Mother's are victims too when it comes to serious mental illness of a child. Just as in Alzhiemers, the victim is not just the sick person, but those who love and care for them.

Schizophrenic Victim’s Rights

This is not just about ’your patient’ who may be in your care. This is about the many other victims of Schizophrenia that are involved with ’your patient’. We are the family members who love ’your patient’.  We are the ones who have endless sleepless nights worrying, crying, or living the nightmare with ’your patient’... trying to instill some sanity to the chaos their mind has created.

We are not ignorant people who know nothing of our family members disease. Many of us have probably put in just as many hours studying this disease as you did in college.  We have researched ’the patient’s’ disease to exhaustion hoping to find an answer, a solution... a cure but most of all HOPE.

 We are aware of all the signs, symptoms, and even probably have our own list of all the medications and their side effects handy. We may make decisions about ’your patient’ on what is best for him/her when you are at home sleeping soundly under your covers... Our decisions are not always some generic or politically correct thing to do.

We are the ones who cry for hours out of desperation and hopelessness while trying to remain a calm, strong, force in the presence of  ’your patient’.  We sacrifice the needs of our other family members to meet the daily, nightly, and weekly needs of ’your patient’. Those needs that you are not ’on call’ for.  We don’t get paid to meet these needs, but it is merely a labor of love.

We love ’your patient’ with an unconditional love that never fails.

We are not to be treated as some kind of outsider who has absolutely no business about ’your patient’.  If  ’your patient’ had a broken leg you would offer me some comfort and information... with out violating your oath. In the least you would offer me some sympathy or understanding. For like ’your patient’ we are victims of this disease too.

You can treat me with respect when I walk into your office with ’your patient’ knowing that it was ME that made sure ’your patient’ maintained his obligation to be there.

We respect that you went to college or a University to study the aspects of the disease ’your patient’ has. But unless you have lived in our shoes, you don’t have the life experience to know and love ’your patient’ as we, the family does.

You don’t have the memories of  ’your patient’ as we do. You don’t remember when he/she snuck a cookie from the cookie jar and then said,

’I got the cookie for you, Mommy’.

You don’t remember when ’your patient’ smiled with pride after winning the 3rd grade Spelling Bee.

You don’t remember when ’your patient’ won semi-finalist in Ms. Pre Teen America for her volunteer work, community service, and consistent A Honor Roll reports.

You don’t remember ’your patients’ first kiss or first heartbreak. You don’t remember seeing ’your patients’ eyes light up with delight at the sight of a new puppy dog, or the disappointment in ’your patients’ eyes when he didn’t make the team.

You weren’t with ’your patient’ during the days, weeks, or months that the light of life in ’your patients’ eyes started to flicker... then die.  You weren’t there during the first days of realization that ’your patient’ whom we loved began to suffer something so horrible you can’t imagine... a reality of fear that the rest of us couldn’t touch, see, hear or smell or share with ’your patient’.

You weren’t there for that hell, watching ’your patient’ a once bright spirit with the potential of a fantastic future, fall into the deepest pit of hell on earth.

You have no memories of ’your patient’. ’Your Patient’ is only a shell of the person he/she used to be. Another tortured soul you must treat, even though there is little hope of a cure.

But ’your patient’ to us, is a person we love, and in a sense have lost, but that person is still here. And so are we. Don’t belittle ’your patients’ family when you see them. Respect them, for they do more for your patient in a day than you can do in a month.

If you want respect as a mental health professional, we will give it too you. All we ask in return, is that you realize that we too are ’patients’ with out a doctor, but with equal knowledge and hands on experience of ’your patients’ disease!

RESPECT ALL VICTIMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA