Just found out my Boyfriend of 1 1/2 years has schizophrenia

Hello. Just found out my Boyfriend of 1 1/2 years has schizophrenia. Everything has been wonderful up until a couple weeks ago. Things from him hearing voices, delusional thinking , and odd behavior. A couple days ago i was in the shower getting ready for work. When i got out i noticed he took my car. He knows that he is not suppose to drive my car or any car for that matter, he’s not licensed. But i just got this car and he knows not to drive it. We’ll he was gone for about 5 hours, when he came back to the house he had wrecked my car, i heard he ran from the police, front, both sides, and front damage to my car but driveable. What do i do?! The cops won’t take him in to get evaluated, saying “hes not ill enough”. He did go to the hospital voluntarily, but they only gave him medicine and sent him home. He’s been sleeping every since. It happened Wednesday and its friday. Hes been up maybe 3 hours total since Wednesday. What do i need to expect now? Meaning, his moods, recurring voices, psychosis episodes, etc… any advice is appreciated. Thank you

What medicine was given?
If it is a decent antipsychotic then his symptoms may improve enough that he will come back to himself.
Did he know that he had this diagnosis and didn’t share it with you or is this a new thing?

I think that the fact that things have been good up until two weeks ago suggests that this is either his first episode or that he has previously been very stable.
Either way, I think that if you make sure he is taking the meds and seeing a psychiatrist regularly, he will stabilize. I would look in to outpatient treatment options in your area.

I missed a lot of things I didn’t know about when this happened to my son. Look into a first psychosis program. A really good therapist that specializes in MI for CBT and DBT. Be careful with the medications please do a lot for research on what he gets and how much he gets.

The put him on Olanzapine 15 mg. Hes still sleeping. He got up for maybe an hour last night, and during that time had delusions. I got him calmed down. Should he be acting ok by now? I know it’s only been 3 days since the car incident, but i assumed he would act better. He gets annoyed with me real quick. Tonight he told me to leave him alone. (I was at work for 12 hours so he’s usually real happy when i get home.) Is this behavior normal? And also his memory is horrible. He only remembers bits and pieces. … please help! TIA

It takes a few weeks for the medicines to really work their way into the brain and for him to become acclimated to them. 15 Mg of Olanzapine is a pretty strong dose, but it will take awhile.

It would be completely normal for him not to remember much about the psychotic episode.

I second what @Ihavethevictory wrote about a first psychosis program. Early intervention is reported to help a lot. Google on “First psychosis program”. If he doesn’t have health insurance help him to file for Medicaid.

I think that the olanzapine will make a difference but it does take a couple of weeks.
I would buy the book “surviving schizophrenia” by E.Fuller Torrey and also try your best to just leave him alone if that is what he wants. It doesn’t mean that he isn’t happy to see you, probably he is feeling overwhelmed. This is very hard for everyone- I really hope that he improves soon!