The organization aims to raise awareness about the disease and provide support and consultation for families and caretakers who work closely with Saudi nationals suffering from this psychological disorder.
Dr. Rabia Anwar Hawary, a psychiatrist at King Khaled University Hospital in Riyadh, said genetic factors play a major role in whether a person will succumb to the debilitating condition, whose symptoms include delusional thinking, extreme paranoia, violent tendencies and hallucinations.
"The impact on the patients' families and the caretakers is huge, as the symptoms of schizophrenia vary from one person to another and might go undetected or unnoticed," said Hawary.
There are various types of schizophrenia that can manifest different types of debilitating behavior.
"Raising awareness in society is very important, particularly among the patients' relatives and caretakers," said Hawary, adding that it was essential for the established societies and associations to cooperate and collaborate with the hospitals, institutes and social workers in order to provide the patients' families with the necessary knowledge and tools to deal with schizophrenic patients.
"Some cases, require intense care while others require only medium care and the patients can go about living his life under tight supervision," said Hawary.
Al-Farhan pointed out that the association could offer support to the patients' families through health-care providers in specialized centers.
The organization also maintains a database of the disorder to collect essential information, cooperate with regional and international entities and conduct necessary statistics for study and research.
