Moving Towards An Improved Quality of Life!
My name is Linda Zlepnig, my son Dylan, has been living with Schizophrenia since 2003.
20 years ago, at the age of 18, Dylan was diagnosed with schizophrenia. In the following years, he lived in and out of hospital and was estranged from his family. In 2014, Dylan invited me back into his life. I felt despair – I was not prepared or equipped for the journey ahead of us. Clinically, he had ‘stabilized’, but as a person, Dylan lacked motivation, was riddled with paralyzing anxiety, and his physical and emotional affect was ‘flat’. The prognosis at that time was considered to be “as good as it can get”. Full stop!
But what about Dylan’s quality of life?
As a parent, I had been out of my son’s life for years; had little knowledge or understanding of the complexity of his illness and unaware of the intense support we both would need to move forward.
So I decided to step up and became an advocate for my son and myself.
I attended a number of family focused mental health training sessions, conferences, and support groups for families. Most importantly, this led to my enrollment in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Psychosis – Informed Caring for Family Members, delivered by Dr. Turkington.
- Educate yourself on the illness and mental health system
- Be a strong advocate for yourself and your loved one
Network with local mental health resources in your community - Advocate for psycho-social programs such as CBT-p
- Self care for the caregiver