Friend with schizophrenia?

My friend has schizophrenia. The doc's are taking care of all the medical stuff etc.

Should I talk to my friend in a certain way or treat them a certain way, or behave a certain way around them?
What should I avoid?
I just want to be a good friend.

Hello,

(ANS) I used to work as a day care officer for the charity M.I.N.D based here in Leeds, West Yorkshire. As part of my job I used to help care for a number of clients who all had various mental health problems. We had several people who had schizophrenia and although they were on good medication which helped them they were hard to communicate well with.

**NOTE:- People who have schizophrenia have varying degrees of the condition and so their symptoms & abilities do vary a great deal. With some schizophrenics they have a broken soul mirror, a broken ego or fractured personality.

Communications
One of the problems I encountered with the schizophrenic people I looked after, was it wasn't really possible to have a normal social conversation with them. Why? because schizophrenics often cannot follow a logical rational thread in a conversation, they have a very fragmented mindset and so talking to them the conversations would always go off in tangents. The conversations would jump all over the place.

TIPS!
No.1) No! schizophrenic people want you to treat them as normally as possible. just treat him or her like you would anyone else, they DON'T want to be treated as special.

No.2 Avoid talking about medical or psychological labels like schizophrenia?

No.3 Avoid talking about medications and how are you feeling all the time, this is not helpful.

No.4 If you want to be a good friend then that's wonderful, thats incredibly kind because many schizophrenic people get disowned by society, few people want to know them. They often end up extremely alone and socially isolated. I think if you can be a good friend that could make a huge difference to that persons life (don't under-estimate how important just being a friend might be).

No.5 To be a friend means to listen well to them even if you don't completely understand them, just being there with them thats what matters. Doing simple things for them from just making a cup of tea or something will be a good help to them. Do whatever you can would be enough. Thank you for being willing to be a friend to that person they need your friendship!! enough said .

Kind Regards Ivan.

Hi

There is no need to talk to your friend any differently than you normally would.

Please try this link to the Mind website

Understanding schizophrenia:
http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Bookl...

the information is easy to read and understand and will give you some insight into the illness.

Hope this helps.

He is a friend so you should make it clear you understand his condition is not his fault or unusual and medication must be taken just like for anything. That gives him the chance to talk about his difficulties, don't treat him in any way different. Just watch his behaviour if you think he is not taking his medication. Maybe if you have a very close friendship you could joke about it!!!!

Personally I think you should treat this friend as you would any other friend. I personally feel, when others treat me differently, like an outcast or a burden on others. You will also start to resent this friend if you are constantly feeling like you have to walk on egg shells around them.

Just treat them normally...that might even help them a little...IMO

Don't treat them any differently. Your friend has an illness, just like diabeties or cancer. You wouldn't turn away from them if they had that, would you? Just remember, your friend is not his illness. Obviously you may have some bumps in the road along the way, but if you're truly a good friend then you will stick by them through the hard times.
Kudos to not being scared off as most people would =]

Also, try to keep your friend out of stressful situations as much as you can. Schizophrenics usually don't do well with large amounts of stress.

It depends. Does your friend know about their condition? If they do, then you shouldn't be afraid to talk about it. Maybe it would help if it were a normal thing between you two. If they felt like it was just something you two got used to in time, they might feel better about it, being abe to share it with someone.
If they don't, then I really think you should talk to the doctors and get more information o your friend's case. See if there are any particulars.
Anyway, just caring enough to ask this question shows you're a good friend.

Act normally, just like you did before the diagnosis.

Being there as a friend is the best thing you can do.

I bet more people wish they had a friend like you.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness, like Post natal depression is, People tend to freak out over it, because they only relate to the horror stories we read in the press..

Up until recently I worked with people like this, and their families, most of them are as 'normal' as me!!
Medication can work wonders.

Please, please, please, just act as you always did around your friend. My brother was diagnosed with schezophrenia a very long time ago. He told me the worst thing anyone can do is treat him as if there is something wrong with him. It makes him feel very unstable.

You are doing the right thing by asking the question! You truly are a Great Friend!

nothing. be totally normal. im actually studying it atm.

many people are scared of schitzophrenics because actions are unpredictable, leading to avoidance and bein shunned. Do you want to do that to your friend?

Just be yourself so you don't make her feel worse because if you act differently she feel like you are treating like she isn't normal.

Like Courtney said, just be yourself. It's going to be hard, but your friend is going to need you more than ever- even if they don't acknowledge or show it.

Just be yourself. But avoid going to Russian underworld knife-fights for betting with him.

Befriend all his/her personalities!
Sorry that was mean. Listen to the good people above, their answers were sincere and good.