My son was diagnosed with Schizophrenia 3 years ago. He has only been hospitalized once, and it was a traumatic experience for him. The decision to have him hospitalized was very difficult a few years ago. After he got out of the hospital he started taking a shot once a month. He improved so much during the six months after being released (or so I thought). About a year ago he started using Meth. He said this made him feel normal and helped him socialize in situations he would normally just shrink in. Late last year he called and said he wanted to move to the state I was living in so he would get away from the Meth culture. He did really good for about 2 months, and then went back to our home state and started using again. He moved back and forth between my house and places in our home state for several months. After a violent outburst where he threatened to hurt me I had to ask him to move out. I have an 11 year old at home that I was scared for. When he moved out he went to stay with my elderly father. Since he has been there he has destroyed my dad’s house, threatened my dad and had become increasingly psychotic. This week he has started taking walks. The problem is these walks end up with him lost in the country, freezing and confused. My dad just picked him up at 2 in the morning this morning after he had been walking. He had walked through the country, through pastures, on private property. His phone died so he found a house that no one was home in, and used their garage to get warm and charge his phone to call my dad. He could have been shot for entering private property! At the very least he could have been arrested for trespassing.
Sorry for the long post but I am at a horrible impasse where I am trying to decide if he needs to be hospitalized again. If I mention anything to him about it, he will be very volatile. I don’t want to see him hospitalized before Christmas, but I am afraid he will hurt himself or my dad.
If he’s trying to get clean then offer naltrexone, it really helps with cravings from all drugs and alcohol. They also offer vivitrol the extended release injection for those less compliant
It’s really helped me with my alcohol and hallucinogen addiction
I wish your son luck, it only gets worse when you take drugs, at first it starts off self medicating then becomes addiction
I hope your son recovers and learns from his experiences it can’t be easy
I’m sorry but if he’s violent I don’t think there’s any other way besides hospitalizing him. It’s for his own good, and keeps him off the streets. It’s a very tough situation and I hope everything works for the best.
Maybe he learns from it. I did. I had an addiction to drugs and alcohol and I’ve been clean for over a year now. It’s possible.
Where I live there is a mental health team from the Department of Health and Welfare that answers phone calls and makes visits to people. See if there is something like that in your area and talk with them. They can walk you through a decision making process. It sounds like your son might be a danger to himself (freezing) or danger to others (violence). There are legal criteria for involuntary commitment. If he meets these, it might be time.
I hope for the best for you and your family; I wish there were some way to know the best things to do and how to do them.
I thought that the schizophrenia would be the worst thing that happened to my son, but I was very wrong. The meth is by far the worst thing. He doesn’t understand that even though he is still taking his medicine, it is impossible for it to work properly when the meth is fighting for the same receptors in his brain. I remember when he was released last time that he asked me to please just talk to him before I ever had him committed again. I want badly to call him but I am afraid it would send him into a violent outrage and that something horrible will happen.
I have tried to call the mental health center, but they haven’t called back. I found out that the release he had signed for me expired a few month ago. I told them I just needed general advice, but they seem reluctant to talk to me.
Meth is like a demon, as it tricks the mind into wanting more and basically reprograms the functions of what the brain is actuallly supposed to be doing.
Being sober for a year and a half is way harder than being a homeless drug addict and giving into to those daily simple impulses. There is light at the end of the tunnel though. Having the will to be sober over everything even fitting in with friends and being with the opposite sex which can be tough unless life humiliates, teaches, and humbles you.
Hi
my sister is alcoholic. She has un diagnosed probable schizophrenia. She is the third of the three of us girls to get schizophrenia. Our middle sister was hit by a car in 2001.
Christmas is going to be horrible what ever happens this year for me too.
i think if everything has no escape for 2 - 4 weeks, and no real job or incentive or great thing to be getting on with doing … there might be a time for getting people into hospital, if it’s handled right
it is horrible not because you are locked in. It is horrible because of the illness - it’s a lot worse out there than inside if you are at risk
When they gave me the shot of Haldol decoate it made me immune to a lot of street drugs, including meth. The Haldol pills didn’t do that. It was the Haldol shot. I’ve tried very hard to get high on meth and I can’t do it. I’ve snorted it and smoked it and not gotten high. I don’t know if I would get high off it if I shot it up. You might try getting your son a shot of Haldol decoate. I haven’t heard of what it did to me happening to other people, but it’s worth a try.
From my point of view right now, drugs are one of the stupidests things anyone can do. I don’t even take meds but that is my choice. Med/drug/alcohal free. Now just to work with sugar addiction that exaserbates my symptoms
My son’s diagnoses is Sz and addiction. I think his addiction is by far the biggest issue as even when he is med-compliant he ends up unstable due to drinking or using.
I don’t know much about it as I didn’t get the chance to look into doing it however you may want to try calling the courts in your area and see if you can get a court order to have him picked up and brought in for an evaluation. I’m not sure of what would be needed. Possible several letters stating his current condition.
Christmas may be hard time of the year to do this, however no time is a good time and at least you would have the peace of mind of knowing that he was reasonably safe.
Hospitalization would be the best Christmas relief I can think of! Save yourself the anxiety that something WORSE could happen on Christmas. Your son needs help NOW, and safeguarding the family will not spoil the holidays.
My son is 24, hospitalized 4 times. I have always leaned toward calling 911 SOONER, not later, and I feel good about that system. Kids/adult family members are asking for help when they act out. Someone with sz loses much of their ability to ask for help when they are as psychotic as you’re describing.
In my search for ANYTHING that would help my son, I found out about High-CBD Charlotte’s Web Hemp Oil. It does help to stabilize his mood. CW is a dietary supplement, legally shipped to 48 states. It helps him a lot, so long as he doesn’t also smoke street pot. CBD (cannabidiol) is a beneficial chemical compound in cannabis.
CBDs also help reduce anxiety. A person who I know used HIGH-CBD cannabis oil to recover from migraine symptoms told me that he wished he had the High-CBD when he was going through rehab. He said it would have “really helped to take the edge off my anxiety and slept better.”
I don’t know if people who are attracted to hard drugs avoid rehab because they hear bad press about withdrawal. Judging by my friend’s relief, the CBDs might help a lot of people wanting recovery.
CBD remedies are NOT a substitute for prescription meds. I see good things when it’s added along with p-doc prescriptions. Also, don’t be confused by the term “medical marijuana” because some “medical marijuana” has THC in it (which may be fine for some people) - but THC is NOT “medical” for bipolar/sz because it adds to their psychosis.
Purified CBD has been shown to have antipsychotic and anti-anxiety effects, and …people who smoke cannabis rich in CBD are less likely to experience “schizophrenia-like symptoms” than those who smoke cannabis containing only THC.
