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 Flora is 57 years old and has been caring for her elder brother Leopold since her teenage years. Leopold was diagnosed with schizophrenia 40 years ago, when he was 20. Flora has picked out a turbulent episode here, describing the dramatic events of a very long night, when her brother got lost after injuring people, was searched by the police and herself being full of fear that something terrible might happen.  

 Anja is the 40-year-old sister of her 3 years younger brother Karl, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 17. She describes how her brother was threatening other members of the family and how she managed the dangerous situations because she knew her brother was trusting her.  

Carola is the 58-year-old sister of Markus, actually 64 years old, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia 36 years ago, when he was 28. Carola has been accompanying her brother the whole life and tells us about legal and financial problems she has encountered in the health care system, and also the help she received from attending counselling sessions of a family self-help organisation.  

Olivia is the 58-year-old sister of her 66-year-old brother Stanislaus who was diagnosed with schizophrenia 43 years ago, when he was 23. Olivia describes at length her distressing experiences as a teenager of her brother's disease and the year-long inability of her parents to deal with it, and how she finally came to terms with her brother’s disease after joining a self-help group of affected siblings.  

Jana is the 40-year-old elder sister of the 36-year-old Sabine who was diagnosed with schizophrenia 15 years ago at the age of 21. Jana describes a story of success – how, with the help of her family and friends, and also with medication and psychotherapy, her sister learned to live with her disease and became successful in life, even getting a degree at university and living now with a partner.  

Dorotea is the 33-year-old sister of her 26-year-old brother Christian, who had suffered from drug addiction for a long time before he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia five years ago. Dorotea’s story is dominated by Christian’s past violence and continuing threats of violence against all family members, leading to constant fear, desperation and helplessness.  

Alice is the 27-year-old sister of Victor, who is 24 years old and was diagnosed with schizophrenia 6 months ago. She describes how her brother increasingly behaved strangely after a serious accident which kept him in bed several months, how he developed ideas of persecution, was confused in his thinking and moved out of the family home, with only occasionally contacting his sister but refusing help.