Personally I think that self change comes from within.
Family, friends, doctors, society etc can only do so much.
" Some require a walking stick longer than others "
Of course there are many who need help/assistance throughout their whole lives.
Thankfully for myself I drew a line in the sand 12 years ago and got on with life (even though I detest it at times lol)
I am only guessing and suggesting like everyone else because obviously Iāve never met your son, but two possibilities occur to me. First is that its not only people with sz who sometimes want to ātake a breakā from constantly monitoring it/themselves. Itās anyone with a chronic lifelong illness. Itās such an effort sometimes. I give myself permission to have a āslack weekā with my diabetes every now and then. It is my choice to look after myself or not, and I am in charge of my illness, not vice versa. Of course, ultimately that means I DO have to take care of myself, otherwise my illness will rule me. But I can be less demanding on myself sometimes. I always go back to a good regime quite quickly simply because it does make me feel better. My son seems to do the same with his sz.
The second thing that strikes me (I may be wrong) is that your sonās ideas of fun and entertainment seem to be very much wrapped up with alcohol and dope. So when heās off those, he hasnāt got much to occupy him. So his psychosis is a source of entertainment and company. Itās his only way of fighting boredom.
If you look at the people in recovery on these boards, they mostly have things to do: study, sports, children, jobs, music, etc. And all of those things have an actual physical effect on the brain, which can help to repair the damage done by psychosis.
What can your son do? What were his favorite things before sz struck? Can you encourage him to do some kind of sport or musical or artistic avtivity?
Maybe heās just being confrontational because that seems to be a symptom for me.
I was a jerk to my ma for yearās because she was the only person I had any contact with so I think I was taking the stress that sz causes out on her before I realized that its all in my head.
@BarbieBF your son sounds so much like mine!!
Just a suggestionāthough cant get my own son to do it--is to join a PIER support group. Dont know if you have any of these in Canada. They have all kinds of classes,go on trips,have support groups for everything. No pressure-and everyone is in the same boat.
I wish I had more answers but I just don`t know anymoreā¦sorry
you are an amazing mother.
instead of pills more fish 3 times a week especially mackeral, has a higher omega content.
probiotic foodā¦
tahiniā¦sesame seed paste had a wierd, and miraculous effect on my psychosisā¦( two massive table spoons )ā¦tastes like crappy peanut butter !?!
when you are in that state you just donāt care about yourselfā¦or anything for that matter.
know some one cares 
take care 
Hatty you are very correct in this.
Itās hard to say what his favorite things are other then online gaming as drugs were in the picture before sz and started when he was around 14. Catatonic break at 16 from smoking so much marijuana which was his choice for years. I think part of him now understands that itās not the best choice so he has turned to alcohol to replace it. He will drink a 375 ml bottle of vodka in under two hoursā¦
He is a part of PACT and they do have outings every Wednesday that we have been trying to get him involved with. He went to one meeting 3 or 4 weeks ago but nothing since. When he drinks, because itās alcohol it triggers depression and the positive and negative symptoms of sz, so no motivation etc. So it becomes a cycle. Canāt participate, feels down, drinks to feel betterā¦
PACT is voluntary and he pretty much says no to most of the ideas they have for outings. Says he doesnāt like baseball or whatever the outing is. Working on getting him into their Monday outings to the YMCA/gym. We were talking about looking into his GED again but like the rest it falls to the weigh-side when he starts to slide from coming of meds and/or drinking.
Recently he told me he doesnāt like anyone and doesnāt want to be around anyone. When he gets like this he doesnāt āfeel likeā playing his games etc. I have patiently and nicely explained to him that this is negative symptoms that stop him from being able to enjoy the things that he does usually enjoy.
Hubby and I take him out with us pretty much every time we go out which helps to keep him doing some personal hygiene.
Iām guessing at this point we are dealing with negative symptomsā¦
You are obviously doing all the right things, so yes, it looks like the lack of motivation/disorganisation thing. My son gets that too. But he gets better when he eats very well. Then when he eats well, his mood improves and he starts to exercise and gets better again. I think DarkSith is right about the food. Keep it up. It certainly helps to stop things getting even worse. Have you tried exercising lately? Sometimes I think my son trains because I do. Heās a bit too macho to let his mother be fitter than him!
