I consider my daughter a success story. Diagnosed at 11, we were able to get her on good meds. She had supported educaiton from our school system. She recognized she is ill, which is 1/2 the battle. She now has a part time job with supported employment. She is socializing at Participation Station, a local NAMI center. She and her therapist are working on her sexuality, helping her determine who she is and gettign her ready to date. She lives with me, helps around the house and is funny, sweet and caring. Getting a job and being successful at it is huge for her. It took A LOT of time, money and finding good resources to establish a strong foundation so she could be sucessful. Iâve sacrified a lot and my marraige failed along the way but itâs been worth it.
Hi Ollvia - You may want to read this - this will be encouraging.
The development of Open Dialogue is linked to evidence of its superiority to normal treatment of acute psychosis. After 5 years (1992â1997) of Open Dialogue treatment in Lapland, 81 % of participants had no remaining psychotic symptoms and 81% had returned to full employment. Only 35 % had used antipsychotic drugs (Seikkula et al., 2006). Similar results emerged from Tornio between 2003 and 2005.
Here is a wonderful success story from NYC:
I know this is not what you typically hear but I do feel like we have dealt with this better this year than last and that we are moving forward. I also think my son is less agitated and that is progress. I think we are always going to have good days and bad days. Still on the lookout for positive things to engage him and get him out of the house.
Still hoping that he will accept treatment.
My daughter is a success story. She was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder at age 18 and is now 38 and functioning quite well without meds. She lives with her boyfriend and has a good job.
What do you think helped her recover?
I think it was mostly the medications. She was taking Seroquel for many years. Also Effexor and Welbutrin. I thought she would have to take them indefinitely but she stopped taking them a few years ago and I never even noticed a difference.
This is happy news. Thank you for sharing .
Hi. My boyfriend i believe is a success story.
He is 32, is off meds as well as just celebrated his 1yr anniversary since he quit using drugs/meth and has stopped cutting himself.
We met at a church meeting called celebrate recovery and we both support each other in self-improvement & healing. I met him 6months ago & been inseparable ever since. He struggle still with mild episodes and it helps that he does hav scheduled responsibilities that prevents him from being able to hid or fall into an episode easily. Hes an amazing spirit & i look forward to building a future with him. I been taking the steps to truly understand his unique condition & learning to live with him in my life including his voices in his head that he has learned to accept and manage. Im just grateful we can share things lik that. He doesnt work, hes on disability, honestly i dont think id want him work if it means he can stay healthy. I tell him âdont worry babe ill work with people for the both of usâ, meeting each other in the middle helps. So id have to say i believe a full life with our particular situation, with who we individually that work together well as a couple and his level of schizophrenia can include a family and definitely there is always HOPE 
I just want to add here that sharing even small âwinsâ or positive steps is helpful for everyone.
There is a natural tendency to only come to these forums when you are having trouble or challenges and want support. The unfortunate result is that these forums can be rather depressing at times - we naturally tend to focus on the things that arenât going well.
If everyone can share some of the positive smaller steps that you see happening in your life or those of your loved one with schizophrenia - I think it would really help everyone.
Things are better in our home than they were a year ago, even unmedicated unfortunately. Last year our son was more threatening and out of control. He would rant and yell and my husband and I were his targets. We see less if that although occasionally he will try to start. I leave and donât give him an audience.
He isnât drinking now and is beginning to ask for help albeit very slowly. He is much more trusting of us. Hopefully he will keep the appointment tomorrow with therapist and new doctor.
Things are SO much better here than 2 1/2 years ago. Building the apartment on top of our unattached garage for our son was the smartest thing we ever did. Our son also remains unmedicated, but he continues to be able to do his laundry -oh yeah I put a washer and dryer out there for him, fixes himself simple meals and after working with a therapist (his idea) he even grocery shops for himself. He did his third yearly road trip by himself and did nearly 3 weeks instead of just 2.
