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Schizophrenia diagnosed

JerryNew Contributor19 Nov 2018, 3:52 pm AEDT

Schizophrenia diagnosed

After about 5 years of debilitating anxiety my 18 year old daughter has finally got a diagnosis of schizophrenia last month. In a way I see it as a relief (the diagnosis) as I have known how seriously ill she is and now on her new medication is working. My question is I am not sure how to talk about her illness to friends and family. Like when to mention it and when not to. I don’t want other people judging my daughter however I see mental illness as it is .. an illness.. no different to any other physical illness.

4 replies

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In response to: Schizophrenia diagnosed

BunniekinsSenior Contributor19 Nov 2018, 5:34 pm AEDT

Re: Schizophrenia diagnosed

@Jerry Hi Jerry and welcome to the forums. I have schizoaffective disorder and bipolar and have a son with autism and schizophrenia. As your daughter is an adult I would ask her what she would like to happen regarding letting people know that she has a mental illness like schizophrenia. She may not want anyone at this time to know or maybe it would be a relief for her to put her cards on the table for everyone to see.

It really is her business. Personally I like to speak about it freely if someone is interested but most times I find people just don't want to really know as they want you to get on with life. I can almost guarantee that once people know and hear that she is on medication that will be the end of the interest for them .... at least that is my experience.

greenpea

In response to: Schizophrenia diagnosed

Unknown userMember22 Nov 2018, 1:59 pm AEDT

Re: Schizophrenia diagnosed

Hey there @Jerry kudos on being an incredibly supportive and loving parent, this will make her navigating through Schizophrenia much easier, it sounds like she has incredible support in you. Glad to hear it's a relief getting to the bottom of her symptoms after all this time too

You're right it is an illness like any other, I can understand the concern around stigma too. Have you seen this video of ours by Hannah? It might be a relatable little piece for your Daughter 🙂 What are your greatest concerns in regards to telling friends and family? We definitely have a tonne of resources here, and there's quite a wealth of knowledge on Schizophrenia all over the web - you could link friends and family to these articles or simple fact sheets. In fact there are plenty of people across the globe who live with this illness and do quite well for themselves, an interesting read here on a Professor of Law living with the same condition as your Daughter.

In response to: Re: Schizophrenia diagnosed

JerryNew Contributor22 Nov 2018, 3:40 pm AEDT

Re: Schizophrenia diagnosed

I watched the Hannah video. It was nice to see someone around her age with schizophrenia in Brisbane out with friends.
I hope for my daughter to be able to be confident and social and have friends again like she used to a few years ago.

In response to: Re: Schizophrenia diagnosed

Boo13Senior Contributor22 Nov 2018, 8:34 pm AEDT

Re: Schizophrenia diagnosed

@Jerry,

My 17 year old son was diagnosed in September 2017. It was a relief, but also a challenging time. Only family and close friends were I initially told as we needed to feel trust that people would be understanding and hopefully supportive. Slowly, over time, I have come to realise that being open about his health is important. I have found that confiding in others and being open is very empowering. I could only do this however after learning as much as I could about the illness and increasing my u der standing and knowledge. Knowledge is powerful

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