My son is 21 and was dx 4 years ago with PSZ. He has been on many meds but eventually would refuse to take any. He has attempted suicide 3 times. Has been hospitalized 5 times. Once last November he took off to California (we live in West Virginia) I went and found him and got him admitted out there. Since then, my mom died and he was very close to her. He is currently been taking ability shots once a month, but recently it seems it wears off after 3 weeks. He is very disorganized, paranoid about the Chinese who are watching him, has accused his dad of being a cocaine addict, and has a year long g delusion about a real girl who does not know him at all. He regressed and seems like an 8-10 year old. He has been totally honest about everything with me, but lies to everyone else. He suffers anosignosia most of the time along with delusions and voices. How do I go about getting him ssdi and get conservatorship of him? Every attorney I have talked to has no experience with SZ - only elderly dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. I’m at my wits end. Yesterday how best friend called worried about him and my daughter called as well. I do lot live with him. He lives 90 min away with his dad who seems to enflame the situation by arguing against his delusions etc. I’ve read the book, I’m ok I don’t need help ( or whatever the title is) and it did help me some. In my state of WV you can’t get them in the hospital involuntarily unless they are a threat to themselves or others. Right now he is not. But I see this going down fast! He’s gonna have a complete break again soon. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
Guardianship and Conservatorship go hand in hand. Guardianship means you can make medical decisions for him. As conservator you control his money and assets.
Go to a lawyer and take a written out diagnosis of his condition (I assume PSZ). The lawyer will petition a judge to grant you G/C. There will be a hearing and your son will be asked by the judge if he agrees to this, but the judge has the power to rule in your favor even if he does not agree. It is heart breaking either way, but G/C allows you to keep him safer and helps stop crazy purchases.
We hired a specialized attorney to help with SSI when my son lived in NC. Contact your local NAMI Chapter and get some reputable lawyer referrals from them. Also, there was a very minimal charge that the lawyers can charge (25% of your payback or 6k which ever is greater, I believe) and this was taken out of his first SSI check. We were denied, like almost everybody else, on the first attempt - second attempt seems to always be the winner. Conservatorship is a whole other story, especially in California, and it is very difficult to acquire and can only be initiated by a hospital. I hope it’s easier in WV. After attending a conservatorship class, I acquired key phone numbers from the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health to call if and when my son needs it. Best of luck and hope I helped some.
I will share with you that my son was on every medication and a complete hot mess for 3 years until we implemented Clozaril. Diagnosed at 16 with severe psychosis, 12 long hospital stays, dozens of treatment programs, many medications, just pure hell as you know. Clozaril has 100% saved my son’s life as he is now living at home and in the community. Please check out this medication if you haven’t already as it has saved many lives on this forum. He has been stable for 15 months with NO hospitalizations. There is mandatory blood monitoring which deteurs doctors from prescribing, but it has proven to be such a blessing. Xo
My daughter is on 1x month Invega injections. They seemed to work first few months. She is now getting no relief from voices and paranoid delusions. She can tear you apart with her words over the slightest word if you tell her no. Her teenage children are past wanting a relationship. As her parent it is exhausting and truly never ends. She cannot mange money, she draws SSI and works very part time. I hate to think about getting conservatorship. I have went to court before to have her hospitalized. She well remembers and counts all my transgressions against me for fighting to get her help. Does Clozaril work that much differently than Invega? The side effects to both are scary.
The side effects to all of these medications, are scary. But my son would not be alive and living in the community without being medicated, he would be in a group home, an institution or he would be homeless. Clozaril is used later in treatment in the US because of the mandatory weekly blood draws in the beginning to check white blood cells (too low and they body immune system is compromised), after 6 months they check bi-weekly and I believe after a year, the testing is monthly. It is a small price to pay for sanity and my son’s quality amazing life. In the UK and other places, Clozaril is not used as the last line of defense. Clozaril and Invega are both in the 2nd generation anti-psychotic category. I would seriously look up this medication and consider implementing it - it definitely saved my son! Best of luck! Xo
Check out this Clozaril advocate site … https://curesz.org/clozapine-success-stories/