Thanks SzAdmin. My son has never had any episodes. He has always been a bit different, since he was a baby. He was about a month old when he started crying at the same time every day. He cried like he was in pain, every day, at the same time, like a clock. He cried so loud and for quite a while, for no reason, then he suddenly stopped. I remember making an appointment at the pediatrician at a time I new it would happen, and as I was in the waiting room, the hour came and he started crying. It was so loud and a kind of cry as if he were in pain, that the pediatrician left his other patient and came to the waiting room asking “my God what is going on here?”. To which I replied: That’s exactly why I’m here and I hope you can answer that. And no, the pediatrician couldn’t explain what was happening, and neither could the other doctors I took my son to. I was told to give my son some camomile tea and these crying outbursts eventually stopped. I’m telling you this only to give you an idea of how early I’ve noticed something wasn’t quite right with my son. That doesn’t seem to fit most of what I read about schizophrenia either.
Schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder runs in my family. My dad was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder three years ago. Before this no one had any clue that my dad was mentally ill. Except for his immediate family like me, my mom and brother. His paranoia would get the best of him sometimes and cause fights. But he still worked, and had friends. He worked until his COPD got the best of him and he was let go from his last job since they said they were afraid of him dying while working there. He hid his illness so well that social security refused to accept his diagnosis.
My aunt who is my father’s oldest sister has schizophrenia. She was able to hid her illness until her forties but there was something always a little off about her she is to say the least eccentric, But because she was so different her children want nothing to do with her so i got to wonder what happened behind close doors.
I was able to hide my illness for a few months in 2009 until january 17th 2010. That’s when i got fired from a big name retail store because my bosses found me hiding in the clothes racks. Diagnoses has changed from psychotic nos to schizophrenia to schizoaffective disorder.
thought i would say hi.
take care 
Hi. My son is nineteen and recently diagnosed but we are thinking the diagnosis may switch to schizoaffective. It’s hard to tell right now. His therapist still has me sit in on the sessions because he’s delusional and forty-five minutes is just too short of time for her to get the information she needs to fully diagnose. I help move him along and fill in the gaps for her. It sounds like your son has insight which is good at least because he knows he has an illness. Mine is refusing his medication but if we can just try it for a while he’ll gain that insight. He is lucky to have such a great support system like you. It’s hard, very hard, but these forums are great because we learn from each other. Hang in there
I wish my mom and in laws were as supportive as some of the parents and caregivers on here. I’ve never refused meds except fanapt (long story) but whenever I try to explain to my mom or in laws how my dad went they don’t want to talk about it even if I’m not talking about the illnesses.
Well, I’ll listen. 
I know what type of clinic you’re talking about. It’s basically a hospital, but private, more comfortable and modern, without all the stigma and austerity of an official “mental institution”. I understand having a hard time accepting the diagnosis. I didn’t see it in my husband until later. A lot of his symptoms were subtle. If his psychiatrist has diagnosed it, it’s because your son has manifested all of the symptoms at the doctor’s office, even if you haven’t been able to observe them. Keep in mind that it may not be a reasonable expectation to think that your son is going to be able to finish his studies and get a job. It is often very difficult for someone with this illness to handle the pressure of all that.
I think in Germany there is less stigma than in the UK, I worked in Germany with schizophrenia, parental support is essential for your son until he gets balanced with a suitable medication, don’t give up on your son however difficult it may seem i wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my parents support, get your son balanced on meds and then look into the complimentary therapies that are listed on this site like sarcosine, SAMe, Thienine, acupuncture, the most important thing is to get your son balanced, he will require a lot of support, there is hope with right treatments he may be able to live symtom free alll be it he may not be able to work, but with on going support he can regain quality of life.
@ sacred Yes, the clinic he’s in, if you didn’t know you’d hink it’s a hotel, but maybe because it is for less accute cases I think. Like I said earlier, he’s never had an episode. He went there because he himself felt something wasn’t right with him and wanted to go there to learn to be independent. He noticed he wasn’t like his friends and was feeling depressed. He thought they would help him find out what was wrong with him and show him a way.
