Many relatives are too tired to seek help
Relatives of people who are afflicted with
schizophrenia may find it hard to relax completely, since there
is often something going on around the sick person.
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The sick child affects the parents’ entire existence, and they
cannot live a normal life. A lot of parents live under intolerable
circumstances and many are exhausted. "Think about yourself,
do something fun for yourself" we are often told. But this
is impossible, since we can never stop thinking about our sick child.
Many times we are of course our child’s only social contact,
says Marianne who is a relative in a local organization. There she
often gets in contact with other relatives. Quite a few of them
are older people around 70-80 years of age.
- Many relatives have given up in a way.
They simply do not have the energy to seek help any more, since
they have become disappointed so many times before over not having
received the support they need. Instead they try to manage on their
own, explains Marianne.
(The names Marianne and Jan are fictitious.)
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