The importance of relationships in the process of helping people suffering from schizophrenia
The article presents issues related to the importance of relationships in the process of helping people suffering from schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is one of the most severe mental-health disorder, in its course it often leads to mental disability. Therefore, the mental disability and initiating the recovery process of people with schizophrenia are the most important and central concepts of the text. Working with a patient suffering from schizophrenia aims at preventing disability and minimizing its consequences, and the success of these actions should be measured by the degree to which a disabled person is able to work independently, fulfil daily family and home duties and manage their free time. Creating a good or sufficiently good therapeutic relationship with a person suffering from schizophrenia is a complex configuration of many factors: from purely behavioural and information-sharing to those related to a sense of genuine closeness. The list of factors influencing creation of a therapeutic relationship can be elaborated based on various assumptions, some may emphasize the factor of patients' disability, others – cognitive deficits, and still others may be created based on existential assumptions. In this article, particular emphasis is placed on the area of psychosocial rehabilitation with its specific goals and the role of empathy and therapeutic relationship in the process of recovery of people with mental disorders.