How To Live With a Schizophrenic: Make Your Life Easier

Living with someone who has schizophrenia might be hard sometimes. Even though you can’t see it, these people need you. In this article, we’ll talk about how to live with someone a schizophrenic and make your life easier.

Be active against schizophrenia

You have to be alert so you can notice the signs of a possible relapse. If the person starts having psychotic behavior, treating it in time may be the key their recovery.

The clinical psychologist Salvador Perona Garcelan says “it’s true, the information collected from research in the last few years, both abroad and in Spain, shows that the sooner we are able to intervene during a psychotic episode, the better the recovery and the better they will respond to psycho-social treatments. We’ve also learned that detecting someone at high risk of having a psychotic disorder before the first signs appear may help avoid or delay the onset of a psychotic disorder.”

There are usually little behavioral changes before a relapse. Things like changes in appetite or problems sleeping, depression, loss of interest, and mood swings.

If you detect any of these symptoms early on and are able to get the person into a hospital for treatment, it’s important that you make sure they continue with their treatment once they get home. Schizophrenia patients that stop their treatment can help up losing their basic functions like eating and sleeping. Make sure that your loved one takes their medication.

You also have to make sure that they’re living a healthy life. People with schizophrenia are more likely to abuse drugs or alcohol and have a higher probability of suffering from obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. You will have to motivate your loved one to follow a diet and keep active.

How to react during a psychotic episode

If your loved one is suffering from hallucinations, you have to be ready for possible violence. Schizophrenics aren’t usually violent, but they believe that the voiced they’re hearing are real, which may cause them to react aggressively and be a danger to those around them.

Salvador Perona talks to us about a new therapy that changes the relationship between the schizophrenic and the voices that they hear. He has that it is a new type of therapy that changes the schizophrenic’s relationship between themselves and their environment and the voices they hear. There are currently only a few studies about this type of therapy and the results are mostly positive, but a new controlled study is being conducted and we are awaiting the results.

When the schizophrenic is going through this, try to avoid convincing them that they’re wrong. For schizophrenics, hallucinations aren’t simply products of their imagination, they’re real and trying to say otherwise could aggravate them. Calmly explain to them that you see the world differently from them, and remind them that their disorder keeps them from perceiving the world correctly. Try to avoid arguments at all cost, and be compassionate and understanding.

Get help when you need it. People with schizophrenia aren’t usually aggressive, but hallucinations can cause people to react aggressively. In these cases, you can call the police to do an emergency psychiatric evaluation. The schizophrenic may need to be hospitalized to get back under control. Just remember that what you have to do is for their own good, and when they get back home they will understand why you did what you had to.