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how to... deal with a mother suffering from schizophrenia

concernedchild1New Contributor01 June 2025, 2:54 pm AEST

how to... deal with a mother suffering from schizophrenia

Hello fellow concerned readers,

I am new to this so bare with me...

My mother and I had have always had a close bond and we are quite literally best friends since my early childhood. As I entered adulthood, I started noticing things that were not right...I put the pieces of the puzzle together - my mother has been expressing manic mood swings associated with schizophrenia. I have tried so many tips to dealing with this, however I cannot seem to get a grasp to make things better for not only myself , but for her. I wanted to reach out and see what others have tried that has been successful with dealing with a parent with a complex mental disorder. I feel like every time there is an "episode", I get closer to helping managing her outbursts and we make break-way, then a few days or weeks later we revert back to the same fight or argument when these episodes come to light. I am starting to feel like I am drained, my life is turning upside down and I am walking on egg-shells with my mum... Is it just me? I want to help her manage and treat her mental illness but she refuses to get help, what can I do? She is pushing me further away when she gets into her "moments", isolating herself on some days. It is starting to feel as if I cannot have my own life and it is run on the basis of "what mood will she be in today? Can I spend sometime out of the house? Am I going to be given a hard time?" Patience at this present time is running thin and I do not want to abandon her in anyway as I know it is not entirely her fault.

I would love to hear your thoughts, stories or support with this...

2 replies

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In response to: how to... deal with a mother suffering from schizophrenia

RiverSealModerator01 June 2025, 6:03 pm AEST

Re: how to... deal with a mother suffering from schizophrenia

Hey @concernedchild1, thank you for sharing your experiences with the community!

It sounds like you are dealing with a lot at the moment with your mother and her mental health. You are really demonstrating your resilience,and I can hear it in your story, too. It's really hard to reach out to your peers and ask for support, so you are being really brave sharing your story here on the Forums.

I also share a diagnosis of schizophrenia and have had many challenges reaching out for support, and witnessed my family supporting me, like you are with your mother. It can be really hard for a person to accept that they need support if they are having hallucinations and delusions, which often come with the episodes.

Unfortunatley I don''t have the answers that you might be hoping for except that you are doing the best thing for her by supporting her. The uncontitional love I received from my family made so much difference to my experience and helped me see that I was the same person in the inside still. Sometimes that's all you can to is to be there for them as it is totally up to your mother whether she seeks and accepts support.

I do want to provide a few resources for you to concider as you can offer supports to your mother too. And it might spark some thoughts in her to talk with someone about her options at some point.

Maybe you might coincider talking with a CATT team about your mother and they could come out and do and assessment on her if she is open to talking with them.

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions and reach out to me here on the Forums!

Take care

RiverSeal

In response to: Re: how to... deal with a mother suffering from schizophrenia

concernedchild1New Contributor02 June 2025, 11:17 am AEST

Re: how to... deal with a mother suffering from schizophrenia

Hey there,

Thank you for your kind words and responding to my forum. It is much appreciated. Unfortunately, my mum is completely against receiving help, and if she suggests getting help she never follows through. This makes it just that much more difficult... it feels like there is nothing left for me than to just deal with these manic episodes.

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