The Tsunami effect of Schizophrenia

Very much like the effect of a Tsunami, Schizophrenia hits families with little to no notice if one isn't really paying attention. The receding waters of the ocean, until the formation of the big wave is all what parents get for notice on the devastation.

Being puzzled is one's first clue. Is my child's behavior a phase to get noticed? If I don't put too much emphasis will it go away? Is it a late stage of rebellion? Is my son/daughter on override?

After a while, when the first symptoms are here to stay, we move on to the next series of questions:

Is someone really following him? Is he in trouble with the law? Is he on drugs? Anything could be better than a mental illness lucid if it ever crosses our minds.

  After a length of time which could take until the initial evaluation and prognosis, we start hearing the word schizophrenia for the first time. This is when I personally started looking for self-blame interpretations: Is it because.... But why my second child didn't.... I did raise them the same way.... Unevitably? The self-blame game starts taking over, looking for clues and reasons to explain the unexplainable?
Only when the "tsunami" wave settles, and after we look on its overwhelming effects on our children, our action plan starts taking shape. This is when everything but researching my son's illness became redundant.