We are currently living in Bangalore and my mom has been suffering from Schizophrenia for the past 10 years. She was on her medications, but recently I could see that the symptoms have increased even though she was on her medications. From the last month she has stopped taking medicines.
I tried convincing her to take medications or to visit a psychiatrist , but she is not listening.
I am very confused ,could anyone please help me.
How does the mental health support work there? I know India is known for poor mental health care, that’s why I’m asking. Is there any good mental wards where they can force her medication? If not, I won’t advise you. Must be a good place otherwise is traumatic and not worth it. Probably does more harm than good.
Talk to her about those issues, remind her her mind plays tricks on her and that she needs her medication to be well. Even if she feels well, you tell her you know she isn’t. She probably trusts you.
Good luck.
I looked up the city name and it is indeed located in India.
I thought it is Bangladesh.
You and your mother are in my prayers. Love and hugs to you. Susie
Technically you can’t change anyone’s mind unless they want to change it. The best you can hope for is to keep trying to motivate her to take them or I guess try to force the issue legally.
I don’t know how that would work in India. She might get stuck in a bad place.
Hi Minni,
Thanks for the reply. It’s true that there aren’t good hospital for mental health care in India .
As far as i heard only if it is an emergency (i.e) .( suicide attempt, violent behavior) they will admit.
She does not accept that she has this problem, so there won’t be any use in explaining about her condition as we have tried it more times.Till now she was taking medicines because of us(me and brother) as we forced her , but recently she started getting the hallucinations more even after the intake of medicines . Now she is thinking that even we are demons and not listening to us. She becomes very aggressive if we try to convince her or argue with her for any matters.
As of now the condition is not serious but i fear that this would finally lead into second suicide attempt or extreme aggressiveness. I have no idea how to deal with this now
Thanks for your love and prayers Susie.
I feel that our family can take care of her , even though we are facing difficulties in it.
She is able to do her daily chores without issues , but having problems in decision making and she lost her logical thinking capacity.
We don’t want to send her to any health care homes as that might be bad and it might aggravate her condition
I wish I knew how to help you and her. Can you schedule an appointment with a private psychiatrist and go with her?
She is not ready to visit any psychiatrist as she thinks that the problem is outside and not in her. She thinks that we are trying to make her unhealthy by giving the psychiatric medicines.
It’s so difficult with this illness, I know… I wish there was a way to help.
Maybe remind her of the times she was alright with meds, and that you want her to be well again.
I think your only solution is forcing her into going to a psychiatrist appointment and a change in medication.
Thanks for your empathy and ideas.
We are trying different kind of tactics daily to make her realize that she needs medication.
I hope that works soon.
Alright, best of luck!
I know how frustrating and impossible it feels to try and get them to take their meds. It’s like a catch 22 … they need to take them but they either forget or don’t want to. And I also comprehend how the caregiver finds it hard to have a normal life. I love my daughter very much, but this has been so hard because she monopolizes all the attention. And I have 4 other kids. They are all grown up, but it would be nice to be able to spend equal time on each of them. Yet, I will be praying for you, and my heart goes out to you both,. Hugs
Hi,
Very sorry to hear about your situation - I know its very hard on everyone.
Generally - what the experts recommend is that you focus on the problems that the person who seems to have schizophrenia is having - and work to help him or her with those.
For example - perhaps your mother is having problems sleeping, or is unhappy just sitting at home and would like to get out more and then slowly help him or her see the benefits that she gets from the medications and how it improves her life. At the same time - perhaps the medication she was using was causing her problems, for example some medications cause people to feel bad in some way. Perhaps a different medication would be helpful. There are many medications available to help your mother.
Last time I was in india - i could just walk into the pharmacy and ask for any medication and purchase it. Is it still this way? Perhaps you could buy some of the other medications and get your mother to try the other medications?
Here is some more information that might be helpful:
First Aid for Schizophrenia / Psychosis
http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/005561.html
Medications for Schizophrenia / Psychosis
What kind of tactics. I am in the same boat and sinking fast!
Thanks for your empathy and ideas.
We are trying different kind of tactics daily to make her realize that she needs medication.
I hope that works soon.
I am in the same boat. This seems to be a common symptom. Too bad we dont have a workaround yet.
@sreescarlet can i ask you if anything worked?