Are you supporting a family member or friend with schizophrenia?
This can be a stressful, overwhelming and isolating experience.
Here is some more information to help you understand what your loved one is going through and how to help yourself.
What is Schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a condition that affects a person’s experience of reality. A person who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia will experience episodes of psychosis, which means they experience delusions and hallucinations and find it hard to distinguish what is real and what isn’t.
It is important to understand that a person can be experiencing psychosis but not have schizophrenia, as there are various forms of psychosis and psychotic disorders.
Health professionals make a diagnosis of schizophrenia based on a pattern of signs and symptoms combined with changes in everyday functioning. For this reason, a diagnosis of schizophrenia takes time and, in general, people have been mentally unwell for quite some time before the diagnosis is made.
The condition falls into the category of ‘severe mental illness’, is lifelong and as yet no cure exists. When not addressed immediately, schizophrenia can also pose serious physical health problems to the person living with this condition. However, this can be managed effectively, and it is possible to live a stable life with the right medications and support.
Symptoms of Schizophrenia
One of the main symptoms of schizophrenia is recurring psychosis. A person experiencing psychotic disorder finds it hard to identify what is real from what isn’t. If a person experiences psychosis only once in their life (a single episode), most likely they do not have schizophrenia. If a person experiences psychosis frequently (and it reoccurs after treatment), they may be diagnosed with schizophrenia. If someone is diagnosed with schizophrenia it does not mean they will experience all of the symptoms below. It is important to remember that someone with this mental health condition can have a very different experience from another individual living with schizophrenia.
The main symptoms of a person with schizophrenia are the following:
- Psychotic episodes — short periods of intense symptoms
- Delusions — fixed false beliefs that can’t be changed by evidence
- Hallucinations — hearing voices or otherwise sensing things that aren’t real
- Disordered thinking — muddled, disrupted thoughts that can be expressed through speech
- Disordered behaviour — unusual, inappropriate or extreme actions including an increase in the risk of suicide
- Low motivation
- Inability to express emotion or feel pleasure
- Problems with attention, memory, verbal and mental functions
What causes Schizophrenia?
Like many mental illnesses, schizophrenia doesn’t have just one single cause, it can be the result of a combination of factors including:
- Genetic predisposition
- Biochemical – shortage or excess of certain chemicals in the brain
- Environmental aspects such as stress, trauma and drug use can also increase the risk of developing mental health challenges
Symptoms tend to develop during the late teens to mid-30s. Schizophrenia appears in about 0.3-0.7 per cent of the population in most countries, including Australia.
Treatment of Schizophrenia
Through a range of holistic treatment options, the condition is manageable, and some people can live a relatively normal life including maintaining healthy relationships and securing a job. Medications are the cornerstone of schizophrenia treatment and antipsychotic medications are the most commonly prescribed drugs. Schizophrenia requires lifelong treatment, even when symptoms have subsided. In addition to medications, an experienced psychiatrist usually guides some sort of psychosocial treatment and the treatment team may include a psychologist, social worker, psychiatric nurse and possibly a case manager to coordinate care.
Schizophrenia relates to a split personality disorder.
Not true.
The term schizophrenia is derived from two Greek words meaning ‘to split’ and ‘mind’. Consequently, a common misunderstanding is that schizophrenia relates to a split personality, but it does not. It more closely resembles a split between a dream-state and reality.
How to help your loved one
Often, we have a strong desire to ‘fix’ or ‘solve’ someone else’s problem, however, this is not your role and should be left to mental health professionals. The best thing you can do to help someone experiencing mental health challenges is to find them an appropriate service through a GP, a mental health phone line or by searching online for mental health services. Aside from professional medical help, you can also connect them to several support services and support groups for schizophrenia patients in Australia.
If you also want to know what support services are available for people with schizophrenia in Australia so that you may connect your family or friend to the help that they need, you may contact HelpingMinds for more information.
How to help yourself
Having someone close to you who lives with mental health challenges can be exhausting, frustrating, confusing and isolating, especially if someone you love is going through long-term challenges. But you don’t have to go through it alone.
HelpingMinds® offers free and confidential support to people who are caring for someone living with mental health challenges. We offer free counselling, support groups, rest and revive activities, school holiday programs, family programs, youth programs and advocacy to people living in WA.
Get Support from HelpingMinds®
Would you like to know more about free and confidential mental health carer services and how we can support you? Please feel free to contact HelpingMinds® via the form below or on (08) 9427 7100. For one of our team to get back to you, we will require your email address and/or phone number. Please know all information provided will be treated completely confidential and in line with our privacy policy.
