Five tips for living with mental illness

Mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or bipolar disorder are some of the most frequent in our population. Its detection is an impact on the mental health of the patient and his family. The psychiatrist Dr. Zafra gives you some advice on how to cope with this situation.

The detection of a disease is an emotional impact for the patient. From that moment the family will be a fundamental support for your stability, to contribute in your calm you can follow the following tips:

1. The family is an essential support for the patient and must be integrated into the therapeutic approach from the beginning of treatment. If the family is aware of the disease, it is actively involved in the treatment and causes the patient to have a better prognosis.

2. The illness in a relative is a change for all. The family must make use of the tools acquired during the therapies, assuming part of the responsibility that implies making the proposed modifications that help in the recovery process.

3. The family and the patient need to be linked to the professionals to strengthen the support and support in the development of recovery. It is essential to agree and strengthen the changes acquired by forming a single team with common objectives.

4. The family must learn to recognize the warning signs and symptoms that warn of relapses of the disease. They have the duty to inform the professional as early as possible who will propose therapeutic changes, either ambulatory or hospital, to avoid serious clinical situations.

5. The family and the social support must facilitate the destigmatization, the individualization and the maximum autonomy of the patient. The final objective being the active involvement of the patient in productive, satisfactory, socially accepted and rewarding activities.