Thank you for replying. My son try to keep it as a secret. He asked me to take him for therapist for depression at the beginning. The therapist had to tell me his symptoms secretly afterward. He saw couple therapists and try to get some help from them. Both of them told him to see psychiatrist and take medicine. Since then, he no longer want to see therapist because he thinks that they are not helping at all. He never open up to me about his illness. Every time I try to convince him to see doctor or therapist, he will get extremely mad. He insisted that he doesnāt need help or medicine. He said he just trying to live his life and why I keep bringing it up. It really broke my heart when he said that. I think the side effects from med really scare him. I really donāt know how bad is his symptoms now. He just stay in his room all the time. I really donāt think he can make it through the senior year. I am waiting for him to break down and send him to hospital. I am constantly living in a fear myself.
Btw, I am glad that the medicine had help you. How bad was your symptoms? How did you get over the fear to try med? How long does it take to get you to the right med? How did you cope with your side effect if you have any?
My symptoms were really bad. I spent some time homeless and my parents were thinking about putting me into a group home. Then I started meds and went immediately back to normal. A lot of the newer meds donāt really have much in the way of side effects. Iām on latuda and I have no side effects and am able to go to school for a STEM degree full time. I became sane on the first med I tried, which was geodon, but I had to switch because it gave me anxiety. I have had no problems since the meds started working about 1 month after I started taking them
Are you a male? How long did you wait before you try med? Did you has both auditory and visual hallucinations? I am happy that you found your right med at first try. I would love him to try geodon and latuda because they are weight neutral. My son probably the most stubborn person in the world. He keeps everything to himself . We barely talk now. I truly believe that he will wait until he hit the rock bottom before he seek help. He wants to go out of state for college so he doesnāt has to deal with me because I know his secret.
I havenāt had hallucinations only delusions. Yes I am male. I waited 2 years before going on meds and it was two years I will never go back. I wish I had started earlier had I known how much easier it would make my life. Iām sorry your son isnāt very communicative. He may be experiencing paranoia which caused me to not talk with my parents. Hope he changes his mind to save him from some rough years.
My loved one is also very paranoid and so not talking to me. Do you think there anything that would have helped you feel safer opening up a bit more to your parents? And what convinced you to give medications a try?
Nothing really got through to me until I was less symptomatic. Sorry its just how it was for me. What convinced me to try medications was my parents persistently asking me to go to the hospital, and I mean persistently, and then I was hospitalized where I was forced to take meds.
Thanks, air23321. Iām really glad you ended up on medication that helped and are able to look back with perspective.
dear schizophrenics, have you ever been violent with other people? My daughter spits on medical staff and police, also hits them. She was in hospital for 2.5 months then they told her that she was better, but she attacked a nurse, also a pregnant doctor to show them that they were wrongā¦ They interpreted that she wanted to stay in the hospital longer, but instead they called 911 and she was transfered to a jail.
She has Sz with violent behaviors. Unfortunately, drugs donāt help with behavior.
@Mypreciousdaughter my son got in to trouble with the police and apparently he even spat at them, he also spat at me, his mother and he has gotten in to trouble with the police as he asaulted a stranger due to hearing voices (command hallucinations) and being delsuionalā¦
my son was delusional for many many years, he has only recently got relatively stable the past two months, hopefully it wiill stay that wayā¦im sorry youre having so much trouble with your daughter, is she on meds, have you tried clozapine, its supposed to be the best med
My daughter was in hospital on meds (ability plus some oral drugs). The social worker was talking to her and she was pleasant, then from nowhere she attacked a nurse also present in her room. They think she did it intensionally to stay longer in the hospital. Before the hospital she did not want to leave the jail, stayed there for 4 months, until they transfered her to the hospital. Now she is again in jail. I know there are nice schizophrenics and there are psychopaths with schizophrenia ā¦
Yeah all the time, Iām always violent when people call me a schizophrenic rather than a person with schizophrenia. 
Oh, you mean physically violent? Not really, Iāve been in a couple āfightsā where Iāve been hit but have never landed a blow, and that was before I became ill.
