aunty has schizofrenia, success stories pls

[bigboydiditandranaway]

Pls if you have time could you let me know of any success stories of people living nad coping with schizofrenia.

Aunty had been in hospital and has been taking new meds, seems to be getting better now.

Does this illness take a long time to get on top of or is it always like a disability?

It's hard to say. I work with people with severe mental disorders including Schizophrenia, and i've seen people lead absoloutely normal day to day lives in under 5 years from diagnosis, and i've also seen people dead within a year of diagnosis because of suicide and self harm.

If she has gotten help in the very early stages, then there's a brilliant chance she will be monitored regularly and therefore will stay on top of things in regards to medication and therapy. That will hopefully give her a great chance at continuing a normal life.

Have a look at this site, really useful and answers almost everything you'll be wanting to know. Good luck to you and your aunt

I had a friend who developed schizophrenia in her early twenties because of extreme life changes (husband leaving her and both parents dying). She did take a good 2 0r 3 years, and is not completely healed, but has gone on to get married and have children. So hopefully it can subside with treatment.

ta for your messages, it's really helped me understand aunts illness more.

Is it hireditry - sorry bad spelling! aunt has tried taking her life twice now so we've all been quite worried.

I honestly don't know if is hereditary, now you ask. Really hope she gets some good treatment and carers. Wishing you all well, as this can be very hard to cope with when it's somebody you love.

thanks LW for your well wishes

It can be hereditary (as are many mental health problems) but there are other causal factors involved such as life circumstances, drugs etc etc

Schizophrenia can kept under control for want of a better phrase with therapy, monitoring and medication. there may also be lapses along the way but it is possible to lead a 'normal' life.

I wish your Aunty all the best.

Schizophrenia does seem run in families (only a slight link though)
I have heard lots of success stories about people with schizophrenia.
One thing seems to be key and that is if she is given medication then she needs to take it - many people seem to stop taking their drugs when they feel well again and risk a relapse (research shows that every relapse can cause further damage to the brain), other people stop taking the medication because they are getting side effects (weight gain etc) but there are other drugs that they can try - so they should always talk this through with their CPN / Dr etc. and not just stop altogether.

Thanks so much for your messages, i'm sure she'll be fine, thanks for giving me more of an insight into this.