Schizophrenic dp regrets having children

[gemmavoz]

My dp has been suffering with schizophrenia for several years now. He's recently admitted that he regrets having children. His reasons are that he's terrified they too will go on to have it as it can be genetic also the stress which comes with having children has made his illness worse. He doesn't handle stress at all and it's making him I'll. I am also worried that my dc will inherit mh from him and my father also has a history of it so it doesn't look good does it? Just would love to hear of anyone else who has lived with this and what you did about it? Thanks

[Isetan]

If your children are genetically predisposed to MH issues than there's not much you can do about that now. However, their current environment can also impact their MH, so focus on what you can influence as opposed what you no longer can.

[NormaSmuff]

How old are your children op?
as said above, work hard on the current family life.

[NightTerrier]

Is your DP currently getting any support from your CHMT? My local services are very good when it comes to people who have psychotic illnesses. He needs to be looking after himself and doing what he can to stay well and keep taking his meds. Can you get him referred if he isn't already so you can maybe prevent a relapse?

I have bipolar 1 and know how important this is. I don't know that much about Schizophrenia but it must be really distressing. I had a friend with it who thought that all his food and drink was being spiked with LSD. On the positive side he's a lot better these days, working and happily married.

These illnesses do have a genetic factor. My dad has bipolar and I inherited it whilst my siblings didn't. Sorry that I can't be more helpful than this. It really is the luck of the draw and for some reason only one of us kids ended up with the same illness as our dad.