We have learned to live around Jebâs illness. Made a place to sit outside on the far side of the house from Jeb, so us outside relaxing doesnât trigger his psychosis . Parked the riding mower and other gardening stuff in a different place where I donât have to worry about startling him into an episode with the garage door going up. Now I can mow our yard whenever I want, I just donât mow close to his garage unless I know he is awake and I donât worry if the grass there gets more than a little long;)
We keep a list of all the property maintenance we need to do that totally freaks him out - his dad with a chainsaw in hand for one thing- now we wait and do that list during his road trip.
At my husbandâs request I have turned off texting on my phone at night. I let Jeb know that he can still call me, those will come through the do not disturb setting, but I wouldnât see any 2am texts until the next morning - and oddly enough- he has rarely texted at night since that change.
Nice setup⌠What is the plan when you and your husband pass on?
We did, finally- just this spring, make all the arrangements that set up the right kind of trust for him in our wills and had the same estate planners do his brotherâs will. The assets are not split equally. With the âextraâ his brother can buy some kind of small home in his own name to rent to Jeb. I donât want his brother to have to constantly deal with Jebâs landlords as I did for several years. I have written âJeb Directionsâ for his brother and, at his brotherâs request, wrote a letter that he could give to Jeb to explain our wills. I even have backup trustees for his brother in place - in case we all three go at once. The two backups (are not married or related) have to both agree to the disbursements of Jebâs medical/special needs trust. The back ups also get to split his brotherâs inheritance. It was the best arrangement we could figure out.
I hand over the âJeb Directionsâ file each time we travel.
Effective medication, group therapy/ classes, and court-ordered sobriety and curfew are helping my family member immensely. I am deeply grateful to the program my family member is in. Every professional who is part of it really wants the members to succeed.
This is something I read once and jotted down in my phone - sorry I donât remember the source.
âParents agree that recovery is when their son or daughter has some measure of stability. There is no cure for mental illness, and symptoms often recur, but accepting and learning to manage oneâs illness is success. Addressing recurring symptoms and moving forward each day, even if by inches, is success. Having routine and purpose, and satisfaction in oneâs life defines recovery. Getting to that goal happens day by day, and those who embrace that journey are to be admired.â
I canât find the (Dr Torrey?) quote that says having awareness does not affect level of personal happiness.
This is an amazing quote!!- I am saving this and will keep it with me so i can refer to it whenever I need it.
Much appreciate it and all the wonderful posts you share @hope
My son developed sz , he is 29. I can not accept to see him for life with this mental illness. I am taking him to Ecuador in a month for a BEAM surgery that cures sz. I will let you know how everything goes. Name of the doctor: JOSE MACKLIFF.
Gigi - I cannot find any evidence that this so called âbeamâ surgery actually works. I checked that doctorâs website and its a slick production - but there is no scientific validation of what he claims - and heâs making extreme claims. There are groups (e.g. the Broad Institute in Boston) that are spending $600 Million to better understand the genetics of schizophrenia - but doctor is this under-developed country is claiming results that best researchers and doctors in the developed world canât claim. Iâm extremely skeptical of this doctorâs claims.
While we all want our family members to be happy and overcome the illness - just throwing money at claimed solutions by possible scammers - is not a very good approach.
Before Iâd go - Iâd ask for the scientific evidence of this approachâs efficacy - and share it with the best doctors you know where you live and get some third party opinions on it. I canât see any real evidence on his website - just âtestimonialsâ - which really donât mean anything because they could be from anyone, and are just one point in time (schizophrenia is very episodic - so everyone with schizophrenia has periods when things are going fine, but then stresses cause sudden episodes of psychosis).
Please be skeptical and careful with this type of thing. When people make extraordinary claims - like curing schizophrenia - they need to have extra-ordinary evidence. And this guy doesnât from what Iâve seen on his website. In my opinion It looks more like a slick sales brochure by a doctor who really just wants to make a lot of money.
Website isnât even that slick - multiple spelling and grammatical errors!