State of Mind

Meds and Support

It isn't just about recognizing the problem, it's about accepting it too. There are a number of reasons why schizophrenics don't stay med compliant. It includes the feeling -

1. That they are all right and don't need the medication anymore
2. Feel that people are forcing them to take the medicines to poison them.
3. Simply forgetting to take the medicines because the short term memory of schizophrenics is weak.

But one of the most difficult and unique situations for a schizophrenic against helping himself get better is the feeling that they are losing their genius because of the meds. The newer generation have been inspired by the genius of John Nash as depicted in his biographical movie 'A Beautiful Mind'. And I know a person who hasn't been diagnosed, but shows all the paranoid and delusional symptoms of a schizophrenic to avoid going to the doctor (his family seems not to understand his problem) even when he recognizes his delusions, and fears that taking the meds would take his genius away. It would make him lose the powers that have been bestowed upon him by this state of mind. He will be the ruler of the world through his genius, and no one can stop him. His parents do not acknowledge his illness, and only he himself recognizes his condition and can help himself.

What he doesn't recognize is that the worst that will happen is that he'll kill himself due to his suicidal tendencies. And the best that can happen is that he'll go to a doctor and talk himself out to get himself on meds.

The way to deal with such people, and with schizophrenics in general, is that one should never try to oppose their thoughts, try to tell them that they are wrong. Let them believe what they believe, as long as they believe, since you can only make them stop trusting you. You should give them little pieces of information to think about, things that they themselves acknowledge (you should hear them first before trying to say anything) and then try to support their viewpoint but give it a slight questionable degree that doesn't seem confrontational either.

Commitment is always an option, but the right people, family, need to understand and acknowledge this dreaded and widely misunderstood illness themselves.

In the end, all you can do is to have tried your best and be happy, for if the person kills himself, and you start crying, the state of mind undergoes a chain reaction interacting with people around, and you might just end up letting another person die when you could have saved him. In the end, all are happy, and if they are not, then it is not the end. Believe. Fight!