How to help diagnosed sister in denial

DX'd - Sz/SzA
1

I hope it’s ok to post this here. I didn’t see an area for supporters and wasn’t sure where else would be appropriate.

I don’t have schizophrenia. My sister who lives far away was diagnosed and forced to go on medication for the time being. I don’t know for sure whether her diagnosis is legitimate because there is a lot of family drama involved and what outside people may see as her paranoia I see as an understandable reaction to controlling, abusive parents.

Since she got away from them she seems to be doing much better. She is working full time, she’s communicating with me a lot more and our conversations are coherent and seem pretty neurotypical. But I am not sure whether that is due to her medication or relief from abuse or both. She plans on moving closer to me soon and going off her medication at that time because she doesn’t believe she has schizophrenia. I honestly don’t know whether she does have it or not but if she does, and if going off her medication precipitates the appearance of symptoms, what can I do? Especially if she is in denial, what is the best way to help her? I don’t want to enable denial but don’t want to make her feel unsafe either.

Are there resources out there for family members and loved ones? What do you wish your loved ones had done better or differently? I want to learn all I can; I’m scared of accidentally pushing her away when all I want to do is help her.

2

It’s actually here

1 Like
4

I’d like to encourage you to join our forum for Family and Caregivers that can be found at:

While this is a peer support forum for people with schizophrenia and other closely related psychotic disorders, the Family forum is specifically for people like yourself, who have a loved one they are concerned about.

Also, please let your loved one know about this forum as they may find it helpful.

Best of luck,

Ninjastar
Volunteer Moderator

5

But real quick, if she really just had a single psychotic episode due to abuse, she should remain on her meds for at least a year and a half with no symptoms to make sure her brain has gotten a chance to fully heal. Then, she should slowly wean herself off the medication under close supervision of a doctor. It can take another year to do it this way, but it is important to do so. Stopping too quickly or too suddenly means she is risking a relapse, which could make her condition permanent.