How should the family and loved ones behave when someone close to them has problems?

There is no single pattern of behaviour ideal for all patients. You have to remember that a person betraying mental disorders is still the same person you knew before the disease. So you should continue to treat him or her in the same way. You should not dramatically change your behaviour – be yourself. Any unusual behaviour can then arouse suspicion and deepen the feeling of isolation and unreality.
It is natural that you try to learn as much as possible about the disorder the person close to you reveals. Such information will help you understand the person’s behaviour. This will make your contact with the sick person easier, e.g. you will not feel offended by his or her dislike or hostility towards you and will find it easier to overcome your own negative emotions towards the sick one. It is fully understandable that mental illness in your environment causes deep frustration of everyone involved. You cannot blame yourself for anger, hatred, resentment and other negative feelings towards a sick person. Talking with others can only help you to ease the tension.
You cannot doubt that you will not be able to help the patient. It is you, a healthy one, who must support the sick person in the decision about the necessity of treatment because the person himself has no sense of its own illness and does not see the point of treatment. You should not show impatience that the illness lasts too long and does not bring expected results. Belief in the success of treatment is important for both you and the patient.
Sometimes the patient will expect you to make the simplest life decisions for him. This does not mean that he is trying to make us responsible for everything. He is simply unable to think clearly about elementary things. When you are surprised by ever new and bizarre delusions in which the patient is involved, try to understand his point of view. Try to find as much as possible about the world the patient lives in. Try not to oppose him too violently because in this way you will be taken for someone who at least understands nothing or, at worst, becomes the patient’s enemy. That’s all you can discuss when emotions subside. You can then explain your point of view to the patient trying to correct his attitude.
In any case, when the patient is in an acute psychosis, you should not pretend that you think and feel in the same way as he does. You must remember that the patient is completely lost in the world around him and has difficulty in distinguishing real things from those resulting from his disease. Sometimes you are the only safe ground for the patient, but it can be cut from under his feet when even in good faith you do not behave honestly.