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A psychotic episode can be confusing and frightening for young people and their families and friends. The Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) web pages offer a number of tools to help you understand the condition, treatment options, and strategies for living with psychosis. The Questions & Answers page provides information about the most common concerns.

The resources below include printable materials such as factsheets, brochures, and a glossary. You'll also find online and telephone assistance, informative videos, and more. An asterisk (*) appears next to those resources produced by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). This list of resources is not comprehensive and does not constitute an endorsement by NIMH.

Videos
Understanding Psychosis

What is Psychosis? Psychosis and its symptoms and causes are described. Advice is also offered about what to do if someone you know is experiencing psychosis. (Developed by the Center for Practice Innovations, Columbia Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute for the New York City Thrive Learning Center.)

Voices of Recovery Video Series: Young women, men, and parents share inspiring and informative recovery stories. (Developed by the Center for Practice Innovations, Columbia Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute with funding from NIMH.)

* Google+ Hangout on First Episode Psychosis: Dr. John Kane and Dr. Amy Goldstein answer viewer questions about first episode psychosis.

Psychosis-Early Detection Saves Minds: D eveloped by NIMH grantee MindMapCT

Treating Psychosis

* Treating First Episode Psychosis: Dr. John Kane discusses treating first episode psychosis using coordinated specialty care.

Implementing Early Treatment of Psychosis: Dr. Lisa Dixon talks about her personal interest in RAISE and about developing first episode psychosis treatment programs in communities.

Antipsychotics, Weight Gain, and How to Keep Kids Healthy: Dr. Christoph Correll, a professor of psychiatry at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine and an expert in pediatric schizophrenia, talks about balancing the benefits of antipsychotic medications with strategies to address their side effects. His core message is simple: encourage healthy living and always begin with the intervention that poses the smallest risk. He also describes more intensive treatments for the weight gain that often accompanies these medications.

Printer-Friendly Fact Sheets and Publications

* Understanding Psychosis

* Glossary

* Schizophrenia Brochures

Schizophrenia: This brochure on schizophrenia explains what it is, when it starts and how to get help.

Esquizofrenia: El folleto explica qué es la esquizofrenia; cómo empieza y a quién le da; los síntomas, las causas y los tratamientos de la esquizofrenia; y cómo ayudar a alguien con este trastorno.

Understanding Psychosis: Resources and Recovery A resource guide to help young people, parents and loved ones understand psychosis. (Developed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Minnesota, an NIMH Outreach Partner.)

A Sibling's Guide to Psychosis Information, ideas and resources. (Developed by the Canadian Mental Health Association.)

National Organizations

NIMH does not endorse specific early psychosis clinics, but there are several organizations that may be able to assist you in finding a treatment program in your area. This list may not be comprehensive.

Online Resources

Phone Resources

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Information Helpline: This information and referral service can be reached at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.- 6 p.m., EST or by email at info@nami.org.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: A 24-hour, toll-free, confidential suicide prevention hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress is available at1-800-273-TALK (8255)

SAMHSA's 24-hour Referral Helpline: For substance abuse and mental health services, call 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

Additional Information about RAISE

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RAISE Resources for Patients and Families

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A psychotic episode can be confusing and frightening for young people and their families and friends. The Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) web pages offer a number of tools to help you understand the condition, treatment options, and strategies for living with psychosis.

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Caring For Someone With Schizophrenia: What Can Family Caregivers or Parents of Children With Schizophrenia Do To Help?
For schizophrenia treatment to achieve the most results, loved ones should be active participants in, and central to, the recommended regimen. Research has shown that the majority of the patients need sustained support from caregivers and friends in order to make progress in recovery. In fact, family caregivers are really at the heart of schizophrenia management and play crucial roles in helping individuals with schizophrenia to manage the disorder on a day-to-day basis.

Does this sound overwhelming? Don't worry. No one expects you to become a schizophrenia expert overnight and there's training, education, and support available to help you learn about schizophrenia, schizophrenia symptoms, schizophrenia treatments, and schizophrenia daily management techniques and communication tactics. These sorts of support services help family caregivers, family members and patients to improve medical outcomes, promote recovery, lessen stress, maintain balance, and live better day-by-day. Yes, it's an ongoing, long-term effort, but statistics show that it gets results.

