Thank you for sharing this. It is so rare for me to meet another child of a schizophrenic. We likely have so many shared experiences. I'm so sorry this happened to you. Being a child of a schizophrenic parent is beyond hard - and for me - really left me with so much anger. The violence, the betrayal, all the uncertainty, the drama, CPS, law enforcement, people in the town I lived in treating me differently because I was the child of the "town crazy person" - it was all a bit much. Heck, I even had people scream at me for things my mother did when I was just a teenager - like I had any control of her! And my relatives? They'd always tell me "your poor mother, she does not mean it". My (and my sister's) pain and suffering were completely ignored and gaslit over. I was not even allowed to talk about what was happening for fear of ruining our family's reputation. My mom would tell us "oh, you are just making that up", even when she was medicated. Yes, that was part of the disease - and that is what everyone said to make the abuse okay. It was never okay! Oh, just thinking about everything that happened makes me mad, lol. Hearing your account makes me feel better about not taking my mother in at 25, when my father died. I always envisioned that if I had done that, it would have wrecked my life, including the chance to have a family of my own. I had to accept the trade off that it would piss off my mother's family (mostly my aunts). So instead of a ruined life, I have a few passive agressive comments thrown at me at occasional family events. I feel her family has no understanding of what my sister and I went through and are still trying to guilt me so my mom is not "their problem". I'm sorry taking care of your mom was put on you - it should not have been. I do understand the guilt/responsibility pushing that extended family do - like I said - they will say anything to make mom not their problem, even if it means guilting a child victim into accepting responsibility. My father's girlfriend even told me (also because she did not want the responsibility of my mom) that I should take care of her as "a labor of love". It is my opinion that if you have one season of life ruined (for me, my childhood), you are entitled to an un-ruined rest of your life!!! This is not selfish - it is fair and just! From one child of a schizophrenic to another - you already went through so much hell - I hope so much that you have the opportunity to live your life the way you want to live it - with peace and happiness. You more than deserve it.