Hi, my name is Andrea. I really need some advice, words of wisdom, and stories of personal experience. My 28 yr old son has been diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder. He is manic,easily agitated, aggressive, and verbally abusive. Additionally, he has delusions of grandeur (He believes he is God and/or Lucifer and truly believes he is the most handsome, brilliant,creative,athletic person on the planet…and believes the reason he doesn’t have any friends or can’t get a job is because everyone is jealous of him. He has hallucinations (mumbles to himself, has audible conversations friends from his past, laughs aloud, and paranoia (sees helicopters and talks about the government,extraterrestrials, etc.and… takes a bath at least 4 times a day. Whats up with that? Also, his appearance is completely bizarre…Half of his head is closely shaved, other half long scraggly hair, tattoos on face, crazy clothing, and listens to rap music constantly, Whats the deal with all of that?
He has absolutely no insight into his illness, and is non compliant with medication.
3 days with no reply? There must be something wrong with my browser.
I’m just a lowly guy who has been diagnosed.
Normally, though, there are some caregivers here who would share some links with you to nami.org and such.
Until they see your post, you might want to look at some old posts from BarbieBF. She shares lots of good information for caregivers.
I think the thing to do would be to try to get him on SSI or disability, and then try to get him into a group home or assisted living center for the mentally ill. There will come a time when your son will have exhausted all your resources, and you might have no choice but to let him live on the street. The best thing you can do for both of you is to try to set him up in a group home so he doesn’t have to do that.
Hi @bebo. Welcome to the forum.
My son is 21 diagnosed with schizophrenia with possible mood component. He can be verbally abusive when he isn’t stable. He also thinks he is ‘all that’ ;). Currently dealing with voices. He has limited insight into having sz meaning that he doesn’t deny it however doesn’t recognize all of the symptoms as being sz. This is called anosognosia.
Please look at these sites:
http://www.leapinstitute.org/ - under resources are free videos on using LEAP
LEAP is a way of communicating to build trust. Listen-Empathize-Agree-Partner.
http://dramador.com/ - Dr. Xavier Amador is a clinical psychologist whose brother had schizophrenia. He is the founder of the LEAP Institute. Wrote the book: I’m Not Sick I Don’t Need Help! Can buy from his website.
Search Xavier Amador on YouTube for more videos
http://ourhealthyminds.com/family-handbook/communication/Building-a-collaborative-relationship-leap.html
Building A Collaborative Relationship “LEAP”
Treatment Advocacy Center - under problems you will see anosognosia
Anosognosia looks like denial but is different.
Bayes for Schizophrenics: Reasoning in Delusional Disorders - LessWrong - helped my understand delusions
(May 26, 2010) Professor Robert Sapolsky finishes his lecture on language and then dives into his discussion about schizophrenia. He discusses environmental factors as well as genetic characteristics that could apply to people who are affected. He describes schizophrenia as a disease of thought disorder and inappropriate emotional attributes.
http://www.nami.org/ - National Alliance on Mental Illness.
http://www.schizophrenia.ca/ - Schizophrenia Society of Canada
Can also find some very useful information here:
Early Psychosis Treatment center information in these two links
http://www.raiseetp.org/sites/
http://psychosisprevention.org/get-involved/education-center/finding-treatment/
Psychiatric Treatment Centers affiliated with Medical Schools in the USA
This link may help you find a psychiatrist in your area
Yes, get your son on financial assistance if he will cooperate. Of course, unless you are rep payee, he could do what he likes with the money.
You can’t do too much in the way of moving him elsewhere without legal action unless you have guardianship. Its a tough call, because you probably don’t want to bring charges against him - and in reality, they are not really justified due to his mental illness - but without a restraining order enforcement, you probably cant get him moved somewhere else.
I do say, protect yourself, and do call the police if he becomes aggressive toward you. That is not acceptable. You can ask for officers trained in handling people with mental illness if they exist where you live, and request he be transported to the hospital for observation. Once there, case managers are pretty good about working with family, even if you don’t have guardianship.
Who knows about the appearance. My son at least doesnt go that route, but I think he listens to the music sometimes to drown out the voices - and unfortunately, some of his choices seem to get him riled up.