Trained, supported, prepared family caregivers and loved ones are able to address challenges (like lack of insight), foster treatment compliance, and productively engage with doctors and other members of the clinical treatment team - all while preventing stressful miscommunications and potential relapse triggers.
Does Schizophrenia Go Away?
There tends to be a lot of confusion and questioning when schizophrenia is first diagnosed in an individual. Most of us, unless we know someone with the condition, don't have a lot of background information on schizophrenia and the general course of this condition can, in itself, also create misunderstandings. For instance, a patient may have an initial psychotic event that prompts diagnosis, but after recovering from that event he or she may not seem ill. Schizophrenia is, however, still present and must continue to be observed and managed over time.

It may be tempting and attractive to doubt the diagnosis but we encourage you to learn more about risks of relapse, especially during the early stages of the disorder, and recognize that with each relapse or psychotic event, the long-term prognosis for recovery and functioning can be impacted.
How To Help: For Parents of Children With Schizophrenia
As a family caregiver there is something you can do.

Parents of children with schizophrenia, family caregivers, loved ones, and patients themselves - working in collaboration with the right treatment team - all play crucial parts in schizophrenia care and recovery.

Evidence shows that if this disorder is well managed early on, if treatments are promptly started and sustained, there's a higher likelihood that the patient will recover than if treatments are delayed. For instance, in the RAISE Early Treatment Program young adults recently diagnosed with schizophrenia receive multi-faceted treatment (medication, psychosocial therapies, and supportive services) and demonstrate great success.

At the heart of RAISE and its first-episode approach is the belief that caregivers (or loved ones) are essential to treatment success and therefore need effective education, skills training, and support.

Clinics across the U.S. participate in RAISE and we encourage caregivers to seek help from a RAISE care program for their loved one with schizophrenia as soon as possible after an initial psychotic event or schizophrenic episode. You may even seriously consider moving closer to a RAISE clinic site if necessary.

With loved ones with schizophrenia, we have learned the hard way that all options need to be considered to give patients the best chance of recovery.
How Much Will Schizophrenia Care Cost?
We'll be honest; getting the best care for schizophrenia can have significant costs associated with it.

Here's some advice to help:

Use publicly available resources whenever available. For example, the State of California recommends that treatment for all individuals with schizophrenia be managed through Medicaid

Seek care through first-episode clinics that follow RAISE treatment regimens, if possible

Keep your loved one on your health insurance plan/health benefit plan for as long as possible.

How Can Parents & Caregivers Engage With the Treatment Team?
If you've made it this far in this blog, you may be under the impression that families and loved ones are always systematically integrated in schizophrenia treatment. We wish this was the case. RAISE clinics and others that follow first-episode models do involve families, caregivers, and loved ones - but many other treatment teams may not, to the detriment of patient recovery. There are many reasons for this (lack of resources, lack of trained professionals in a geographic area, inconvenience/time pressures on families and caregivers, etc.). Fortunately, telehealth services for schizophrenia can overcome many of these barriers making expert-led, holistic care, training, and support of the individual with schizophrenia and his or her loved ones accessible, and affordable... anywhere.
But What about Patient Confidentiality and HIPAA?
Many health professionals will cite patient privacy and the Health Insurance Privacy and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as a reason why it's not feasible to engage families in the schizophrenia treatment process. But such concerns actually represent a common misunderstanding of HIPAA regulations. As long as patients consent to having family members, loved ones, and/or caregivers integrated into their care plan, the treatment team can involve them. Sometimes patient consent may require a few attempts and that's o.k. The time spent in discussing this with patients and gaining their acceptance is time well spent.
What's Coming Next in this Schizophrenia Blog?
In a future blog post we will discuss in more detail HIPAA and how to engage with treatment teams. This seems to be a recurring challenge for many who are caring for a loved one with schizophrenia. Please let us know in the comment section if this is a theme you are particularly interested in. This will help us to apply the resources needed to craft an in-depth blog post on this topic.

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What Can Parents of Children With Schizophrenia Do To Help?

