Of all the mental disorders schizophrenia is truly the worse. People suffering with schizophrenia are trapped in their own minds, in a world that the rest of us will never understand. The torment and agony of living with undiagnosed schizophrenia is a human nightmare. People suffering with this horrible disease are often ostracized from the community or stared at when walking down the street. They know they are different and they feel very uncomfortable in the presence of others. Some people suffering from schizophrenia have no family or friends. They are often rejected by their families and left to fend for themselves. However, if a person is suffering from this terrible disease and does not even know who he or she is it is not easy to cope with living independently. Many people suffering with schizophrenia are the people that you see living on the streets, under bridges, and in cardboard boxes. These are the harsh realities of having schizophrenia with no treatment or support system in place. Many times the beginning of support only occurs if they are hospitalized or arrested and then authorities take notice that their actions are caused by the illness in question.

If you feel you have schizophrenia or you have a family member who you believe does and you would like to know where to get help for that person. You can begin by being their advocate to help them get the help they cannot do on their own. You can talk to a doctor, a social worker, a nurse, or call a hospital directly to ask for social services to inquire about where to begin the process of getting help. Hospitals and social service centers may have the sources available to direct you onto the right path to getting help for yourself or for your family member or friend who needs it.

You can try your local yellow pages to see if there are psychiatric services available in your area. You can even speak to your family doctor, or religious leader. Networking is a very useful way of getting information for just about anything, use it to your advantage whenever you have the chance.

Besides local hospitals you can try university psychiatry and psychology departments, some of these university have mental health services that can help you or point you in the right direction for getting help. Try all your mental health clinics in your area, they too might have the services or they can point you in the right direction.

Various communities have hotlines for people who are in need of help. The people running the hotlines may not be professionals but they are trained to deal with people who are having problems and need someone to talk to, a place to stay, or resources to lead them to the care that they require. Don.t assume that a hotline is only to talk someone out of suicide; they are a very important resource in the community for all kinds of mental health and physical conditions. Sometimes they are the only lifeline for a person who is alone and isolated from society.

Depending upon the type of resources you require for yourself or you family member or friend here is a few places where you can begin your search:

Services for mental health and substance abuse in your area:

http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/databases/

Medicare and Medicaid programs to help pay for health care

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MHS/

Affordable Health Care in Your Area

http://www.hrsa.gov/

Clinical Trials . There are currently clinical trials available for schizophrenia and other mental illness, by participating you will help to determine the effectiveness of new drugs and treatments and advance medical research.

More medical resources:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mentalhealth.html

Immediate help for crisis intervention

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/suicide-prevention/if-you-are-in-crisis-and-need-immediate-help.shtml

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