Schizophrenia: The Perspective of a Father & Brother-in-Law

As I sit here writing this latest entry I wonder what this holiday means to one this illness we deal with daily. Does
someone afflicted with schizophrenia understand any holiday? Possibly it would depend on the stage of the
illness. Could they enjoy a holiday like a person not afflicted? How do they enjoy it? Lots of questions, many
answers. Maybe I can provide some insight, maybe some solutions. Two people come to mind. My son and
brother-in-law whom I write about in this blog. I was married to my son's mother from 1981 to 89. Christmas was a crazy and not always fun time for our son as he would get worked up for it was all confusing to him, my
wife would not even wrap his presents for she felt it would confuse him more. This was always puzzling to me,
after all, isn't one of the joys of Christmas unwrapping presents with anticipation as to what's inside? That's how I took it to be. When my son was little he got virtually everything he wanted from my then inlaws. They always felt the way to solve his problems was with material things such as food or money, it was love to them. This was always a sore spot with me and remains so to this day. My former mother-in-law passed away in 2004. When this was going on it hindered my being an effective father for certain responsibilities were taken away from me, my then inlaws were very domineering people, possibly this was one of many factors leading to my son's mental state. That could be speculation, he could have been born with a chemical inbalance which could have been undetected until this year. Here it is 2007 and we are still learning about mental illness. As for the brother-in-law the Christmas season has always been special to him. When his mother was alive, they went all out each year, when they had two incomes life was good, debts were paid, and they always had money. No more. When she died the extra funds dried up. As of this date he has bought a few gifts. Quite possible the former enthusiasm has faded. His illness is probably the
cause of this. Till next time.-30-