My daughter was just diagnosed with schizophrenia what can i expect, what help can I get for her?

My daughter 21 was diagnosed with schizophrenia she went into a mental hospital for a cutting problem in Jan. I had no idea it was worse then that. From what I got her to tell me she hears voices and feels like shes being controled and that others can get into her head and mind. She will have conversations with people in her head and think its real or make people up in her head and belive that they are real too. She makes moning and grons sounds all day and rocks back and forth, is this normal? Right no I can control her and I don't see a huge diffrence in her yet when will I start to see this, what can I do.

She tells me she hated the hospital because the DR's and patients were trying to get in her head and that they were trying to kill her. I'm scard and lost as what to do

She also locks her slef in her room for hours listing to music, and bearly eats anything all day just drinks water & juice.

What should and can I do to help her

Right now shes only on seroquil @ night

I also think she is cutting herslef again

Donna,
Before I go any further I am going to give you a wonderful website where you can get a lot of information on meds and the disorder. It is www.depressionforums.org. The second thing is don't panic you and she are not alone there are a lot of us out here. Although I have DID which is a milder form of schizophrenia it is workable. It is hard to say what to expect because each case is different. Our minds are very big and it is very easy to get lost in there and that is what I suspect she is doing. I used to use music to drown out the voices so I couldn't hear them, it worked for a while. Sometimes they got madder that I wasn't listening to them. As far as the cutting problem we often do that to bring ourselves back to reality. ( my psychiatrist told me that) It sounds like she is trying to get a grip on her inside world right now. If she isn't seeing a therapist that is well versed in schizopherenia then you might seek one out in your area. You may have to drive to the nearest big city to find one but schizophrenia is common enough that there should be one near you. It is something that is not going to go away. It is a condition that is organic in nature so she is going to have to deal with it for the long haul. The whole thing is if it was identified correctly. You might even get a second opinion.

As far as her not eating that is simply a sign that she is depressed. It was unfortunately not one of mine I eat for comfort. It sounds to me like she may need a med adjustment. When I came out of the psyc hospital I saw a new pdoc and we went through a bunch of med changes till we found the right ones.
I hope this helps. You may contact me if I have my settings right if I can be of further help.

Tim

You need to rent the movie

Beautiful mind

This will give you a little more insight to how and what to except from your daughter. The sad thing is, schizophrenia is not cureable. But there is medication. But you need to see a special doctor.

Her comment to you about "She tells me she hated the hospital because the DR's and patients were trying to get in her head and that they were trying to kill her. I'm scard and lost as what to do"

This is part of the schizophrenia - doctors are there to help!

She needs to be on Medication.

Is anyone else in your family have schizophrenia? Because it's a gene that is passed via family members?

I dont know too much about Schizophrenia but I notice a couple of people suggest you watch A Beautiful Mind - this movie seems to really highlight what goes on for the family of a Schizophrenia sufferer and also what goes on in the mind of the sufferer with Russel Crowe as the star actor .. get it out and watch it you might find its an eye opener

I am a recovered (?) schizophrenic. Don't listen to the general public or even a doctor as they haven't experienced voices and haven't got a clue. The "voices" ARE NOT A CREATION OF HER OWN WILL; what they are no one knows. (They may be the unconscious mind ? but are not willed by her) The med's help but it is a matter of your daughter making up her own mind to not pay any heed to the "voices" recognizing that they are wholly other and unreliable. It is also a matter of not deciding you know what causes them as these beliefs are distracting delusions. It is a matter of REMEMBERING WHEN SHE WAS SANE and recreating this. You can help with TLC and maintaining and/or recreating and helping her recall a sane environment.

If she feels she is being controlled she must fortify her own will and resist succumbing to an-others "voices" control. Resist them with all the power of her good will. My experience is if you fight them with sane thoughts and a sane will then "they" give up eventually.

The cutting I do not really understand and it seems to me to be a separate problem. Schizophrenia is often accompanied by depression and this may result in self harm thoughts. "Voices," too, often tell one hostilely to harm oneself. This is why she MUST NOT slip into the abyss of treating the voices as reliable and paying any attention to them.

Support groups of schizophrenics for schizophrenics may be of help to her.I am an advocate of will power curing mental problems. Contact www.recovery-inc.org for information on "Mental Health Through Will-Training."

Good luck with your daughters recovery, good mental health, peace and Love!

Jesus. That's what's gonna help her. Not keep her under control, but literally heal and free her. I know this from life experience. The voices she hears are demons. She's being tormented. He's it, seriously. I told ya, it's up to you though.

