Family Battles Schizophrenia Together

(September 7, 2007) -- A simple case of pre-test stress changed Trish Martin's life forever.

Her daughter's first episode of psychosis was triggered by worry about upcoming university exams.

HAYDEN DONNELL/North Shore Times SUPPORT SERVICE: Support from people like field worker Tatjana Karaman, right, helped Trish Martin deal with having a schizophrenic family member.

Now Mrs Martin deals daily with the reality of having a schizophrenic in the family.

"She was a high achieving, highly motivated, delightful teenager. Then she went to uni and she struggled socially and suddenly, 'boomph'," the Devonport resident says.

The first sign that something was wrong with her daughter was when she started struggling to deal with the stress of university life, says Mrs Martin.

She had gone from having lots of friends at high school to studying pharmacy with little social support.

Around exam time in her first year, she came home and none of what she was saying made sense.

Mrs Martin called community support services to get help, although she still didn't think it was a huge issue.

"I was shocked, scared, but mainly disbelieving. I thought: 'Oh, this is just a weekend thing. We'll get over it'."

But that quick recovery never came. Although her daughter went on medication and was able to return to university part-time, she often relapsed into varying degrees of anxiety and confusion in the next four years.

At the end of last year she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

"We were in a nightmare. We felt very alone, very isolated with trying to deal with things. We blamed ourselves," says Mrs Martin.

That only changed when at the beginning of the year she went to a family support agency.

They put her in touch with other groups who could help the family deal with the illness.

Now her daughter is on better medication and in a support group for people with similar illnesses.

What's most important is that her family knows how to treat her, says Mrs Martin.

"People don't get well on their own. They need support from their family.

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"We now have a girl with a sense of humour, a girl who can read books and pick up the telephone - all those normal things."

A national conference by SF Auckland focusing on families' response to schizophrenia is on September 15 and 16 at the Spencer on Byron.

By: Hayden Donnel
Source: North Shore Times

Last updated: 09/07

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