(Jan. 9, 2017) It’s generally understood that mental illness, especially when untreated, takes a great toll on the person who has it. But family members who take on the heavy burden of caregiving for a loved one with a psychiatric disease are also impacted (“Daughter opens about living with mother diagnosed with schizophrenia,” KRGV, Jan. 5).
Nina Worley became caregiver to a mother with schizophrenia when she was just 17 years old. Worley’s mother, Noemi Cazares, was 37 when she had her first psychotic episode.
“She said the food was poisoned,” Worley said of her mother’s delusions. “She didn’t want us to eat. She locked all the doors. She didn’t want us to get out because someone was going to hurt us.”
Worley and her family felt helpless; they didn’t know the first thing about schizophrenia. The teenager was forced to grow up fast and figure out what was happening.
“It was shocking for us as a family…, [but] I knew I had to help my mom,” Worley said.
Worley started researching everything she could about schizophrenia. She learned that, while there’s no cure, it can be managed with medication.
“You can have as normal life as possible, as long as you take your meds,” she said. “When you don’t take meds you regress and go through the pain again.”
Worley said it has been tough on her to care for a loved one with a serious mental illness.
“It takes a toll on family members; emotionally you go through a lot of feelings. Like me I go through anger then I go through feeling for her,” she said.
In a 2016 survey of 1,600 caregivers, three-quarters of participants reported “high emotional stress” resulting from their caretaking responsibilities. About four in ten found it difficult to tend to their own health, and six in ten said the added responsibility of caregiving had made their own health worse.
Years later, Worley’s mother is doing well and taking her medications. While it may be difficult, family members can help their loved one attain treatment and turn theirs into a success story.
To learn more about severe mental illness and how to get help for a loved one in psychiatric crisis, visit our “Get Help” page.
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