Schizoaffective Disorder

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Mental Illness - Information for Families

Suggestions for your initial contact with professionals and organizations that can assist with your loved one’s mental illness and your understanding of it:

1. Seek out a psychiatrist who seems to have an active involvement with the community resources available to families. You can ask questions such as how long has the psychiatrist worked with mental illness, what his/her knowledge is of psychotropic medication, what his/her philosophy is related to mental illness and family dynamics.

   It is important that the psychiatrist is able to refer you to qualified adjunctive professionals and programs, such as psychologists, social workers or treatment programs. Psychotropic medications can markedly improve symptoms and you can ask questions about the drugs used and their side effects, etc. If you feel comfortable with the primary psychiatrist, it makes the rest of treatment much easier to deal with. So ask questions.

2. If your psychiatrist has referred you to Community Resources such as Psychologists and/or MFCC’s for supportive community or other treatment programs, check them out and ask questions about their philosophy and experience.

3. Connect with one or more of the associations in your area to gain more understanding and connect with other families experience the same concerns, feelings, etc.

Suggestions for dealing with your emotions and feelings:

1. Accept the mental illness and its difficult consequences. This is easier said than done; however, research suggests that families who deal most successfully with a mentally ill relative are those who can find a way to accept them fully.

2. Develop realistic expectations for the mentally ill person and yourself. Do not expect to always feel happy and accept your right to have your feelings. Feelings are a normal process. Often families experience guilt and other emotions which they try to repress or pretend do not exist. This can only result in emotions and feelings building up and often other physical or emotional problems arising. Remember, adjusting to mental illness for you and your loved one takes time, patience and a supportive environment. Also, recovery is slow sometimes. So it is best to support your loved one by praising him/her for small achievements. Try not to expect too much or that your mentally ill family member will return to their previous level of functioning too quickly. Some people can return to work or school, etc., quite quickly, and others may not be able to. Comparing your situation with others can be very frustrating, and we suggest that you keep in mind that what works for someone else may not work for you or your loved one. This will help to reduce frustration.

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3. Accept all the help and support you can get.

4. Develop a positive attitude and even better, keep a sense of humor.

5. Join a support group

6. Take care of yourself - seek out counseling and support.

7. Do healthy activities like hobbies, recreation, vacations, etc.

8. Eat right, exercise, and stay healthy.

9. Stay optimistic.

Experts on mental illness believe that new research discoveries are bringing deeper understanding of mental illness, which are resulting in even more effective treatments.

Continue reading for what families can do to help.

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