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Caring For Someone With Schizophrenia: What Can Family Caregivers or Parents of Children With Schizophrenia Do To Help? For schizophrenia treatment to achieve the most results, loved ones should be active participants in, and central to, the recommended regimen. Research has shown that the majority of the patients

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My husband and I have been trying for our first child together for about 6 months when we got the news that we were expecting a girl. My daughters name is Lily who is the best that has happened to us in a while. During her first 7 years of life, Lily was diagnosed with schizophrenia. We noticed that she would talk by herself but didn't think much about it since we thought it was normal having imaginary friends. However, her symptoms would get worse. She started becoming more violet toward us and slowly began to separate from her friends. That's when we began to worry and took her to go see a specialist. We now know this illness can be manageable, however it is also important that they have support and love from their loved ones.

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Schizophrenia Information > Support Groups

Schizophrenia Support Groups and Related Resources

Schizophrenia and other serious brain disorders are an extreme challenge not only for the person afflicted, but for the entire family. It helps a great deal to be able to talk with other people who have, or are, going though the same things that you are - to share tips and local resources in coping, and to work together in getting the best possible treatment in your city or area. Both medical research and anecdotal evidence have revealed that a social support network is a vital part of recovery for mental health consumers.

Below is are good sources on for finding such a support group. Also listed are the National Mental Health Offices that should be able to help with regard to the governmental services for mental health. If there isn't a support group in your area, start one - the national offices of each of these organizations are usually more than willing to help! Try the National Mental Health Consumer's Self-Help Clearinghouse for ideas and support.

Also - for quick and immediate support - join in the schizophrenia.com support group discussion areas listed on the home page. If we've missed a group below, please let us know ( szwebmaster@yahoo.com)

Here is a good example of a more progressive approach to providing information to the public, from the British Columbia Schizphrenia Society: PsychosisSucks

Compeer is a non-profit organization that matches trained community volunteers with children and adults receiving mental health treatment. There are over 100 Compeer programs in the USA, Australia, and Canada.

Canadian Mental Health Association - Office Locator

In Europe

In Australia there is the SANE Australia organization

Compeer is a non-profit organization that matches trained community volunteers with children and adults receiving mental health treatment. There are over 100 Compeer programs in the USA, Australia, and Canada.

In Japan, there is the Zenkaren group
A good Japanese Sibling (Brother/Sisters) Groups Listing here

In India, there doesn't seem to be much available - but these organizations seem to offer some help:

For other countries please visit: Worldwide Support Organizations List

Visit the World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders - it is a worldwide support organization for family-oriented support groups.

Web Resources - a comprehensive list of organizations, online reading material, and support/consumer websites, all accessible right from your computer.

Free Support Courses on Brain Diseases for Family Members: We also highly recommend that you take a course offered by NAMI (if its available in your area) called Family to Famil y - a 12 week course that helps family members deal with serious brain disorders.

Good Resources to help you when someone you care about has Schizophrenia

Recognizing and Avoiding Relapse

Other resources to help you and your family cope with schizophrenia:

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This site does not provide medical or any other health care or fitness advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The site and its services, including the information above, are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical or health advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment, making any changes to existing treatment, or altering in any way your current exercise or diet regimen. Do not delay seeking or disregard medical advice based on information on this site. Medical information changes rapidly and while Schizophrenia.com makes efforts to update the content on the site, some information may be out of date. No health information on Schizophrenia.com, including information about herbal therapies and other dietary supplements, is regulated or evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and therefore the information should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without the supervision of a medical doctor.

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Schizophrenia Information > Support Groups Schizophrenia Support Groups and Related Resources Schizophrenia and other serious brain disorders are an extreme challenge not only for the person afflicted, but for the entire family.

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Students with schizophrenia usually have trouble with comprehension and memory.

Graphic organizers to help organize thoughts

mnemonic devices- helps the students remember a lists

reducing stress in classroom (quiet place to do assignments)

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individual and family therapy

medication

specialized school programs

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Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects as much of 2 million people each year. There is no cure that can affect those who have it their whole life. Schizophrenia in children is extremely rare that professions sometimes miss the early signs of the disorder in patients under the age of 12.

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It is believed that it develops similar to adult schizophrenia. Neurotransmitters (imbalances of brain chemicals) play an important role.
Genetics and environmental factors also play a significant role.

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Paranoia - when the child feels others are conspiring against them

Hallucinations - when they see and hear things that do not exist

Withdrawn and isolated - withdraws from friends/family and unable to maintain friendships

Chaotic thoughts - Child is unable to separate fiction from reality

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Childhood schizophrenia - Symptoms and causes

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This severe mental disorder in children involves hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking and behavior that can impair the ability to function.