{"id":16074,"date":"2023-08-25T16:31:36","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T20:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/?p=16074"},"modified":"2024-01-30T16:34:23","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T21:34:23","slug":"parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/","title":{"rendered":"Parenting after Receiving a Schizophrenia Diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"When I was in my darkest hour, amid psychotic episodes, there was light pulling me forward. I just knew I had a future ahead of me where I would get married and become a mother. This desire and calling, at times, led me forward and gave me direction into my future.<\/p>\n

I have now been in remission from any symptoms of schizophrenia for 11 years. I\u2019ve been married for five years and my son is three years old. Our trio family is happy, content and thriving. There is so much meaning behind parenthood for anyone, but for me especially, when such a positive outcome was unlikely.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve learned some takeaways from my experiences so far about the meaning of giving birth and raising a toddler while in recovery from serious mental illness (SMI).<\/p>\n

What Having a Child Means to My Recovery<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Having my son has helped me move on with my life after schizophrenia. When you are caring for an infant, you have very little time to dwell on the past or think disproportionately about yourself. To me, parenthood is putting yourself second to the needs of your dependent. Instead of allowing myself to experience feelings of sadness over the lost years of my life, I focus on the new life in front of me \u2014 a life in which I am constantly needed. That importance gives me direction, purpose and peace. Instead of continuing to wonder why my life had to be the way it has been, I am completely focused instead on how to make sure my son has the best life possible.<\/p>\n

I take joy and pride in every opportunity my husband and I can create for our son to have a healthy childhood and successful life. My dream is no longer that I could have had a different life, but that my son can have a different life than mine \u2014 a life that is better. By making his life better, focusing on him and being the best parent I can be, I am growing, healing and improving in the process as well.<\/p>\n

I Have No Regrets<\/strong><\/h4>\n

At this stage in life, there are no more \u201cwhat ifs.\u201d There are no more nagging regrets like, if I only had never gone off my antipsychotic, if only I hadn\u2019t had psychotic breaks, maybe that would have made me a different person now with a different kind of life<\/em>.<\/p>\n

My son is so perfect and precious, sweet and delightful \u2014and this beautiful human could not have existed if everything in my life did not happen exactly how it happened, literally down to the day. If I hadn\u2019t had those psychotic breaks, in which my life was on hold for years, the timing would have never worked out to meet my husband, either.<\/p>\n

That something so perfect and precious could come out of my life is confirmation and proof that my life is on the right track \u2014 that everything that once seemed random and bizarre and painful could come together in a way that still produced good things. My husband and son are second-to-second reassurances in my life that all my decisions, even the regrettable ones, ultimately led to a desirable outcome.<\/p>\n

My Son Has a Clean Slate<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Often, it amazes me that we could have created someone so wonderful and special. I\u2019m still in awe that, out of so much pain and supposed missteps in my life, we still created a beautiful life that is untouched and unscathed by everything I went through. It feels redeeming. I love that my son has this clean slate and fresh start that I don\u2019t necessarily have myself. I can use everything I\u2019ve learned in this life of mine to give him the best life possible.<\/p>\n

Maybe this outlook is, in fact, a stage of grief \u2014 bargaining, perhaps. But I truly feel that my life will be complete and make sense if my son\u2019s reality is less painful than mine. If my son\u2019s life is better, my circumstances feel fair, and my soul can be at peace. Even if he has a slightly higher chance of experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia than the average person, he is in good hands. I am ready and prepared for any signs of SMI, and our family will learn from my mistakes. I also take comfort in the fact that by the time my son gets older, we will see medical breakthroughs, better treatment and encouraging discoveries that will be able to change the lives of those with mental illness.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard before that deciding to have a child is the ultimate act of optimism, and that has certainly been true in my life. Before we tried to get pregnant, I had to believe that I knew how to make another person\u2019s life better than mine. I had to believe, in spite of everything I experienced, that my life would be \u201cworth it.\u201d I had to decide that even if my son does get a mental illness like mine, that his life is still worth living, just like mine.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, I am hopeful for the future.<\/p>\n

