Observations about Family Interaction and the Effect of Therapy: Interviews with Families Eight Years after the Onset of Schizophrenia

This study focused on the development of and changes in the interaction within a family after the onset of schizophrenia in a family member. Special attention is given to the possible effects of various treatments on the interaction. Our method was a circular interview of all family members in a joint session 8 years after the onset of schizophrenia. We observed that changes in family interaction usually had taken place during the first year of the illness. Thereafter, family conditions and interactions seem to have remained relatively unchanged. On the other hand, in addition to actual family-centered therapy, all other treatment modes--individual therapy, medication, hospitalization--seemed to have acted as systemic interventions on the family level. Our observation that family interactions and models of therapy often had a surprisingly strong resemblance led us to consider the idea of their coevolution over the years and the possible significance of this. This article aims at calling the reader's attention to the manifold influences that the onset of schizophrenia and its various treatments seem to have had on family system.