My fiancé has also been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, ODD, and SPD. Rewards never worked for him as a child or older, instead it would do the opposite. His family is rich and so were his grandparents, being an only child until he was 15, he was spoiled from all sides. The only way he would ever do chores was if he got payed. Now he just does them because he loves me and wants to help out, but nobody has ever that kind of relationship with him besides me. His family is devastated by it because he never showed any emotion or cared about anything or anybody but himself.
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CindyB, a case manager is definitely a good first step. I’m sorry that he doesn’t see the seriousness of this but it’s a process. Breathe in. Take care of yourself too.
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Hi everyone. I don’t understand why people with schizophrenia have their own rights when they are sick in the head and sometimes they do not know what they are doing. I don’t understand why there’s nothing in place for them. How can people with schizophrenia be released from the hospital or released from jail with nothing in place for them? Just to let you know Dillon is still in jail and he’s being reevaluated. But I think about this a lot. How come a group of people (team of ppl for schizophrenia ppl) with the court make sure he has assigned case manager etc … no instead they’re given the right not to take their medicine not to have case management and it is something I just don’t understand
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I think often the problem is with the timing of the onset of the illness. For people born with disabilities, their parents take on the job of caring for them, and the relationship of a guardian is established very early on, and just continues into adulthood. Also, it is obvious to others that the person is disabled.
Often, the first appearance of schizophrenia is when someone is an adult or almost an adult. It was assumed that he or she would have all the rights of any adult, and it is a slippery slope to make a decision to take away rights once a person has them.
Practically speaking, the systems that provide social services are based on the premise of providing the services to people who want them, not forcing them on people whether they see the need for them or not. A simple comparison is that there may be a low cost dental clinic in a community, but many people who you and I might think need the service will not choose to get the service, and we don’t force anyone to go. Deciding when to take away a person’s right to choose is a serious matter. I have guardianship of my son, and I know it was best for him to get it, but it was a serious decision.
I know how much you are hurting now. This illness brings on so much pain, not only for people who have it, but for their loved ones too. You want better for your son.
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Feel like it’s okay to treat people instead of let them suffer.
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What if they don’t perceive themselves as suffering? Or have some other objection to the treatment being offered? To you and me, it might make sense, but it might not be something they want. Deciding to force ‘treatment’ on other people was one of the problems with the old way of doing things.
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I am one of the unlucky few who has lost a family member during her psychotic episode. My mother was detained due to her mania from bipolar one. The psychiatrist wanted her to be admitted, but she refused. The next morning, the psychiatrist speculates she was becoming more psychotic, she took actions that ended her life.
Both my uncle with bipolar one and my family member with sz wound up in jail during serious episodes of psychosis. My uncle was lucky because he was sent to the hospital and allowed to receive medical treatment even after his crimes.
I hope that my mom would be alive if she had been kept safe and treated.
I hope someone would force me into the hospital if I became extremely ill.
The suffering of psychosis definitely varies from person to person. You’re right; some people are having an okay or even a positive experience. Some people are in hell. Due to my personal circumstances, I think of involuntary commitment as a last ditch attempt to save someone’s life or freedom. If a person goes to jail instead of the hospital, they lose much, much more. And they also do not receive treatment.
The treating psychiatrist does not see my mother’s death as her personal choice, but a preventable death from illness. He wishes he had admitted her against her will.
I spent a huge amount of time respecting my family member with sz’s rights and wishes. Now they have no rights at all.
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I completely see the need to step in to avert disaster. I took the question as referring to those cases where people are unstable, but not unsafe.
There ARE measures in place to give treatment involuntarily when a person is a danger to self or others.
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Forced treatment is a complex issue: Debating Forced Treatment and Mental Illness - Pete Earley
Where we live, there are few resources for mental illness treatment whether voluntary or involuntary and, like in the rest of the US, ten times more people with severe episodes of illness wind up incarcerated rather than the hospital.
The hospital let my mom go due to their application of the legal criteria and she died less than twelve hours later. Perhaps you can understand why I don’t believe the system works.
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Thank you all so much for your insight and for your comments. It gives me a clearer understanding. What measures should I take if Dillon is incarcerated because of his mental illness/ behavior, he is in the hole and hasn’t been allowed to shower for seven days. I think on Monday I am going downtown to the courthouse and try to speak with someone in regards to Dillon. He doesn’t know everything he’s doing and I don’t think it’s right that he should have to suffer that way. Also I am thinking about removing the restraining order because it’s just causing more problems. Also I am going to have Dillon to sign a release form and get his medical records and have them in a file just in case something like this happens again. I’m going to request that they hurry up with the evaluation and place him in a mental hospital or release him.
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Ps. Thank you for the Force Treatment link. I will read it.
Here, once you’re in jail, no one at the courthouse really helps - it’s now in the hands of the sheriff or whoever runs the jail.
And, a lot of jails have medical staff. I would start there, and I would start calling my representatives starting at whoever is most local and working my way up.
If it was me, I wouldn’t just call the jail - I would show up and wait to be seen, whether that’s by the sheriff or someone else. I’ve done that before for a family member with physical problems who landed in jail.
It wouldn’t hurt to call an attorney or legal aid too.
That’s where I would start. However, I don’t have experience with someone with mental illness in jail, just friends & family members so take it with a grain of salt.
The least they could do is have him evaluated and medicated while he’s there if you can’t get him out. And, jails here have to let a prisoner see their doctor outside of the facility, but you would have to pay for the visit plus the expenses of transport. I’ve seen people come through my son’s doctor’s office in hand cuffs with sherriff’s deputies several times.
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Everyone I have an update on Dillon. He was incarcerated 2 months and stayed at a mental hospital for almost 4 months. After months of evaluations and court dates, he went to court this past Tuesday, and he was released. He had a better judge this time. She gave him 5 years of probation which will make him more responsible. She informed him he had to stay off of drugs and take his medication. We are currently having the protection order dropped so we can support him. He is thinking better and being more cooperative. I still believe there are gaps in the system that need to changed. We had been checking for his court dates on-line because we were not being notified. It is a good thing we were checking or he would still be incarcerated. They were not going to release him. He would of been sitting another month in jail instead of the mental hospital. We showed up at court, spoke to the judge and they released him the same day.To me that is a gap in the system, there should be a mental health court advocate or something. Also, he was on medication at the hospital but once sent back to jail he was not on medication. He has to schedule an appointment with a mental health facility and go through council before seeing a doctor for medication which will take probably a month. To us this a crucial time, and he needs to be back on medication as soon as possible but this is a problem we keep running into with him. My husband is taking him to the mental facility today to see if he can get things moving quicker for Dillon.
I am glad he is doing better. SO HAPPY SO THANKFUL
I love my son
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That’s great!! I’m so glad to hear that!! I hope you can all be a happy family again and that he does well in his life and continues to gain mental clarity and stays clean. 
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I just wanted add something just in case someone else experiences it. Once Dillon was released from the hospital back to the jail, the hospital released his meds to the jail. Dillon requested his meds before and after they released him from jail and they told him they did not have them. After speaking to the jail, and told to go to Emergency room for short script for enough medicine until appt to physic Dr; I called the Board of Mental Health. They made a few calls for me and the physic doctor prescribed him enough medicine for the weekend and made him appointment for Monday. By the way, Dillon has also been diagnosed with bipolar as well as Delussional Disorder. Thank you for your comments
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