Yesterday, January 30th, I was honored to be a guest on the podcast, “Schizophrenia: Three Moms in the Trenches,” hosted by Randye Kaye, Mindy Greiling and Mimi Feldman to talk about my recently published book, “Schizophrenia & Related Disorders: A Handbook for Caregivers,” which is available on Amazon.

However, let’s cut through the formalities. As caregivers, we understand the harsh reality often unnoticed by many as we try to figure out our own personal “what do I do now?” A friend, April, aptly put it:

“As caregivers, we earn our PHD in serious mental illnesses within the first five years, alongside a master’s in social work. We become versed in SMI pharmaceuticals, medication management, and evaluating SMI symptoms. We become experts in LEAP, CBT, and DBT. Navigating SSD, SSI, Medicaid, and Medicare becomes second nature. Once you realize the system is anything but systematic, you become an advocate for change, utilizing the brief window of time before bedtime, all while knowing you have a full-time job the next morning. To say we face headwinds is an understatement; we’re dealing with category 6 hurricanes.“

Quantifying the time and energy expended in caregiving is a daunting task. In the US, 5.5% of adults, or 14.1 million individuals, had serious mental illness (SMI) in 2021. According to the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, family caregivers spend an average of 20 hours per week caring for their loved ones. Extrapolating this to the caregiving of individuals with SMI, the time commitment is even more staggering.

Taking the lower end of the spectrum, 20 hours, and considering half of the total SMI population (7 million people), the calculation yields 340 million hours per week, totaling 17 billion hours annually for caregiving. Reflect on that. I certainly do.

My aspiration is that my book can alleviate some of that time burden and empower caregivers to reclaim some of those countless hours. I hope I’ve provided each of you with the tool to feel more confident in your caregiving role.

What’s next? Hopefully, my book has given you the answers. And if it hasn’t, I’m here for your comments and further discussion. And, hopefully the podcast was informative. Those ladies who run it (Randye, Mindy & Mimi) are so full of heart and I’m eternally thankful for the opportunity to be with them.