Thanks so much for so much info on this Catherine. When she was first diagnosed with Schizophrenia Disorganized, I was totally confused. My daughter was only four when she kept coming to me and saying she saw a man with a cape in her room almost every night. I was so concerned and told some of her doctors, but they of course dismissed it with her being a child and having imaginary friends. I never dismissed it as being that, but could not get her any help. When she was ten, she had her first psychotic breakdown and was in a mental hospital for a few weeks and then again at 11. Diagnosis, severe depression with psychotic features. I really thought that was just a catch all diagnosis and didn’t trust that diagnosis. She kept having problems for several years and had many different diagnosis. She also got in trouble with the law for shoplifting and stealing other things. I took her to the best psychiatrist and therapist I could find and afford for years. Once she was 18, more problems. She is 31 now and just about 2 years ago she went to a psychiatrist and said she could not live like this anymore, the voices and hallucinations were out of control (I did not find out about this until about six months ago). All sorts of evaluations took place and even another psychiatrist who was an expert in Schizophrenia and sub types was called in and that’s where the Schizophrenia Disorganized diagnoses was made. I was confused because my daughter is so bright, made excellent grade in school in advanced classes, has never had problems with her speech and is an excellent writer. I was told not all people with this condition have speech or learning problems, but her thought processes were very disorganized. No one would ever thing she had any problems if they met and spoke with her. She told her family she had a great, well paying job for about the last five years and we believed her. She really seems on the outside to be making massive improvement. In secret she was accumulating massive credit card debt. When things finally began not to make sense anymore, that’s when I became detective and found out she was also using my credit and completely destroyed it. She stole my IRA’s and 401K. She was denied disability and now a lawyer is helping on that. She is in trouble with the law again. Even my family wants me to prosecute her for all the credit card and other theft. I do not want to prosecute, I want her in a psychiatric hospital, but supposedly the only way that will happen is if the judge deems that necessary. The doctor thinks that is due to the disorganized thought processes. Her doctor set her up with Schizophrenia forum that can only be accessed by being a patient, talking to other patients. She let me read some of her blogs, not the other’s due to the confidentiality of those patients. In her blog she talks about money is not real, she has never been able to keep a checking account due to overdrafts, can’t use a debit card for the same reason because checks and plastic are not really money. Online shopping is not really spending money, the only tangible form of money is cash, no other way of spending is real. She (or we) have a court date coming up and I won’t tell the family because they will either want to be there or pressure me to prosecute when they only thing I will beg the judge to do is get her inpatient help. Please pray for us, or if you don’t believe in that, keep your fingers crossed. I thought when my husband left me ten years ago, it would be the hardest thing I ever went through. It is not.
1 Like
I know you don’t want to prosecute - I wouldn’t either.
But, could you use this case to get her court ordered help or gain guardianship since she obviously is not competent to handle her affairs?
I’m still married, but have had my share of problems there. I agree - husband problems are nothing compared to worrying about your children.
1 Like
Agreed. Incarceration and criminalization negatively affect the course of mental illness. It’s like sending a person with a cold outdoors soaking wet in winter.