Schizophrenia question

[OklahomaWeather]

Hi everyone, I'm relatively new to the board, so I apologize if this subject has been brought up before.

My brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia this year, and it has been very scary and traumatic for my whole family. He is on medication and is showing drastic improvement, but I'm worried about the long-term for him. Is there anyone out there who has dealt with schizophrenia? With medication, can he lead a normal life or is it un-avoidable that he will have another episode in the future?

Also, I know it is somewhat genetic. Being his sister, will my future kids have an increased or significant chance of developing schizophrenia? Thanks for any input you have...

[GalvestonDuck]

Honestly, can't say I've dealt much with schizophrenia at all. Most psych patients who came into the ER were there for serious episodes, but I didn't necessarily witness symptoms or behavior that was exclusive to that disease.

It's so hard to say, after seeing things in the news about people who suffer from it and who have a well-publicized episode like that teacher who went to school and shot several students (Laurie Dann, I thinK?) and then wasn't Andrea Yates also schizophrenic (in addition to suffering from post-partum psychosis). Stuff that like makes mental diseases scary and people aren't always as compassionate about behavior they don't understand or that doesn't make sense.

However, it seems to me that if they find medication to which he responds well and he stays on it like he should, he shouldn't have another episode. Of course, that's not to say he's not human and he won't get angry or sad about certain situations. Reminds me of a story in Patty Duke's book (she's bipolar) where she caught a young friend of son Sean Astin's sneaking into his room one night. She let out of stream of cuss words and Mackenzie came out of his bedroom, crying and bawling. She asked what was wrong and he looked at her and looked at the situation and realized that Sean was in trouble and that was what she was yelling about. He said, "At first, I thought you were off your medication."

So don't feel like you have to walk around on eggshells or anything when you're around him and he has an emotional moment. Those will still happen -- like I said, he's human.

Have you and your family had a chance to talk with the doctors also? Or might there be a support group -- even online?

I've seen movies ("Strange Voices" with Nancy McKeon [probably the most educational, in regards to the disease itself], "Murder Of Innocence" with Valerie Bertinelli, based on the Laurie Dann case, and "A Brilliant Mind" with Russell Crowe). But that's probably the limit of my knowledge of this particular disease.

IMO, your best bet would be to read up about it online and, if you can, talk with the doctor about your concerns regarding genetics and relapses. Be educated and understanding about what to look for with your brother's behavior. Talk with your brother and keep the lines of communication open -- that's the best way to recognize if there are any changes. Be supportive. And most of all, just be yourself -- his sister.

[Tri-State_1925]

I'm not a psychiatrist, but I know a little bit about schizophrenia. Unfortunately for many patients schizophrenia is terrible indeed. There are a few factors that influence the severity of a patient's condition -- for example age (the older your age at diagnosis, the better patients tend to function - although most patients are fairly young at diagnosis) and subtype (there are 5 subtypes; patients with certain subtypes do better than others).

I don't have the statistics in front of me, and I'm not going to guess on the numbers, but some patients do well and can live farily normal lives, while some don't do so well and require frequent hospitalizations. I've personally seen patients who function very poorly, and I've seen pateints who have done relatively well for years without any medication at all.

Medications do decrease the frequency of relapses, but unfortunately even on the most current antipsychotics, many patients will have another psychotic episode within a couple years. This doesn't mean your brother will have another relapse, but it can happen. Another thing to look out for is suicide -- many schizophrenic patients attempt suicide unfortunately.

I know this sounds very scary and awful, but it sounds like you have experienced some of this first hand already and I am sorry. In addition to drugs, behavior and family therapy can definitely help prevent relapses. Like the above post says, your brother needs your support. I'd get more information and answers from a psychiatrist.

[opera ghost]

I'll tackle the genetics part of the question, with a preface. My Father in law is BiPolar, his father was BiPolar, and his grandfather was BiPolar. Nice long genetic history there eh? *laughs* My husband (24 years old) is NOT BiPolar, although family history indicates an onset time of about 30 years of age. I've always wanted children, but will be waiting until we're in our early 30's- if my husband has an onset of BiPolar- we won't. So I know what it's like to look at the VERY questionable genetics of mental illness. There's so little that's currently known.

That said- yes. There are some genetic questions about schizophrenia. If you have a family member with schizophrenia, your chances of developing it are higher than your average person on the street. Your children will have a greater chance of developing it than thier classmates without a family history of it. It's not a gurantee and if your fmaily history of mental illness started with your brother, it's somewhat less likely than if a parent, sibling and great aunt matilda were all schizophrenic. Following me here?

It sounds like you don't have kids yet- and are worried for them. Me too. That said- cancer is genetic, bad eye sight is genetic, and there are a slew of other giant genetic question marks floating over kids who havn't been born yet. Mental illness is hard when it goes untreated, but with treatment- it is livable. If you know the signs, and know your history- it can even be treated before serious problems show up. It shouldn't worry you more than a sibling or grandparent having cancer.

[petal*pusher]

Several years ago, we had a female student with schizophrenia. Of course, we are NOT supposed to know this information about a student, but her parents were very up-front about this little gal they had adopted. She had come from a very abusive home; was 7 when they took her in.

Such an interesting little person she was!! I have to say working with her was sometimes a challenge, and sometimes heart warming. There were days she would come in neatly dressed and clean......and days she looked very dis-sheveled. I felt honored that she would often talk to me about this challenge for her......she had never opened up to anyone else before.

I remember her parents looking at all her paperwork at a parent/teacher conference. They could tell by the writing that 5 different personalities were coming! When I mentioned that she had befriended another shy girl, her Mom worried because one of her "personalities" was a boy.

I learned a lot from this student......and often wondered what has become of her. My thoughts are that most "challenges" can easily be controlled if properly diagnosed and treated. Also, I believe many syndromes, diseases, etc. that have become much too common may be caused by food additives, environment, and air pollution. What are we doing to our children??.......p

[GalvestonDuck]

Just for clarification, Petal -- was this 7-year old schizophrenic in addition to having multiple personalites? Multiple-personality disorder is different from schizophrenia, although I'm fairly certain a person can suffer from both. MPD involves the brain's dissociation into different selves or alter personalities and all those around the person can hear and see the different "personalities." Schizophrenia can be observed when a person has auditory or visual hallucinations and is unable to differentiate between real and unreal situations, but they are do not "become" another person.