It has been very rough year & a half. He cooperated with court for months. but when meds no longer effective he was hopelessly psychotic.(i bailed him out of jail after 21 days the 1st time in Feb,2015.In Aug. 2015 prosecutor & judge refused to help me get involuntary treatment for him.Mental health clinic would not order medication when they jailed him next time.
He was ordered to the state hospital.But to get into State hospital one goes on waiting list.Director of state mandated clinic & staff refused to provide medication that would have brought him to reality.Rule is those who understand reality get in hospital first.
Turned out I got records from clinic & they blamed me for my son’s multiple hospitalizations.It hurt me deeply. I had spent nearly 9 years @ that time putting previous life on hold to do what I thought was best.
I found where his 1st Dr. said we his parents did not want him on medicine.that was a lie.I am a psychiatric nurse & it was clear to me within a short time that medication was very important.
Our son did not want to take medicine & it was difficult to keep him on it. (Many nurses on my job were aware of “mean” approaches from clinic) & somehow I was naive about what could be the outcome.
My son finally got into state hospital & has been railroaded on haldol decanoate 150mg every 28 days. He thought a doctor was lowering the dose instead he just added another drug (seroquel).
He also is diagnosed with a personality disorder. Is there anyone else who has been turned upon by so called professional people? Now he is under state mandated care “911” program.
Nurse does not know that he has a “brain” disorder & complained to me that he is not as sick as others & should ask for what he needs.May be a good goal but many factors make him unreliable on such matters.
Bottom line is I am having trouble knowing when to be involved & when not. Today his primary care nurse practitioner refused to give referral to neurologist.
He told my son he had no symptoms.My son wants to get nutritional (supplemental help that a special neurolgist offers).
I CALLED an administrative person today from out of this county.She promises me a meeting & she trusts director to help resolve things. I fear they will further try to destroy my reputation & continue to disallow treatment he needs.
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*WOW! Where do you live? Outrageous!
I have had to go through so many things with my son in regard to the mental health system. My son knows the system now, so he "presents well " when he has to.
Problems here are also bad–but to hear of the judge, and not prescribing???
I am so sorry that you have to be put through this ~!@#, but persevere until you find a good contact.
Are you going to a support group?
Hard to say when you should stay out of it-go with your instincts.
I have been doing this for 20 years and my son will not stay on meds. I am just now learning how and when to stand back. Mostly concerned with a roof over his head, and food in fridge. Those are things I feel have to be provided…rest is up to him.
Don`t give up–people or info.can show up at the best times!
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thank you so much for responding.Yes,we have monthly NAMI support group (conway,ar).I became facilitator after taking NAMI course.we have a good core group & often new people.Our son is 33 and got sick Dec.2006.He hopes to move to an apt. in july.will see when time comes. Here in Arkansas, people have to commit crimes to be in state trt. programs.Our jails are full of mentally ill untreated people. One recent year Arkansas spent $150 million on mentally ill in jail systems,statistics say treatment cost for same numbers would have been $7.5 million.He knee’d cop in back of head in knee jerk reaction after cop threw him down on his back onto handcuffs behind his back.I thought I noticed that other folks who hired attorneys for $10,000+ had same outcomes.Since I lost my job just after he was jailed,I started social security.when working ,we spent $ on going to Chicago (Warrenville) to connect with William Walsh,Ph.D.he has spent entire career working with clients & MD’s researching the brain ,behavior of criminals & mental illness.He now studies & writes about epigenetics. When son on their program the 1st time & followed the supplement program which a Dr. ordered,he stayed out of the hospital over a year.since then the new doctors are against it. One MD found 3 of us (me & both sons)are allergic to gluten.And Alan is allergic to casein.They claim avoiding these substances helps the brain in his case.Since under state mandated trt.,he is trying hard to stay on best diet.He has to gather his own food.I think they are expecting too much of him.the heavy meds. & forgetfulness lend to being disorganized.I take him food stuffs. I hate to be on negative terms with staff.In past I always felt on good terms with them.Since the court violated our own laws ,jailed him & put him in violent unit,something happened in me.I began to speak out both to them & other people. Crimes of mentally ill can be serious.I know of murder cases.they take very severe stance.A long time friend & co-worker,tried for months to get trt. for her son & was refused.eventually was charged with murder of drug dealer. I question if he was framed. Anyway,I am learning as I go.I have a strong sense of concern for the whole of community treatment & in general respect for brain disordered people.I hope my writing is ok for this site.I am new here.
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thank you! I would like to hear stories of others.I hope to make a positive difference.I n Arkansas,few people speak out …@ least rarely published in media.
My daughter was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, bipolar and various other disorders since 2008. She is 28 and a final diagnosis of schizophrenia in Virginia. What happened is she went to the state hospital several times before they actually could see the real girl and kept her 38 days. Other hospitals would just keep her 3 to 5 days. She is a great actress and knows how to play the game. My husband was diagnosed with cancer March 2015 and we moved to NC to be close to his family. He died 3 months ago. She is also heavily addicted to cough med. in pill form. In the last 2 months she has gone to 36 pills every one to two days. She has lived with us mostly since her diagnosis. When this first started we tried to help her control her usage. Police were called and she had many hospitalizations. We went for years like that. Lots of therapy. But nothing worked. She tried to commit suicide several times. One time she jumped off her balcony due to psychosis. One time she jumped off because we were calling the police. She broke her back the first time, her pelvis the second time. In the beginning she would use drugs when we were gone and almost died once. Because of her mental disease, she cannot take care of herself. In the last 3 months she has been in the hospital 4 times. When we moved to NC it’s like starting all over. The professionals say I am at fault because I let her do drugs. I have true guilt over this. She was at one facility and the counselor was telling me I need to quit letting her do drugs. I asked him how I was to do that and he said I should stop her from coming home. I said, “So you’re suggesting that I should leave her there with you?” He said, “Oh, no, no, no.” but he had no further advice. I wish these people would just live with my daughter for a few months.
I’m sorry to write so much, but you wanted to hear stories. I hope you don’t mind. It helped me to hear your story. Does your son live with you? We had a good friend whose son had some of the same problems as my daughter. His stepmother wouldn’t let him live in the home any longer (they had a small child in the home) so the father set him up in an apartment. One day he hadn’t heard from his son in a couple of days. He went to the apartment and found his son hanging from the ceiling. I can’t bear the thought.
My daughter has always had a fascination with Satan and now it has become scary. Between my loss of my husband, the drug use, paranoid psychosis and now Satan - I just don’t know how much I can handle. Thank goodness my daughter doesn’t have problems with the police and jail. My heart goes out to you.
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I am so so sorry for all that each of you are going through. It is so heartbreaking to want to help our loved ones and feel that we can’t and our hands are tied. Feelings of guilt, saddness, love, and frustration are unfortunately apparent to those of us with family members of sz. Keep strong and allow youself sometime to grieve and take deep breaths. I am finding that having this family forum is very helpful since many friends and family have discontinued contact with us. There are many like me caring and loving someone with a mental illness. Thank you all.
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We all have such sad stories—and its even worse to have to deal with the system! Please dont feel guilt that is handed out to you-especially by the doctors, etc…they can be really hurtful. I wish I could tell my sons story, but im too worn out.
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Brigecomet, we will be here when you are ready to share. Take care of yourself.
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