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Schizephrenia

Jan6Casual Contributor

Schizephrenia

  • I was not raised by my mother. She has severe schizophrenia and her partner of 40 years passed away this year in March and last week, her house burnt down. I feel sick to the stomach thinking about what I now need to deal with and navigate. I'm so mad, angry, sad all at the same time. The temporary accommodation that she is in now has neighbours now complaining. She will need to stay there until a rebuild of her house can occur via insurance. I feel at a loss and am now thrown into a carer role whilst I need to still work fulltime and look after my own family. I just want to cry, stay in my pyjamas, and forget all of this. I don't feel equipped to deal with this.

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In response to: Schizephrenia

bandicootModerator

Re: Schizephrenia

Welcome to the forums @Jan6. We can hear that you haven't previously had a close relationship with your mother but are now facing the difficult task of supporting her through losing her partner and her house. That would be a lot for anyone to handle! I'm not surprised you're feeling overwhelmed and unequipped.

I'm very glad that you have found this forum and that you've felt able to post and I do hope that you will feel the support of the community during this time. Feel free to further introduce yourself here if you haven’t already!

We've also got some tips here about preventing burnout when you're in a carer position: carer mental fatigue and burnout. But anyone else who can relate or has advice for @Jan6, please reply and add your support ❤️

Good luck with everything - remember it's okay to prioritize your own wellbeing when needed - and we hope to see you around the forums!

In response to: Schizephrenia

RiverSealModerator

Re: Schizephrenia

Hey @Jan6, thank you for sharing your experiences with the community!

It sounds like you are going through a lot right now and feeling overwhelmed at being in a carer role for you mother. It's really brave of you to reach out to the community and be vulberable and share your mothers situation. I share the same diagnosis as your mother so can empathise how challenging this must be for her too.

There is support available for carers if you feel like you want to reach out to them: https://www.carersvictoria.org.au

We do have a dedicated thread to talk about all things related to schizophrenia here if you would like to take a look: https://saneforums.org/t5/Our-stories/Hearing-voices-and-psychosis-%EF%B8%8F/td-p/1682014

I encourage you to continue to reach out to the community as I believe that your peers will have some insights to share with you!

Take care

RiverSeal

In response to: Schizephrenia

EternalFlowerSenior Contributor

Re: Schizephrenia

hi @Jan6 that sounds really hard and overwhelming, and risky for your own health, while you show love and understsanding of your mother's situation - i hope she is okay. When does she leave this temporary accomodation? the system is so hard to navigate 😞 sending strength and care

In response to: Re: Schizephrenia

AppleblossomSenior Contributor

Re: Schizephrenia

@Jan6 I experienced life with parents diagnosed with schizophrenia. It’s usually a complex presentation. Not easy. There are many different ideas about what schizophrenia actually is and what causes it etc. It’s especially hard to have decent boundaries and good balance when people in the immediate family are unwell. Not sure I can help, but if sharing on here frees up some mental space for dealing with either kids or mum… tag me for a chat.

🍎

In response to: Re: Schizephrenia

Jan6Casual Contributor

Re: Schizephrenia

Content/trigger warning
Thank you for your words. She will leave the accommodation when her house is rebuilt. This will take a while though as when the insurance pays out, payment which will go to the estate of her partner until will is finalised - still in probate atm. A bit messy and won't be able to move forward until all finalised.

In response to: Re: Schizephrenia

Jan6Casual Contributor

Re: Schizephrenia

Thank you for sharing. It's certainly challenging when they do not accept their diagnosis albeit many many years later. Trying to instil boundaries for myself to remain calm and level headed. I have said to myself that this is the life she lives, and I have said to her what my capacity is to help. She is taking her medication so at least that's a plus. Just wish she would stop annoying the neighbours where she is at.

In response to: Re: Schizephrenia

AppleblossomSenior Contributor

Re: Schizephrenia

I also was raised partly by others @Jan6

my mother did not accept her diagnosis, and severely neglected and betrayed me, but I also have long educated myself in the complexities and uncertainties of diagnosis.

is she lonely.. what is she actually doing?

In response to: Re: Schizephrenia

Jan6Casual Contributor

Re: Schizephrenia

Being on her own is fine. She is independent but causes noise disruptions at night waking neighbours with rants of late. I have spoken to her to just be quiet as she is lucky to live where she does as she burned her house down. I keep getting neighbours texting me to say they are fed up. She causes no harm but I don't know what else to do.

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