I need assistance and information dealing with my schizophrenic daughter

Family
1

Please add your suggestions - I received this by email today:

To who it may concern:

I need help what do I do first? I need assistance and information dealing with my schizophrenic daughter is there any way you can call me please or help

2

stay calm and try and support her best you can, keep in contact with her care team and just try to be positive if you can.

3

Here are some good resources that I recommend you start with:

Frequently Asked Questions

Psychosis First Aid:
http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/005561.html

Treatments for schizophrenia:

4

What issues are you looking for help with?

5

They should join a place like here or somewhere else, too. I have been on both sides of the fence, as far as trying to be a caregiver for others (both professionally and for ill family), and also going through symptoms in myself. Caregivers need lots of support, to be able to vent, etc too and may even need therapy to help them cope sometimes. So that would always be my biggest piece of advice is to make sure you are taking good care of yourself. Then you can try to learn and cope and be proactive without burning yourself out and possibly making things worse.

6

How old is she? Her age will determine what steps you can take first. Look for the NAMI closest to you and call them. Are you in the states?

Try to stay calm. There is help for her, so just know that. Psychotic episodes can be brought on by stress triggers, so try to keep the stress level low if you can. It’s hard, because you’re stressed, but it’s important. There are a multitude of steps that you could take, so I feel it is important for you to join our forum group - so you can have access to some people who have been exactly where you are right this moment.

Big hugs

7

I just looked up the new intake procedures for my friend’s brother who has sz, like I do…I’ve been in the system for years, so I forgot how it went (for California):

preventative outpatient care: go to the city’s dept of behavioral health. there should be a walk-in for new intakes. Call ahead, say you’re trying to get a relative into services and they’re new to the system. This is voluntary, so she’ll need to actually walk in there. -->she will be made to wait a long time but then finally she will get an interview with an intake clinician, who will decide if she is mentally ill.

After that, they’;; set up an appt with a psychiatrist, she’ll have to remember to go. Will need a place to stabilize until the meds kick in…like three months or longer.

OR

5150 if she becomes a danger to herself or self harms (call the police for involuntary commitment)

Best to calmly explain to the police that she is not a threat, that she is having her first psychotic episode, that she has no history of violence…it’s important that they understand the situation.

Be there for her if she has to go into the hospital and thank you for caring so much about your daughter!! This is the best I can do, I just called last week for my friend’s brother, so that works in the city I’m at.

The initial part is hardest because you go through a ton of paperwork just to see the doctor. Best wishes to both of you! <3

8

I think some of the best things to do while seeking treatment and education are to try and get the basic needs of life met.

Since we don’t know the situation, we don’t know whether the daughter lives at home or a thousand miles away, but wherever she is, she needs food, shelter, water, etc. Rest, safety. Unless a person is having a major episode and needs to be hospitalized for safety, I feel like just getting through each day in a healthy way is good to do.

NAMI.org in the United States has free education and support groups for family members of people with mental illness.