This is an awful time for you and I really feel for you. I presume you are in UK?
Firstly, contact the mental health services responsible for your daughter and ask for details of your local carer's support services. Also go onto the website of Rethink and find the nearest carer's group you can attend - they will be a means of support for you as they have been through this themselves.
Keep offering your daughter small amounts of nutritous food to encourage healthy eating. The rocking movement is quite common.
Does your daughter have a community psychiatric nurse? Really she needs a programme of support from the mental health services and if she's not getting that you need to ask for help. It can be very difficult because the person who is ill often just wants to shut themselves away from the world and needs an enormous amount of support and motivating.
You need to get support yourself from the carer's services to be able to get through this. Best wishes for this, I'm sorry but it is going to be tough so accept what ever help you can get.

Oh you poor thing. I empathise, knowing full well what that word means - my step father is a schizophrenic. You need support. You need lots of support so you can deal with supporting her. You need people to talk to, people to help you out etc. Try a different hospital, one close to home an what resembles home, and try and deck the hospital room out like her bedroom.

The best you can do is be there for her, as this is a medical condition, an she is very very sick, treatment is best left to the white coats.

Hope that helps :) With your continued support she has every chance of getting better.

your daughter is at the exact age when this illness comes on, its not a nice illness at all, and if your feeling scared just imagine how your daughter feels, when she dont know what is real or not, you need to take her back to her psychiatrist and explain that she still hears voices and that you dont think her meds are working, there is hope after being diagnosed with this, if she get the right meds then she can live a happy and productive life but being her mother it is your job to make sure she gets the right treatment and that she takes it, you know what your daughter was like before all this and this is the only way you can work out if her meds are working or not, when she starts slipping back to the way she is now then you know its time to get her to the docs again, she will begin to think everyone is against her and making up stories, but to her it is very real so dont alienate her by telling her you know what she is saying is rubbish because then she will class you as the same as the others(in her head) its gonna be a long hard rd ahead but as i said there is light with the right treatment...............good luck x

seroquil is a medication to treat schizophrenia is it also used as a sleep medication. Take her back to the doctor that she is seeing or contact the doctor and tell him/her what is going on. The voices in her head are her own thoughts also known as delusions/hallucinations. For a better idea of what she is gong through look up (John Nash) also there is a movie about his life dealing with schizophrenia called (A Beautiful Mind) .

Ur making all of that up Lol!! your sneaky!!

My mom has schizophrenia and she is acting exacly like that..besides the cutting, it;s very very very hard :( u should to a specil doctor and he will prescribe u something for her, its very important that she will take her medicine so she can feel better, i have to go with my mom at the hospital every 2 weeks so she can get her shot, if she doesnt get it she will act like that again :( and it;s very painfull for me to see that1 i hope u can solv ur problem cause i know exacly wat u feel! good luck !

Tim S is about as accurate as you will get from many people. Your daughter can live an ordinary life, but she will need to be helped and understood. Talk to the Local CMHT (Community Mental Health Team). They can offer you and your daughter support. The psychiatrist can also help you by letting you know about her medication and the importance of helping your daughter understand the necessity for medication.

Many Schizophrenics start to feel better once on medication, however, they will then decide to come off the medication feeling that their is no need to continue. This is the time that she will need the support.

What is important is the need to tell your CMHT if anything changes in her attitude etc. Hiding it can only lead to more serious problems, and by telling the team that some changes are occurring, will show that you are taking responsible your management of your health.

The medication can sometimes appear worse than the illness, but if this is the case, she will need to let them know.

I work with people who have mental health problems, Some is a secure setting, some in the community. What I am saying is what they actually go through, so please keep in contact with your local CMHT who will monitor your daughter and give her all the support she and her family need to continue to cope with this illness.

Good Luck. Blessings.
Love, Peace & Light

you need to make her feel like she isnt crazy, because she isnt, many people hear things they just choose to ignore it.

my experience is that seroquel made me feel much more lathargic, i dont know what mg she is on but i was on 150mg at night and it didnt do anything, it made me really dizzy and then ide fall asleep and ide feel really lathargic and depressed in the morning.

also i hated being in a mental health hospital, it made me feel so confined and even more crazy then i was, they make you feel like you are crazy and that you dont know what your talking about.

you need to let her know that you care about her, and you dont think that she is crazy and you just want to help her so that she can go about life in a functional way.

i dont know if that helped, but i hope things work out. feel free to email me if you have specific questions considering i have already gone through this with my mother.