@scribbler He’s taking his meds but told me today that he will stop because it’s making him agitated and resteless. He said even things he managed to do before like read a book is impossible for him, he can’t concentrate. I asked him to at least wait till he gets back to the clinic later today, and tomorrow he can talk to a doctor there. I’m not sure if there’s less stigma here in Germany, it’s the first time I’m having to face this illness and not sure how people out there react to it.
I’m really very confused to be honest. He opened up today and told me things that were going on in his mind that I had no idea of. He said he sometimes thought people could read his mind. He said he knew that wasn’t possible, but still he is sometimes overcome by these thoughts. What scared me is that my older son was with us and said he has these thoughts too when he’s on the bus sometimes, which he just thought it was some kind of “unimportant weirdness” . Now I’m wondering if I have two sons with the problem.
if he’s got delusional disorder, delusions without hearing voices, it can be harder to treat as patients don’t react well to meds, believing people can read your mind is a common sympton, he is not alone in that, you might want to try adding sarcosine to his regime its available from club supersmart online 500mg -3 mg to settle things down, discuss this with your doctor, stopping meds is everyones natural reaction when first diagnosed it takes a bit of getting used to but stopping meds usually does more harm than good, he will need all the support you can offer him at this time, i hope your son makes good progress, i had it rough at first but after more than twenty years coping with the illness, i am now symptom free with a combination of medication and complimentary meds
Hi @worriedMother . I’m so very sorry that your son and family has to go through this. I remember coming to this website 3 1/2 years ago, when my son first revealed that he had been hearing voices for years. I was terrified about what the future would hold for him. At the time, his social worker reassured me “It’s not the end of the world. There are meds now that can restore him back to normal.” It made me feel better, but now 3 years later, I know that person didn’t know what the heck they were talking about. When it’s your child, it is the end of the world … or at least the end of the world you once lived in.
I live in California (USA) and I’m not sure if there are “Conservativeship or Adult Legal Guardian” type laws available in Germany, but I wonder if those designations are available to parents of an adult with Schizophrenia? I know this will sound like a strange thing to say, but in one way I am little bit lucky because my son has both Down syndrome and (later) developed Schizophrenia. Because of the DS, I already had status of Legal Guardian for him as an adult, and have not had an issue with doctors speaking with me directly. I could really set the legal relationship in stone, by applying for a legal conservativeship.
I’ve always assumed that when parents of certain high profile celebrities (Brittney, Lindsay, Amanda B) went to court to gain the right to make(medical & financial) decisions for their adult children, they were probably seeking a Conservativeship. I assumed that their kids (who seemed to be displaying dangerously reckless behavior) may have been suffering from a serious mental illness such as SZ or Bipolar. When I looked into this option, to protect my role as guardian of my 25 yr old son, Iearned that it is an expensive and ongoing process. Once you are granted the convservatorship, you need to go back to court periodically (annually?) to prove that the adult child is still in need of your care/supervision. Maybe expensive and time consuming, but when the life of your child is at stake, surely worth the effort.
If I were you, I would seek out a Special Needs Attorney, who may be able to give you some good advice on how to proceed. I hope there is such a thing in your country. For sure, they exist in the US.
Good luck to you. My heart is with you. I’ve found that, while things have not returned to ‘normal’, they have slowly improved significantly.
(edited to correct spelling and capitalization errors 
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Don’t lose hope. the laws can work for or against you, has a right to control over his own treatment, even with the diagnosis of schizophrenia which sounds like a misnomer. If he has never had any episodes it doesn’t warrant an extreme diagnosis, psychiatrists are more careful to hand out that label and already people are debating over its name and legitimacy.
I think schizophrenia for some it is a disorder that arises from trauma. Everyone I know who has the extreme symptoms has had extreme trauma.
My 16 year old was diagnosed with childhood onset and he also refuses to keep up with meds. I have the same illness so it is hard for us to put our heads together sometimes. Be encouraged on good days and hold on to hope on the bad is what has worked for me but it is a hard thing to go through. @Holly67