Any advice greatly appreciated
Hi , yes educate yourself as much as you can . Go to NAMI classes . make sure he has a good psychiatrist to prescribe meds . Be patient , give him love and support , this is a brain disease so remember separate your son from the illness meaning if he hurts you with harsh words its usually the illness . start writing a journal , dates when he was diagnosed , meds doctors and symptoms , you will need this further down the line to relate back to it . This is a horrific disease and i am on the 3rd year with my son and still digesting it all . When did he get diagnosed ? he should have a full examination to make sure nothing else is causing this . Good luck and this is the right site to be on .
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Thanks
He doesn’t believe he has a problem
So medication is a struggle
Really finding this hard
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Get him om Clozapine as soon as you can saved my grandsons life. My grandson now works fulltime and has moved out.
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Is it safe
Are there side effect if so what are they
My son is 26 and he’s just started using Clozapine a few months ago. He’s been diagnosed Schizophrenia a few years back. This drug helps calm him down. Especially helps him sleep. Try it. It made a world of difference for him.
I am new here. We live in Ohio. My son is 22 and was just diagnosed with schizophrenia, the paranoid type.
I am overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin. This is his first episode of psychosis. I am going to go to classes once he is out of the hospital.
Thank you and good luck and prayers to all.
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NAMI classes “woke” me. My son’s hospitalizations were the first I really learned about mental illness and when I sat in that first class and they read off the symptoms of the different SMIs, I realized that not only did my son suffer from mental illness, but that I did too. These forums are pretty amazing, keep coming back. My son improved a lot, so I took a break but we’re in transition right now (and COVID) so I need to read, like, and talk again and we’ll get through. Good luck to you and your son.
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My son is 23 and diagnosed with schizoaffective bipolar last Thursday … I visited him each day in the hospital and saw his progress each day. He was home 2 days and then a rapid decline… not sleeping, grandiose feelings of he and God going to save the world, manic and mean to my husband and I . I hate this I hate this for him and for us. I hate that I have a sweet young man in there that loves his mama. Earlier today the crisis team came to evaluate him and shortly after he was hand cuffed ( for safety) and sent back to the hospital. We had our first NAMI training hiding out in the truck in the garage because my son doesn’t think there is anything wrong and it was educational and hopeful.
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Hello! I’m new to this forum. My very best friend of 30 years has a son who has been recently diagnosed with schizophrenia. He is a twin he is 27 years old. I am more worried for her now as she needs support from other parents who are going through this. Can anyone recommend any support groups that she can attend. The CARE program through UCSD is suppose to be very good. He did a phone interview and now she will wait to see if he gets to go to the next step of a more intense screening. If anyone has any suggestions as a place to start please message me back. I’m extremely worried … thank you
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@Dianad Unfortunately, this fits the exact pattern: discharged from hospital after 5-10 days, maybe doesn’t keep taking meds, still psychotic, doesn’t think he is mentally ill and doesn’t need to take drugs.
Either something good will happen and he will go through this period, stay on meds and recover. Or that won’t happen and something bad will happen and he will have to go back to the hospital in months or even weeks.
The only thing that might help is to read this book and do what it says: I Am Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help! How to Help Someone Accept Treatment
Hi Charmaine. “Finding this hard” is spot on. Glad you are here. Support, support, support. He not believing has a problem is a real part of the disease. Goal is not to convince him he has a mental illness (bc the illness itself does not allow him to see he has an illness) but to best figure out how to navigate this uncharted, new territory. HIGHLY recommend NAMI local support group (online most likely), Dr. Amador’s book LEAP (check out his TedX on youtube, profoundly helpful), look for a local community service board that has support for him (emergency and non-emergency) such as therapists, case managers, possibly psychiatry. We are almost 2 years in as my son was s18 and about to move out for college when he had his first psychotic episode. Oh yes, and look up information re. First Episode Psychosis. Much online re. benefits with getting help “early” (within 6mos - 1 yr) and groups all over the nation that help with First Episode Psychosis
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