\n

Original article featured in NAMI Blog | August 25, 2023. <\/em><\/a>Image credit: NAMI<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was in my darkest hour, amid psychotic episodes, there was light pulling me forward. I just knew I had a future ahead of me where I would get married and become a mother. This desire and calling, at times, led me forward and gave me direction into my future. I have now been … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97082,"featured_media":16075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ov-merritt","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nParenting after Receiving a Schizophrenia Diagnosis - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parenting after Receiving a Schizophrenia Diagnosis - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I was in my darkest hour, amid psychotic episodes, there was light pulling me forward. I just knew I had a future ahead of me where I would get married and become a mother. This desire and calling, at times, led me forward and gave me direction into my future. I have now been … Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-25T20:31:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-30T21:34:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"734\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"489\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paige Nuebel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paige Nuebel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Paige Nuebel\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#\/schema\/person\/380d0cdc71f69e69b281f9af0aeb28c9\"},\"headline\":\"Parenting after Receiving a Schizophrenia Diagnosis\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-25T20:31:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-30T21:34:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/\"},\"wordCount\":873,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Our Voices - Sarah Merritt\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/\",\"name\":\"Parenting after Receiving a Schizophrenia Diagnosis - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-25T20:31:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-30T21:34:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#\/schema\/person\/380d0cdc71f69e69b281f9af0aeb28c9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog.png\",\"width\":734,\"height\":489,\"caption\":\"illustrated smiling woman holding a baby\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Parenting after Receiving a Schizophrenia Diagnosis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/\",\"name\":\"UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health\",\"description\":\"Department of Psychiatry\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#\/schema\/person\/380d0cdc71f69e69b281f9af0aeb28c9\",\"name\":\"Paige Nuebel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/757336112c615b7beba59a0f8d4fce83256c4995313786854281e166d2da4c16?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/757336112c615b7beba59a0f8d4fce83256c4995313786854281e166d2da4c16?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paige Nuebel\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/author\/paige-nuebel\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Parenting after Receiving a Schizophrenia Diagnosis - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Parenting after Receiving a Schizophrenia Diagnosis - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","og_description":"When I was in my darkest hour, amid psychotic episodes, there was light pulling me forward. I just knew I had a future ahead of me where I would get married and become a mother. This desire and calling, at times, led me forward and gave me direction into my future. I have now been … Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/","og_site_name":"UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","article_published_time":"2023-08-25T20:31:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-30T21:34:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":734,"height":489,"url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Paige Nuebel","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paige Nuebel","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/"},"author":{"name":"Paige Nuebel","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#\/schema\/person\/380d0cdc71f69e69b281f9af0aeb28c9"},"headline":"Parenting after Receiving a Schizophrenia Diagnosis","datePublished":"2023-08-25T20:31:36+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-30T21:34:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/"},"wordCount":873,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog.png","articleSection":["Our Voices - Sarah Merritt"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/","name":"Parenting after Receiving a Schizophrenia Diagnosis - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog.png","datePublished":"2023-08-25T20:31:36+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-30T21:34:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#\/schema\/person\/380d0cdc71f69e69b281f9af0aeb28c9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog.png","width":734,"height":489,"caption":"illustrated smiling woman holding a baby"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/parenting-after-receiving-a-schizophrenia-diagnosis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Parenting after Receiving a Schizophrenia Diagnosis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/","name":"UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","description":"Department of Psychiatry","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#\/schema\/person\/380d0cdc71f69e69b281f9af0aeb28c9","name":"Paige Nuebel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/757336112c615b7beba59a0f8d4fce83256c4995313786854281e166d2da4c16?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/757336112c615b7beba59a0f8d4fce83256c4995313786854281e166d2da4c16?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Paige Nuebel"},"url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/author\/paige-nuebel\/"}]}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog.png","featured_image_medium":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog-300x200.png","featured_image_medium_large":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog.png","featured_image_large":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog.png","featured_image_thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2024\/01\/Parenting_Blog-150x150.png","featured_image_alt":"illustrated smiling woman holding a baby","category_details":[{"name":"Our Voices - Sarah Merritt","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/category\/ov-merritt\/"}],"tag_details":[],"_links_to":[],"_links_to_target":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97082"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}