to reimbursement restrictions, such drugs are not commonly used in our country.
Accept the sick
You mustn't argue with delusions, arguing - you won't convince the sick person anyway, and you can trigger anger and worsen his condition. If he says he hears voices, try to understand what he is feeling instead of whether it is real or not. He may be "terribly scared".
Do not convince the patient that no one is controlling him, when he is sure that it is so, because in this way you will only arouse aversion towards yourself. In such situations, it's best to say: I can see that you are afraid of what you are hearing. I understand it and believe it. If they were you, everyone would be afraid - if you react that way, you will gain trust. You have to be honest in the conversation. Don't pretend there's no problem.
Worth knowingComplex causes of the disease
Schizophrenia is caused by many things, never just one. Predisposition is very importantgenetic, but not in the simple sense of inheritance. Family burdens increase the risk of its occurrence, but there must also be other factors that will trigger it. It can be a lot of stress. In young people, these are exams, unhappy love, sexual initiation or falling in love. People with schizoid personality who live in their own world, who are anti-social and suspicious, suffer more often.
Be careful with the tone you speak
A person suffering from schizophrenia is very sensitive and interprets each impatience to his detriment. Don't raise your voice, don't show your anger, it only adds to the already strong guilt. Try to be warm and kind, but avoid being overly empathetic. Due to poorly understood safety and overprotection of their relatives, patients are unfairly isolated.
It is worth persuading to use psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is mainly based on an individual conversation, dealing with the patient's problems, but without any detailed exploration of the topic, so as not to cause a recurrence of symptoms (patients do not participate in group therapy because it may trigger psychosis). People talk about relationships at home, at university, at work - it is about reducing mental difficulties and overcoming social troubles. With the help of a psychotherapist, you can accept your illness and change your mind. It is important for the patient to understand that what was happening to him were symptoms of the disease and that his functioning depends on whether he is taking any medications.
Make time for yourself
The family is tired not only with additional duties, destabilization of life, deterioration of relations in the family, but also with permanent mental tension. All this means that some carers themselves are on the verge of depression or require the help of a specialist. That is why it is important to organize your care in such a way as to find time for yourself to rest and relax.
"Zdrowie" monthly