How to Provide Schizophrenia Help to Your Loved One

• Empower your ill family member by allowing him to remain as independent as possible. Frequently, caretakers inadvertently take over tasks that the patient can accomplish, robbing him of dignity and confidence.
• When he or she rants about delusions, visions, and conspiracies, remember that you cannot reason these paranoid delusions away any more than you could reason cancer away.
• Strive to nurture the love in your heart for the person trapped within the torment, even if you hate the schizophrenia and its influence on your lives.
• Do not allow shame to enter your thoughts. This type of shame is toxic and unhealthy.
• Learn to discern the difference between unnecessary, neurotic suffering and embrace true suffering. By doing this, you’ll come out on the other side to a sunny outlook with each true passing storm of pain.
• Set boundaries and clear limitations on your giving of self. You may need to adjust these at times, but commit to staying within reasonable guidelines you set forth.
• Forgive yourself and others for the inevitable mistakes and poorly thought-out behaviors.
• Nurture and feed your relationships with other family members and close friends.

Schizophrenia Self Help Tools and Tips for Patients

People suffering from this traumatizing, neurological brain disorder need to first seek schizophrenia self help support from a mental health group. Participating in the meetings with other patients will help fill in the gaps between medical doctor visits and professional therapy sessions. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) has 1200 local groups throughout the U.S.