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Medical Video: When mental illness enters the family | Dr. Lloyd Sederer | TEDxAlbany
Schizophrenia is a fairly foreign term heard in the ears of ordinary people. People with schizophrenia are often called "crazy people" because they often hallucinate; his soul is disturbed, and is often regarded as a result of possessions, witchcraft, or curses. Because of this, many "crazy" people have been put in place and exiled from society after various kinds of alternative medicine efforts have not succeeded in reviving them.
According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, there are around 19,000 Indonesian people with schizophrenia who are being put into custody, even though the income has been banned by the government since 1977.
On the other hand, not a few of those who were "lucky enough" to live in mental hospitals or other mental health institutions were targeted by physical and sexual violence from officers, and made guinea pigs from various dubious "alternative" treatments, such as therapy. electric shock without anesthesia, concoction of herbal medicines, to solitary confinement.
What needs to be understood, these two practices violate human rights and are methods that have proven to be ineffective in dealing with people with psychiatric disorders. With the right treatment, many schizophrenics can live a normal and productive life and find work according to their abilities and skills, like healthy humans in general. This can be achieved mainly with full support and affection from the people around him.
Living at home with someone with schizophrenia, is it possible?
The short answer is, yes, maybe. However, living with a person with schizophrenia is indeed not an easy thing to do. Some of these strategies can help you guide your loved ones to achieve optimal recovery, without having to sabotage the well-being of yourself and other family members.
1. Learn about the disease as best you can
Schizophrenia is the most common mental disorder found globally, characterized by the inability to distinguish between the real and the imagined. Symptoms of schizophrenia are usually indicated by hearing voices from inside the head or seeing something that is not real.
According to WHO, schizophrenia is suffered by more than 21 million people from various parts of the world. Based on data from the 2013 Basic Health Research, about 1 in 1000 Indonesians is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Not much is known about the causes of this disease, but generally the appearance of symptoms is triggered by a variety of factors, ranging from genetics, trauma, to drug abuse.
Learning about schizophrenia, symptoms, and treatment will allow you to make decisions about how best to deal with symptoms, motivate patients to pursue self-help strategies, deal with setbacks, and work together towards recovery.
2. Consultation with the schizophrenia community or local aid agencies
To be able to provide better support and care, you also need to get help from outside parties. Meeting and discussing with others who understand correctly about schizophrenia and the situation you are currently facing can help to lift stress and frustration, and fear.
The family community of sufferers and health assistance institutions can be a very valuable place for families with schizophrenia to share experiences, advice and information. Ask your doctor or therapist about strong services and other support available in your area, or contact a local hospital and trusted mental health clinic.
The more support you have, the better it will be for you and the recovery pathway for people with schizophrenia. But it's important to stay realistic about how much or to what extent you can help it. You cannot do many things at one time in a stressful situation like this, and you will not help a lot of loved ones if you are exhausted.
3. Guide the patient to get medical treatment
The large number of people with schizophrenia who have been exiled or even put up is due to the assumption that schizophrenia is dangerous. In fact, contrary to the notion that crazy people are always "crazy", the symptoms of schizophrenia are not always present at all times and can only appear if triggered by one thing or another. This means that there will be times when patients can interact like normal people in general.
Someone with schizophrenia often does not realize that they are not healthy, until they get treatment. Motivating him to get medical help to manage symptoms is a cornerstone of good care for people with schizophrenia. A study shows that schizophrenic patients who receive adequate medical support and treatment will not be dangerous, unless the patient is restricted from accessing his health or even neglected.
Schizophrenia cannot be cured, but some symptoms can be treated with a combination of prescription drugs and cognitive and behavioral therapy. And all of this will have maximum impact if done as early as possible. But indeed sometimes, fear of the stigma of "crazy people" makes it reluctant to seek treatment. You can make doctors less threatening by suggesting visits to treat certain symptoms such as insomnia or lack of energy.
4. Always accompany the patient
It is important to ensure that he stays on the right recovery path, even after he has been hospitalized. Patients can stop the medication or stop going to the doctor for follow-up therapy. Your encouragement and support is the most important for him to be able to continue therapy.
Strategy self-help changing lifestyle can also be recommended to maintain overall well-being. Starting from a healthy diet, managing stress, exercising, quitting smoking, to joining a similar support group. The more independent he is in determining the treatment of his illness, the feeling of despair and the prejudice that surrounds him will be even more eroded. This can ultimately make it easier for doctors to adjust their treatment.
5. Don't give your imagination
Those who are in close contact with schizophrenic patients are often unsure how to respond when patients make statements that seem strange or clearly wrong. For schizophrenic patients, strange beliefs or hallucinations appear real - not just imagination. But rather than agreeing to the principle, you and other family members can tell them that you did not see / hear these things, or disagree with their thoughts, while still acknowledging what the patient feels. For example, reacting like "No, I didn't hear that," rather than "Ah, that's all your imagination!"
It is important not to underestimate patient trust or delusion. What they feel is real to those who experience it, and there is no point in arguing which is right and wrong with them. Instead, change the subject to other things that both of you agree to or change topics that are completely different.
6. Help him live independently
In addition to involvement in seeking help, interaction with other family members, friends, and peer groups can provide support and encourage patients to regain their lives. It is important to have goals that can be achieved, for example: make it able to make decisions independently or take care of his own bedroom without the help of others. Instead of doing everything for themselves, help them develop or relearn skills that will enable them to gain independence.
But just like everyone else, people with schizophrenia need to know when they are doing the right thing. Patients who feel pressured or repeatedly criticized by others may experience severe stress which can cause worsening of symptoms. A positive approach can help and may be more effective in the long term than scathing criticism. This advice also applies to everyone who interacts with that person.
7. Make a note of its development
This note will be useful for you and other family members to track each type of symptom that appears, what medication has been used (including the dose), and what the effects of each treatment are. By knowing what symptoms have been present before, family members might be better prepared to deal with them in the future.
Families may even be able to identify some "early warning signs" of potential symptoms of relapse, such as extreme fatigue or changes in sleep patterns, which are even better and earlier than the patient himself. Thus, symptoms of psychosis can be detected early and treatment can prevent the disease from taking over again.
In addition, by knowing which drugs help a lot and which cause troublesome side effects in the past, the family can make it easier for doctors to find the best treatment for them faster.
