My uncle is 47 and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia for over a year now. He went and got treatment and got better but then he stopped taking his meds and he is gotten bad again. But he is denying that he needs help. I’m only 17 and have experienced a lot and going through a lot. I live with with my 64 year old nana and she is hardly able to take care of him so the caretaking falls to me in most cases but I don’t know how to handle it. He is doing things that can hurt him and us like turning the gas on the stove on and trying to leave claiming he is ‘going home’ but he lives here. He also has been tearing rooms apart and peeing in the floor. But we can’t get him to go to treatment and my nana doesn’t want to force him but I am not handling it well at all. We called 911 last night but they were no help at all. Please I need any help I can get.
@Kyra_Brunning - See if you can find a NAMI group. There are a lot of others who are in the same position as you and their experiences might be of help to you. If 911 is called, you need to be prepared to explain at length why he is a danger to you all. It might be embarrassing but better to be safe than sorry. Take care of yourself and keep us in the loop. 
I’m in CO. When my son barricaded me out of my home, the cops would not do anything BUT they told me to get an Emergency Mental Health Hold. Please start a document and document every thing (ie. the gas turning on etc). and if you can get a photo of him that helps so they know they are getting the correct person. The document of all of his misbehavior will help you plead your case to the judge. I didn’t have to go to court, they did it for me. It took 24 hours but I was on it.
I got the hold through the County Attorney - it was free. I first went to the court house and they gave me the County Attorneys name. If they have this or something like that in your county, they would take him to the hospital and possibly go to court to get him court appointed meds. Good luck - it’s a rough one. My son got better but after a few years went off meds and now I’m not quite sure where he is. Good luck - hang in there.
We had to have him transported back to the hospital earlier today because he hit me and my disabled Nana in an angry episode and they admitted him there. The doctor was able to convince him to stay. We are hoping for the best and that they can help. It’s just a scary thing to deal with as a teen who has no idea what to do. Thank you for the kind words and support!
I know people don’t want to do it, but your uncle may need to be placed in a mental hospital for an extended period of time. Then they can observe him and keep him on the appropriate meds. My son’s has been Baker Acted more than 30 times since the age of 18 and was in one of our state mental hospitals twice for about a year each time. I’ve known families who had a son there for more than 30 years and another who has been in for about 25 years. Sometimes there is little that can be done if the medications don’t work. Take care of yourself and ask your Nana if she’s willing to look into it. Take care,
I feel your pain. I was able to call a crisis hotline and describe my son’s behaviors and they determined that he was in a state of being able to hurt himself or someone else. They had the police come and get him and take him to a psychiatric hospital which was not the best hospital in our area, because of Medicare restrictions they could only keep them for 60 days. He is now out and is not taking his medications. He is staying at a shelter. I have decided that I need to take care of myself and that there is nothing I can do for him that I haven’t already tried. Hopefully your uncle will be compliant with whatever medications they give him that work. Good luck to you and I will keep you in my prayers. I say the serenity prayer all day long. It is helping me keep grounded and not have a nervous breakdown.
I hope for you that things get better and that you don’t have to go through