AS a mother who cares for a son with schizophrenia, Maria (not her real name) can attest to the difficulties caregivers commonly face when dealing with loved ones who are mentally ill: their reluctance to see a doctor or take their prescribed medications.

Her predicament started when her son's psychiatrist tried to persuade him to take a blood test.

"After he refused to have his blood taken, the doctor told him that his medications had side effects that needed monitoring. But instead of complying, he refused to go for his doctor's appointments or take his medications," says Maria.

Since then, she has visited her son's doctor every fortnight and started putting her son's medications in his food to make sure that he gets his daily medications. That worked for two years, until her son found out and refused to take the food she prepared, too.

At her wits end, she requested for liquid medications to put in her son's drinks. However, the medications did not work very well.

"He still talked to himself, and it was then I decided I had to admit him," she says.

As she is unwilling to have her son brought to the hospital by the police, she slowly convinced her son to see his doctor and finally got him admitted.

"Now he has resumed taking his medications, and one of my friends even offered to recommend him for a job," she says with a smile.

In many ways, Maria's experience shows that with perseverance and patience, a family member can help a patient manage his illness, even when the patient is reluctant to seek help or continue treatment.

"There is no reason why a patient cannot be managed without the doctor seeing him," says consultant psychiatrist Dr Yen Teck Hoe.

This is because unlike diseases like hypertension that require the patient to be physically present in their doctors- office to be properly assessed, psychiatric illnesses manifest in the patients' behaviour - in the way they talk and react, he explains.

That is why family members can also give a good picture of the patient's condition or progress, he adds.

He notes that there are times when family members have to see the doctor on behalf of the patient in order to manage the patient until he or she is willing to come forward and seek treatment.

"With medications, some patients may calm down enough to come for treatment," he says. "There are even times when family members will need to call the police. I know it is unpleasant, but for the safety of the patient and also the family, we have to do it."

While guilt is commonly felt by family members who are forced to resort to desperate measures to help their loved ones, Dr Yen appeals to them to look at the big picture.

"You may think that your son will hate you for life, but you will soon realise that when he is stabilised, he may acknowledge that it was actually beneficial for him (to be able to seek treatment)," he concludes. -The Star/Asia News Network