Question for the group
My daughter has had schizophrenia since she was 13 years old, amongst a host of other neurological or mental health related conditions. My wife and I are currently her co-guardians and caregivers.
During our caregiving journey, we have not found many supports for ourselves. While our daughter struggles with isolation, so does our family as many do not understand what it takes to be a caregiver.
I am in the process of writing down the whole story….over the last 9 years or so. Would this story of what it is like to be a caregiver, including things that I had wished I had known be useful for any of you?
The types of topics include the first days of early intervention, hospitalizations, medication management, working with the school system, working through ECT treatments, working through issues of multiple complex conditions, working through some of the emotional trauma of being a caregiver.
Through our journey, our daughter has been told that she would not be able to finish high school and certainly not college. Well - fuck all those people (including doctors) who said those things to her - because in December she graduated with her AA degree in Dance and she was just accepted to her first professional Dance company.
Sure - it took nearly four years to get her two-year degree, sure - she still struggles with her issues everyday….but she has an inspiring story through the pain and strife of the mental illness she struggles with.
I dont know if her story and the steps that we took would be meaningful to any of you….or if there are any missing pieces to the story that I have not included in it yet that would be helpful.
My goal in writing it all is to provide others in the early stages a picture of what one story looks like….as every story is different….and hopefully some lessons on what I would have done if I could do it all over again.