No matter how bad I get no one is willing to let me go, I’ve attacked people and thrown tables here.
Yet I’m always welcomed back with a warm welcome. So I guess I’m fine but I don’t know how long this will last. They’ve put up with me for years and I’m finally old enough to be kicked out onto the street.
i would rather all of us prepare for love in life. love is unconditional
im glad mine havent given up on me. i understand its tough on caretakers, but unlike them, you cant just walk away from the illness. ohana means noone gets left behind 
maybe see if you can get a doctor to come to the house like the olden days. antipsychotic shots can help they stay in the system for a month. i hope you get peace and i do empathize with you i realize sometimes its impossible. for some people responsibility for someone elses illness is a sliding scale though, when just a little more effort can make a lot of life difference in someone
My son is schizophrenic. I never expected it. I work in a nursinghome with people that are dumped. I have been their family. I wish I could stay with my son al the time. He is very sick now. I get mad when I hear mentally ill are in the street. A lot of caregivers are depressed and become sick. I was devastated my son would suffer. I wish I could change places.
it happens that we get sick, just dont forget to love him and im sure hell be fine. hea in there somewhere and loves you im sure
If we all could do that all the world’s problems could be solved.
I know he’s in there. He can’t help this illness. I want to be there for him. I love my son . I notice people with no family when we are at the doctor. It hurts me.
I wonder where is your family. I don’t get it. I have alot to learn but couldn’t consider not being there
im two months off meds and ive had emotions finally, energy to get out of bed as well. i live with my aunt, as my dad and mom dont want me to stay with them. my dad pays my aunt to let me stay here. i feel so bad for her as she has five people all homeless family members staying with her in a trailer. im blessed to be in the room with an air conditioner. im not sure what i would do without her.
im scared my psychosis could come back, today i did hear a voice tell me to buy a water instead of a sugary drink LOL so i guess voices are good sometimes. only voices ive heard in awhile. i have to see if ill get better off meds because they had me bed ridden with anxiety and depression. so far two months im good.
makes me feel sad when my dad went days ignoring me when i was going through tarditive dyskinesia, amd stopped taking me to the doctor when i said i got better voices wise. hopefully i can get back to work and this movement disorder goes away. im greatful for a place to stay 
i just wish i was hurting my aunt by eating up the ac all day long, hopefully ill find a job soon and the schizophrenia stays away
@cactustomato , I know it’s hard to take care of an adult for the parents as they are getting old too. Though it’s not fair for either one every parent does what works for them. I have my son living with me for 30 months now and I don’t know how much longer I can do this. He wants his freedom and We want ours. Like coming home after wee hours won’t work for us. My husband has to work early and We have security on at night. It beeps if anyone opens the door which wakes us up. There are so many things in our lives which are on hold because We couldn’t leave him and go on vacation. We took him with his addiction issues and it turned out to be the worst vacation. I feel for all of you who are ill and it is hard for you,but it is hard for the parents too. I agree it’s not your fault but every parent looks for retirement and wants to live by themselves after they have raised their kids. Good luck!
i hope you get peace of mind. at least you dont wake up to voices. thank god for your health. things can always get better, and always can get worse
This is certainly an interesting thread. The point raised is very valid.
Overall, I think society is much more accepting and supportive toward some disabilities over others. Certainly when I was young, people with Down Syndrome were treated very differently than they are now. And people with schizophrenia are treated differently today than those with Down Syndrome. This no doubt holds true in families of people with these disabilities as well.
Preconceptions about these disabilities, and the onset of the disability can certainly play a part. If a parent whose child was developing normally changes to someone who is uncooperative and perhaps even seems aggressive, the response will be different than to a child who was diagnosed at or perhaps even before birth.
There is also much greater overall societal support for people with some disabilities over others, and this includes family support. I watched a video of an interview with a group of mothers of children with mental illness. When asked, what do you see as one of the main differences between your situation, and a mother of a child with cancer, the response was ‘Casseroles’. Church and other support groups will give an outpouring of support when a child is physically sick or injured - but the response is very different when one’s child is on the psych ward!
On top of all that, when children themselves deny problems and resist treatment, it can get very hard to ‘hang in there’. Someone with cancer is unlikely to deny the condition and refuse to do what will improve his or her health. But individuals with mental illness do this and at least indirectly cause a great deal of suffering. With no intention of “blaming” them, it is nonetheless extremely stressful for family to hold on in these circumstances.
I know why I would ‘abandon’ my child into residential treatment when he comes of age. Because I am alone, and exhausted. I have been completely cut off from society. I am without aid as much as my son is. I hear my son beg for death every day, when his speech is organized enough for him to communicate, that is. Plain and simple, I don’t know that I can do this when he gets worse. I am not a fully trained staff in a safe environment. I do not have anyone to help. My family and friends are terrified of him. Hell -I- am terrified too. Because I am constantly on edge, always waiting for the next emergency. I am heartbroken, exhausted, and feel very strongly that I’m not enough for him.
This frustrated vent is why caregivers do it. We cannot be all our kids need us to be, so when the time comes that we can no longer care for them because of our own survival, we try to find a place where they are fully supported. Not abandoned. Cared for.
Continuing the discussion from Schizophrenics have to accept their fate. Do caregivers need to aswell?:
People with schizophrenia go homeless for many reasons - including because they won’t get treatment and they become too disruptive to family life in the home. Family might also see this as the only way to get the person into treatment. And just because a family lets a child go into a shelter or a group home doesn’t mean they don’t love them. Families may see this as their only option given their resources.
its a complex issue - and very hard on everyone - families and the people who have schizophrenia.
1 Like
I don’t think that letting a person with schizophrenia go to a group home is all that bad, for either party. Homelessness. on the other hand, is freaking horrible. I would never have a family member of mine homeless if I had any possible way of avoiding it.
One thing I see a lot is that some caregivers seem unable or unwilling to force their loved ones into treatment. I would strap my kid down and inject his ass with Consta myself if I had to. It seems these days that people give their loved too much freedom to choose. They let kids run wild and untreated. The should use force, physical if necessary.
If these drugs were available 50 years ago when parenting wasn’t so hands-off I think more people would get the help they need.
what other problems do you have? You sound like you have a lot of problems. What else about you?
I guess it sounds like the overall opinion is that schizophrenics should bare all the stress of the illness so caregivers can buy the new iPhone, have a nice empty 3 bedroom house, maybe some dogs. its a lot more fun to live like everyone else, I agree. However Schizophrenics can’t skip out on this. Pretty sad how when people are down, others let them stay down instead of helping them up. I realize it might take years sometimes, but every little bit helps.
Sounds like what they’ll end up doing is thinking about themselves and doing the minimal for their schizophrenic kids because legally they can. That’s the difference between our country and others. Our country is selfish at its core.
I don’t think any caregiver wants their loved one to suffer and I don’t doubt that they try to help. It’s just a sign of the times. When NFL players are vilified for using a switch on their kids, it shows the general social mindset.