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Step 1
Educate Yourself. What is schizophrenia? In the brain afflicted with schizophrenia, something goes wrong in this communication system. There are billions of nerve cells in the brain. Each nerve cell has branches that transmit and receive messages from other nerve cells. The branches release chemicals, called neurotransmitters, which carry the messages from the end of one nerve branch to the cell body of another. This process does not work correctly with schizophrenia.
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Step 2
Research. The more you know about the condition, the more compassion and patience you will have. There are many good books available and plenty of information online. In The Broken Brain: The Biological Revolution in Psychiatry, Dr. Nancy Andreasen states "The current evidence concerning the causes of schizophrenia is a mosaic. It is quite clear that multiple factors are involved. These include changes in the chemistry of the brain, changes in the structure of the brain, and genetic factors."
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Step 3
Know what you're dealing with. In Schizophrenia: Straight Talk for Family and Friends Maryellen Walsh states schizophrenia may develop so gradually that the family and even the person with the disease may not realize that anything is wrong for a long period of time. Learn the different types of symptoms like slow deterioration, a gradual-onset. A gradual build-up of symptoms may or may not lead to an acute or crisis episode of schizophrenia. An acute episode is short and intense, and involves hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder, and an altered sense of self. Sometimes schizophrenia has a sudden onset. Dramatic changes in behavior occur over a few weeks or even a few days. Sudden onset usually leads to an acute episode. These attacks can be sporadic or last a lifetime. It can make living with a schizophrenic difficult.
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Step 4
Help them stay on their medications. It may take a long time to find the right combination of medications but the symptoms can be stopped if the correct medicine is taken as directed. It's common to think the medicine isn't needed any more once the symptoms disappear but that's not the case. It is extremely important for the patient to stay on their medications and you can help by reminding your friend or loved one to not miss a dose.
Comments
candyangel8 said
on 1/25/2009 I think it's important not to identify people as "schizophrenics," rather, someone living with schizophrenia. It may not seem important to some, but having worked with hundreds of people in a Peer Support Group, where we learned how to reduce stigma, every one of our members agree that when they are referred as a schizophrenic, it only decreases their self esteem and self worth. It's an old habit that we all must change in order to help the person learn to identify themselves by their positive characteristics.