sister in her late 30s developed schizophrenia all of the sudden. why?

It is not uncommon for women to develop sz during their late 30's.  I was diagnosed at 37, but I had had depression and mild symptoms of sz for years.  Up until that time, it just had not been severe enough to impact my ability to work or sustain a relationship.  Then suddenly my mental health was severely compromised and the sz was so serious I had to be hospitalized over and over again.  I think I could have avoided some of that if I had taken the prescribed medications.  But, as sick as I was, I would take the meds just enough to feel better, then I assumed I didn't need them anymore.  Wrong!  Encourage your sister to find a good psychiatrist and to be committed to a treatment plan.  You might also tell her about this web site -- the people are great here.

 

Carolyn

Hello biancehotbabe,

 

There's a type of schizophrenia called Late-Onset Schizophrenia that does occur later in life, and this is possibly what happened to your sister.  I have a friend who also developed SZ in her 30s.  I hear the outcome for someone who develops SZ later in life is sometimes better.

 

Regards,

Christina

It can happen at any time. Stress is believed to be one of the things that causes sz to first appear other times it could be hormones and a variety of other problems. She can still lead a normal life hopefully, usually people who develop the illness go into remission with medication. Family support is very important. no one tainting saying abusive things just because they don't understand the illness helps she needs all of the support she can get. Some people unknowingly or unthoughtfully comment things like nut ward or monkey dope and this can cause the person to not want to take the meds. I think that sz is like any other illness like diabetes or blood pressure problems people have to take medication to keep well. Sometimes certain vitamins may help taken along with meds. Make sure she has been checked for hypothyroidism, b-defienceny, sleep problems-like not going into all stages of sleep and others. Because sometimes other disorders mimic sz. Good luck and God Bless you.