Our history
Family Support for Schizophrenia was founded as Cape Support for Mental Health in Cape Town in 1981 by concerned parents meeting together in a family home.
It was the first support group in South Africa for relatives of people with psychiatric disorders.
Getting going
Inspired by similar groups starting up elsewhere in the world, the founders hoped to create a mutually supportive forum for those in a similar situation.
The broad aims were to provide emotional support, to educate members and the public about schizophrenia, to counter the myths, ignorance and stigma so common in society, and to advocate for improved facilities and treatment for those living with schizophrenia.
Early days
Monthly meetings, either featuring guest speakers or offering small group sharing sessions, were the core activity. Members also actively collected and distributed information and guidelines about schizophrenia and mental health – an important function in the days before the internet – and created the nucleus of the lending library which is still in use today.
Coping skills
In 2008 Cape Support for Mental Health published its Coping Skills for Carers book, which proved to be an indispensable resource for many families. It became the group’s flagship publication and was widely distributed. The FSS 2022 revised edition of Coping Skills for Carers can be downloaded as a pdf.
Setting up facilities
Significant achievements by members in the early years included the purchase of the first Comcare group home to help fill an essential need for supported accommodation; and the initiation of South Africa’s first Fountain House, a rehabilitation and vocational training centre for people with psychosocial disability.
Moving online
From 2020, when it was no longer possible to meet in the old face-to-face way due to Covid, we moved our meetings to an online platform, and started attracting members from across South Africa. As the online environment offers the opportunity to reach more people, we will continue meeting in this way.
A change of name
In 2021, our fortieth anniversary year, our members resolved to change the organisation’s name to Family Support for Schizophrenia in order to reflect our activities, client group and focus more accurately.