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Janet Love: ‘One problem is that there are no agreed causes or cure’
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Janet launches group for carers who no one listens to
Mother’s Loving Someone in Psychosis to give a voice to carers
LIFE was relatively ordinary for trainee psychotherapist Janet Love until her son became mentally ill while studying for a PhD
It was the beginning of a seemingly endless nightmare, not just for her son, but also for the family desperate to help him. But rather than accept a bad situation, Janet decided she wanted to learn more about psychosis, an illness that afflicts one in every 100 of us.
Now Janet, 58, who lives in Islington, has established Loving Someone in Psychosis, a new charity to support carers.
The group meets fortnightly at St Mary’s Church, in Upper Street, close to her home. There are four trustees and about 18 carers like herself.
With the current epidemic of psychosis cases, including many associated with heavy use of cannabis, the ideas and aims of the group are expected to catch on
nationwide.
Describing what happened to her son, now 27, Janet explained: “He was doing his PhD but was forced to drop out. He became withdrawn and didn’t realise what was going on.”
The problems began to affect the entire family. “He wasn’t aggressive or violent,” she added. “But he was diagnosed with psychosis. The problem with this illness, which is often described as schizophrenia, is that the patient doesn’t always know they are ill. He thought he was fine.”
She believes one of the biggest problems is that no one listens to parents and carers until the sufferer is a danger to himself or herself or to others.
Janet said: “It’s like a tightrope existence. It wasn’t easy to get help when someone doesn’t know they need help.”
As a therapist, Janet believes she has gained insight from her experience of helping someone with psychosis. “Carers feel more comfortable talking to me about their problems because I’ve been there,” she added. “There is often a sense of shame in the family and members don’t always find it easy to talk about it. Or they feel disloyal to the person they love who is ill.”
The aim of the charity is to offer psychological and social support for carers.
Her son is now much improved and the family hope they are over the worst. She said: “I don’t know what was worse, living on a daily basis unable to help or do anything. That sent me crazy. Or visiting him in hospital and seeing him drugged up like a vegetable.”
Figures for psychosis are said to be above the national average in Islington and Camden. Nationwide, the big surge of so-called cannabis-induced psychosis is said to have contributed to a 44 per cent rise in admissions to mental hospitals.
Janet said: “We have members whose children are sufferers or whose parents have psychosis. One of the main problems is that there are no agreed causes or cure. That leads to feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.
“It might mean a lifetime of medication if you are lucky. But there is also a problem with side-effects with some drugs. In our group, we want to be able to offer another opinion, including spiritual support and drug-free care. Most of all, we want to be heard.”
To find out more, go to www.lsip.org.uk or email info@lsip.org.uk
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