It was beautiful here today, and I went for a walk.
(I want to be healthy!)
Jayster
Your SON doesnāt want to be your personal slave ,
from now on ,
LISSEN TO WHAT HE IS SAYING ,
if you donāt understand his intelligence that is YOUR problem not his .
Yes, but we have learnt how much better we feel when weāre healthy, havenāt we? The problem is when you are young and relatively strong, you can throw it all away because you donāt know how much you may regret it. As they say, youth is wasted on the young.
When Barbās son is going out to work, paying all the bills, doing all the cooking and cleaning and shopping, and in spite of that he doesnāt have a say in what he does with his little remaining time, then he can be described as a āslave.ā But I think if you look a little more closely, you will find the situation is quite the reverse.
I think itās a natural desire to think that nothing is wrong with you so why are you taking these meds and pills? Enough of this doctor crap, I will make myself well.
Something to think about, and explore with your son:
Some people donāt take their meds because they find life as a āhealthyā person boring. My brother who has bipolar disorder and doesnāt take meds other than alchohol falls into that category, and I met a guy at a NAMI conference who gave a talk from the sz perspective who said he went off his meds every once and a while because it was āinterestingā. I know Iāve had times earlier in my disease where I went off my meds, so I could get that āedgeā back in my life where things were stimulating and seemed more important and had meaning. Beside itās fun to misbehave and see what you can get away with.
While psychosis can be traumatic and scary, itās also an amazing and compelling experience. Itās tough sometime for plain old reality to shine brighter-- even though itās good for you.
Iād ask him if heās bored with reality, and if so, what could be done to change that. Whatās something heād like to do if he were healthy, and see if the two of you can nurture that.
Sometimes I think I have a very low survival instinct. And in the past itās been coupled with apathy which made me not care about certain things that other people found important. Which led to self-destructive behaviur. But who really knows what all goes on in someones mind who has schizophrenia? In that same vein, I can get one weird thought or idea that crosses my mind and turn it into a delusion that I will run with for months or even a year. In a way, it actually it might be LACK of motivation that causes self-destructive behaviors. Taking the easy way out which is giving up and not caring about things.
thank you āhattyā ,
I Need Not Say Anything More ,
A Beautiful Mind Is A Good Movie Kidās !! ,
Check Out JOHN NASHās QUOTES ,
See Whatchu L(Y)Ke and Do Not L(Y)Ke ā¦
Be a ma thats cares about her kids well being must be the toughest job in the world.
Hello Barbie sorry to hear that your son stopped one of his meds cold turkeyā¦It is really hard when they stop there meds and you see the signs of your loved one going down hill or not functioning as well . Well hopefully he will decide to go back on his vitamins soonā¦Sometimes I know if I just step back my son will decide on his own . My son was going to go on a cleansing with natural medication but he was not doing as well so I told him if he continues not too feel well for the rest of the week that I suggest he stop the cleansing because it might be interacting with psych meds. He decided on his own to stop the cleansing on his own. Maybe the voices are telling your son that the vitamins are poison ā¦I would just suggest to him that he was doing better on the vitamins and maybe he will eventually decide to go back on themā¦well I hope and pray that he decides to go back on his meds,Hang in there
Thank you everyone. Iām pretty sure itās a combination of negative and positive symptoms. Yesterday morning his case worker was here and she noted that he was completely flat. It took me a bit to even get him up to come talk to her. Barely talkedā¦
He seems to be swinging between the two. He was up all night alternating between āthinkingā and playing his online game really loud. His defiance is back as when I asked him to turn it down at 3 AM because my husband has to get up for work, he got defiant about it.
He did take some vitamins last night. I put them out and let him decide what he wants to take. Thankfully he is still eating dinner good as I have been making what I know he likes and is healthy.
Tough but always worth it!
We were actually going to look into this before he decided to go off his Olanzapine. He wanted to look into his GED again and wanted a girlfriend and a jobā¦ But a misunderstanding happened and with it came my son changing directions into this downhill spiral.
Thank you for your insight as you are right and my son finds his world much more entertaining and worth the risks.