I know you mean well, but by addressing this to āschizophrenicsā in a caregiver forumā itās a bit like the old ādid you stop beating your wifeā loaded question. Youāll get responses from a few caregivers whose loved ones whoāve been violent and maybe a few more whose loved ones have violently destroyed property or hurt themselves. The rest wonāt say anything because thereās nothing to say.
I witnessed no violence in a weeklong hospital stay. A friend of mine whose wife and daughter work at mental hospitals says it happens occasionally, but isnāt much more prevalent than violence at a typical middle school and of similar severity. Does it happen? Of course, and some people with SMI are dangerous, violent and abusive, but most arenāt. But some ānormalā people are violent when they take drugs and alcohol or are stressed or angry.
What prompted me to call people with schizophrenia schizophrenics is the title of this thread (Ask a schizophrenic). So, I apologize.
Thank you for your response. I know that my daughter is not a typical case, she had violent tendencies even before the onset of schizophrenia. She has no inhibition to come to a person and hit them.
@Mypreciousdaughter, my apologies as well. I intended to mention the thread name was unfortunate considering it was started by someone with a diagnosis, but forgot. Not your fault, self stigma is a āthingā. Iām also touchy about violence narratives, because untreated folks who are violent and the disproportionate stigmatized attention placed on them makes my life in recovery complicated.
Thatās completely understandable MB.
My SZ partner acts out violently but itās in general due to a mismanagement of negative emotions on his part. Not a SZ behavior in and of itself. Thereās plenty of people who struggle with appropriate management of emotions who are not MI at all.
Yes, it canāt be said enough that our treated family members are no more violent than the normal population. Its our untreated, or unsuccessfully treated, family members with the violent newspaper headlines. I know I get touchy when people try to say unmedicated people with a severe mental illness are no more violent than the rest of society.
Do you think you will be able to have a full-time job someday and live independently?
Iām not sure if this is directed at me or the thread owner, who hasnāt posted in a year or so.
But Iāve been independent, and self-supporting for about 30 years. I own my own home and have a social life in the theatre community and among work friends. I also completed a four year degree and have additional training beyond my degree.
This a close to best case scenario, so I wouldnāt think of my experience as anywhere near typical. I started with a SZ diagnosis which was later changed to SZA. A SZA diagnosis is associated with better outcomes, and there were other unique elements to my recovery that are further documented in other threads here. I can round up some links up for you if it would be helpful. I post here to give caregivers inside perspectives that their loved ones may not be able to articulate.
Thank you, Iāve enjoyed reading your posts. My son is 24 dx 3.5 years ago, embraces his meds and manages his disease well. He completed a 2 year program for early intervention in psychosis after 1 mo hospital stay. What I donāt see is him managing his life. He doesnāt work or go to school. He rides his bike most days and plays video games. He got a job as soon as he finished his program but it only lasted a month. His boss yelled at him and that was it. I know he was hurt by the experience. Iām wondering if he will gain resilience in time and be able to work.
Thanks again this my first time sharing
Resilience is important in recovery. I was lucky to have a tolerant employer during my initial psychosis and recovery. My chief recurring fear was getting fired or laid off. I must have predicted my imminent firing to family, therapists and my girlfriend at the time many dozens of times. Yet, when I was shifted to a sister company, and subsequently laid off many months later after 13 years of employment, I was calm, read the room and said, āis there anything I need to know?ā
I credit my forays into acting, singing groups and subsequent social interactions for building this up. Actors are forever auditioning and rejection is an integral part of that experience. And while painfully frustrating, demonstrating persistence and a willingness to fill any role, even if itās building scenery or sweeping floors is eventually noticed and respected. And these skills translate to work and social spaces. I often recommend activities that involve social interactions and team activities where people are forgiving of mistakes and where much of success is consistently showing up and trying hard.
Unlike video games, they build skills that directly translate to the real world. Iām not saying video games and online interactions donāt build other useful skills, but these skills are less likely to lead to the social resilience that builds to success in work and other relationships.