Parent caregivers play a leading role in actualizing the health, well-being, and recovery goals of their adult children with schizophrenia. However, research exploring their realities is limited, especially within the North American context. Lisa Young is a graduate student in nursing at the University of Ottawa and a registered nurse in the Schizophrenia Program at the Royal.
Her thesis research explores how parents experience their role as caregiver for adult children with schizophrenia. The state of current research in this area will be discussed as well as the findings of her qualitative study.
Really gets started after the 8.25 (8 minute, 25 seconds) point.
Good to hear someone share some qualitative data, rather than just quantitative…
If someone wants quotes about the reality we all face as caregivers of loved ones with schizophrenia, the posts on this forum can provide a lifetime’s worth.
Well I watched it all, it was OK, I guess… Canada…
I was disappointed in the sample as it was above average income and education. It is MUCH MUCH easier for an educated above average income caregiver to deal with this insanity. People that are totally dependent on the Government live in a totally different world…
Medical response is much better here in the US based on several of her sample comments about emergency rooms…
Good for a newbie to watch but still the sample was skewed… Misleading to the average person…
One of the charts said: “90% relapse if you dont take meds” Both my SZ relapse everyday on Meds LOL… My wife has relapses into normality for only a few minutes on rare occations…
It’s true that a lot of samples for psychological/psychiatric research have been overfilled with people from western educated industrialized rich and democratic (weird) societies.
Exactly on point as to the quality of care you can expect to get. And my daughter also regularly relapses even though she is diligent with her cocktail of medication.
My son is 50 he’s been mentally ill for his entire life…he was diagnosed pananoid schizophrenic at a very earlier age… he was in intense treatment beginning when he was eight years old…3-4 times per week…it helped for awhile but he continued to have outbursts…he finished he go school…he was very smart…he headed out to college and lasted a very short time before he was committed to a behavioral center…he struggled with drugs and acholoh…after several years with numerous admissions to the hospital his caregivers finally got his medication under control…it worked on and offf but he was a lot better mentally than he was when younger…he was 35 when he seemed to be reducing his physcotic episodes…his drug cocktail included the drug Cozipreil … his problems began recently when his white blood count was danagerously low…he was taken off the drug but not admitted to a hospital…he lasted two days without meds and had a serious physcotic episode and was admitted…he’s been in and out of the hospital since while his caregivers try new medications under law he cannot be represcribed the drug Cozipreil…his newest rant is that he is not mentally ill and does not need meds…he’s presently in the hospital where his caregivers are trying to determine how to handle the situation…what I’m trying to say is don’t dispare mental illness is a continuing and debilitating illiness there’s no cure only meds to try to bring the individual closer to reality…I speak to my son at least two times a day I speak to his caregivers I show concern for his well being and pass that onto him…we discuss with detail as much as possible the reasons that led to his admission to the home spot all…dealing with the mentally ill is very frustrating…I found that listening no matter what you hear and replying in a very calm and easy to understand statements…after all the years that I have dealt with my son I now know when he is on the verge of a mental breakdown before it actually happens everyone has the clues some are easier to detect than others…take notes have other family members get involved compare those conversations and make a list of the points that you know an physchotic episode is nearby…don’t dispare keep your wits about you don’t let the person silliness affect you emotionally I know it’s not easy but it will make your life and that if your love one much easier to deal…good luck…
They do sometimes try Clozaril again. When my grandson wbc went low the gave him lithium to increase the count look it up lithium does increase wbc its a side effect. You need to work with a doc that is not afraid of this medication.
Hi there,
This is Lisa Young, the person presenting in the video. Thank you for your feedback and support of the research. It is true that it is difficult to recruit persons of a lower socioeconomic status. This is further complicated because of the research being conducted at a graduate level with what might be considered a vulnerable population. I also completed a qualitative synthesis of existing literature which has been published in the Archives of Psychiatric Nursing. Again, this is not without it’s limitation (limited number of counties and studies) but I hope that it can contribute to our understanding of the experiences of these caregivers. It’s a long time coming, but this qualitative study should be in print soon. Wishing you all good things.