No one can "catch" a mental illness the way we catch a cold. But the people around the mentally ill person can certainly be affected by the illness.
Nicole Gillen found out the hard way when her daughter showed signs of schizophrenia. Gillen found the existing literature lacking, so she wrote her own book, Schizophrenia & Related Disorders: A Handbook for Caregivers.
Book and author get a discussion on the latest edition of Mental Health Matters, our joint podcast with the National Alliance on Mental Illness Southern Oregon.
Listen as NAMI-SO's Andra Hollenbeck and Nicole Gillen get into the specifics of caring for someone with serious mental illness (SMI).