This is an on-going list based on my observations on how a particular therapist is helping one of my loved ones along her journey of recovery from schizophrenia.
The key message seems to be to get schizophrenics to take control of their lives in a responsible manner. Anyway, 1–6 is mainly about caring for the patient wherease 7 onwards is about caring for the care-giver:
- Get them to accept their diagnosis; recognize there’s a problem and a valid reason why they’ve been warded, etc.
- Educate them on schizophrenia the disease (although this will have to be done by someone they really trust)
- Educate them on the medication given to them; get patients to jot down their own ‘medication history’, side-effects, etc. Note: Many patients will simply REFUSE to take any medication unless a major incident occurs and they need to choose between taking the pill and being put in a place they don’t wanna be.
- Get them to exercise; this helps with adjusting/navigating the medicine. A good time is in the late evening, so sleep can come easy (and sleeping pills can be dropped). If they’re reluctant, take them out walking or dancing or moving around or anything non-sedentary. (I also recall a journal paper which claims progress when patients cut down on carbs; maybe something for the future?)
- Guide them towards a vocation, a strong (God given?) purpose in life; come to think of it even non-schizoids need to do this. Hopefully this also gradually helps reverse the accusatory paranoia which is symptomatic of the disease.
- Admonish them to think in terms of helping or blessing others in a similar position i.e. turn their condition into a source of healing
- Accept that you will NOT be able to change their minds on 99% of issues; failure to accept this is a recipe for care-giver meltdown
- Re: #7, since you cannot change their minds, you need to re-structure your life around a) what you can change and b) what you will not allow them to influence at all. To use a term from the upcoming Nolan movie Oppenheimer, you must limit the blast-radius. Any care-giver who’s a natural control-freak better buckle up.
- Occasionally as care-giver you may need to step away for prolonged periods of time. Especially if you sense an imminent “explosion”.
- What if the situation requires physical force? Eg, the individual has to be brought to a psych ward or something? In Malaysia, the two best options are a) the police (who are used to this sort of thing) and b) nursing homes (they have people for this sort of thing). It’s the most painful thing you will ever see in the world but it can help a lot.
