I have a 23 years old son who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia paranoid Disorder. On 11/2014, he had delusional thoughts about people are to kill him. He was attending VCU University in Virgnia In 5/25/2015, he drove from VA toward CA & his car was impounded in Kentucky. he got to Los Angelos & contacted my cousin who took him to a psychiatrist upon my request. He was diagnosed in UCLA. Later he saw a psychiatrist in VA . it has been a struggle to convince him to take his medicine. After crisis in VA, he was admitted to VCU Hospital for 7 days. Stayed with my brother in VA then went to Lebanon for 4 months to be with relatives. He came back to US on 11/30/ 2015 to my home in Little Rock, AR. Crisis again with him & he was admitted to State Hospital in Little Rock, AR. He was discharged on 1/7/2016 & was doing OK for one month. After, he lowered his meds dose & later stopped taking his meds Completely. He left my home on 2/22/2016 & ended up homeless in CA. He was admitted to Fremont Hospital in California for 10 days but he refused to Take Zyprexa and they gave him Seroqual.
He was discharged from Fremont, CA on March 22 and he contacted a family we knew and they took him for 10 days. He was skipped medicine for few days then get back on it with the Family help. He started feeling Paranoid couple days ago and wanted to leave and contacted my brother who lives in the area. My brother drove him to Stanford Emergency clinic upon my son’s request. But when they get there, my son claims that there is nothing wrong with him and did want to be treated. I think he wanted to go there because he thinks the Emergency clinic is a safe place for him. He usually feels safe on Airports Terminals. My brother left him at Stanford CA Emergency Clinic. My brother spoke to Emergency clinic police and explained to him the situation. The police talked to my son and find him coherent and told my brother there is nothing they can do unless he starts being a threat to himself or others.
My brother suggested that I should not give money even for food so we can be force into Treatment. My heart as Mother does not allow me to starve my son. My son has been through a lots : homeless on Airport terminals and homeless on Streets and from family to another.
I know the laws in California are not strict and I want to get him back to Arkansas. In the mean time, How should I help him. I know without medicine, he is getting worse.
I am very sorry to here that you and your family are going through this trying time with your son. We can feel your pain. My son has been hospitalized 3 times. He is in the hospital as we speak. It sounds like your son has a lack of insight on his illness like my son. They don’t believe that they are sick and will not seek help. They will take their medicine for awhile and stop taking it because they say they’re not sick . I remember taking my son to the crisis center 2 months ago. He was delusional and talking about he don’t want to live. They ask him basic questions like his name, where he lives, who’s the president etc, and because he passed those basic questions. They wouldn’t admitt him. When we got to the crisis center, he didn’t talk about he didn’t want to live anymore. And because he wasn’t talking about it. They said they couldn’t admit him unless he’s a danger to self or others. What you may have to do is go to a probate court house and have him section against his will. That will be a start. I am new to this because my son was diagnosed in Sept of 2015. He is also Bioplar. God bless you and your son. I will keep you in my prayers. @Holly67 may have some more suggestions for you because she has been a great help to me.
Thanks you so much for your prayer.
Actually, I just learned that mys on is being evaluated to the Emergency Clinic at Stanford Medical Center.
I hope to hear from His social worker and his Doctor soon. i am sorry about your son and i will light a candle for him and say a prayer also.
I am so sorry about your son. I know what schizophrenia does to family members. My sister, once a perfectly normal, energetic, popular, talented, intelligent student athlete changed overnight…she woke me up at 2am saying there were people outside her window…she heard voices…and has never been the same. They are finding out that schizophrenia is likely caused by and infections, bacteria, even parasites in the brain, so you may want to test him for everthing from Lyme Disease to Toxoplasmosis Gondi, Cytomegalovirus, Borna Disease Virus…and also check out below links on schizophrenia and treating with a tetracycline antibiotic that has proven to give huge relief to schizophrenic patients. I find it troubling that this is not common knowledge in the psychiatric world…but I suspect there is too much money to be made peddling psychiatric drugs. Gives me hope to read articles like this though…I am going to talk to my sister’s doctors about this and will move mountains to try and help my sister get out of the living HELL of schizophrenia.
It is encouraging for all of us to know that research into schizophrenia is moving in so many different directions, and any new idea, no matter how wacky it might sound, is being given due consideration.
I don’t think the money peddling drugs thing applies so much here in the UK, where health care is free and provided by our National Health Service. The NHS spends vast sums caring for schizophrenia sufferers in hospital, so if prescribing a tetracycline antibiotic could reduce that budget, I am hopeful, although slightly skeptical, that the psychiatric drugs would be ditched overnight.