I think I can agree with that. When she was asymptomatic, to a certain degree she understood that she has to keep taking the med. I mean, why else would she be on the med for over a decade. But it seems that her anosognosia is more pronounced now that her med is severely reduced.
This! Especially in my relationship with my sister, I tend to over-analysed what I said/didnât say and stew over things I should be saying/doing. It got so tiring that I ended up just blurting out things so I could end the torment to myself.
Itâs been another good day with her initiating for us to have lunch together. We still didnât share our food but at least we sit at the same table rather than her requesting a different table lol. She also started to listen to some music today, which is the first I heard her do since she got here. Our dad brought up the possibility of her still taking that med once a week, thatâs why she still has her good days.
Iâm really just taking this one day at a time now, and hope for the good days to last longer. Thank you for being with me when I was at my lowest point - I am good now. All of your support and words really mean a lot to me.
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Ha, thatâs true - certain parts of reddit can feel really cold and uninviting. But so far, I get most of my questions answered (albeit often being made feeling really dumb for not figuring it out myself), and I managed to make a few online friends from there.
If you donât mind my question, have you always been insightful of your illness, or if not, how did you manage to figure out that youâre ill and you need help? I know anosognosia only affects certain people with sz, even most posts on sz subreddit were from people with awareness of their illness. But because I only know of my sister with this condition, it feels like I just met a (bunch of) unicorns and Iâm truly amazed by all of you with the awareness. Always thought the lack of awareness were part of sz.
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@ThingsIDont itâs like @Billy808 says awareness varies from person to person, and the awareness of a particular person can wax and wane over time. Some awareness can be learned, if not consciously then in a behaviorism manner. That seems to be the premise of LEAP.
I get the question about my awareness a lot. I used think I was a unicorn, but suspected there were more like me. There isnât a lot of upside to disclosing if you can âpassâ-- stigma being what it is and all. Frankly stories about people who take their medication and get on with their lives are pretty boring, so maybe this isnât so surprising.
My first Jungian therapist said I had a bit of insight all along, but it was partial. I have a scientific background, and have been trained to try to be objective and methodical in investigations, so I turned many of these skills inward on myself.
Iâll message you set of links to posts where I go into this and my story in greater detail. I need to compile one anyway to cut and paste into posts when this question comes up.
I prefer to say I got lucky and stumbled into a process that worked for me. Thatâs why I have enthusiasm for Dr. Aâs LEAP process, as I can see some parallels with how I navigated my illness. I feel that talk therapy has been so devalued by the failure of Freudianism in this community, yet anosognosia completely nullifies the power of medications and leaves caregivers powerless.
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Just search Google âanosognosia and 5-ht2aâ. You can read and may find some interesting stuffs.
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Also search âAnosognosia and Abilifyâ.
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Hi, I am sad to hear about your sister. My eldest daughter is schizoaffective and was in a pre-pyschosis state a few months ago. She was on a maintenance dose of 5mg Abilify and 125mg Lithium Carbonate daily which the psychiatrist explained is meant to minimize the side effects while keeping her symptoms in check. That is not enough when she is stressed and a few months ago, my daughter exhibited symptoms of pre-psychosis. I took notes of the symptoms and used them to explain to my daughter about her condition which she is not aware of. She agreed to increase her Abilify to 10mg and Lithium to 375mg. Her symptoms have improved and we brought the dosage down to 5mg Abilify and 250mg Li.
Notes have been very useful to me in 3 ways. A. to track my daughterâs symptoms B. to remind her of the medication and C. for me to correlate the dosage with her symptoms. My plan was that if the increased dosage did not work, then my daughter and I would have to go back to the psychiatrist for advice. I found that by describing from my notes what I saw as not her usual behavior with specifics, my daughter is able to understand that her condition has deteriorated. After that, I just needed to make sure she is taking medication daily and her condition improved. Hope this helps.
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Hi @Chong, thank you for commenting and sharing your experience with me. I did contemplate to write notes about my sisterâs behaviour, but knowing her, sheâd question me back about why I would monitor her behaviour at all and even go so far as documenting it. When I finally had âa talkâ with her last weekend, she kept inquiring me what my angle was with my questions. I just stated plainly that when I saw her last in September, she was not like this and that I was scared because her behaviour now was very similar to when she wasnât well during her past 2 episodes (I actually kinda stumbled upon my words there because I wasnât sure how to convey her âepisodesâ).
I made sure to never mention anything about medication, as she was probably expected me to when she asked what my point to the talk was. I mean, I can understand how annoying itâd be to hear people mention about meds over and over and over, without actually listening to what she wanted. I was hoping to possibly gain her trust by not mentioning it and see what she has to say instead.
Also, I think the notes work with your daughter because as her parent you have that âauthoritativeâ figure over her so sheâd listen to you. With my sister, she is the older one and Iâm the youngest/so-called baby of the family. I honestly think she came over to me because she knows I have no power over her, therefore this is the safest place for her to be. I could tell my concern was dismissed by her because what does this baby know, right?
As for your daughterâs medication, does she take them daily or only a few times a week? From my limited knowledge, if Iâm not wrong Lithium is usually used to treat Bipolar disorder. Does she have Bipolar as well as being Schizoaffective. How long has she been stable for?
Hi @ThingsIDont. my daughter has bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Her last hospital admission was probably 3 years ago and she has been on maintenance dose (daily) for probably 2 years now. Her condition started deteriorating in June this year, likely caused by stress in uni. September is around the time when her behavior frequently put her at risk and thatâs when I started talking more with her about her friends, her supervisor, projects so I could understand her social interactions, logical thinking (which wasnât good at that time) and also highlight what I would and what she probably would have done differently. It took a while before my daughter and I concluded that the reduced medication is likely the cause of her mental deterioration that resulted in not getting along with some of her friends and colleagues and dropping out of her course. As her condition started improving around November thereabout, I gave her feedback as well. Now, she is actively doing âfriendship recoveryâ and putting in an appeal so she does not lose her GPA point over her course withdrawal.
Just some of my experience that I hope could be useful:
- I was open about taking notes with my daughter and what I am monitoring. The notes are left on top of the filing cabinet so she could look at it anytime. Some time ago, I suggested to her the benefit of having a diary so I guess this is me doing it for her. By luck, she has the information I wrote in the notes to help her with the uni appeal.
- A lot of her irrational behavior is a result of her mental condition. E.g. she left her wallet at the train station and her phone in the toilet one day. When she realized it oon the way home, she just didnât want to go back to get them. I am guessing she felt frustrated with a lot of things that are not going well for her at that time. Once she improved with the increased dosage, she now regretted deeply at losing her laptop, and many other decisions she made at that time. i.e. donât treat each of the symptoms look for the root cause.
- A lot of times I feel my daughter struggled. While not showing it, she is actively looking for answers. Not getting along with friends, people treating her badly, and I guess the hardest part is when your parents are frequently angry with you for the mess, not cleaning up, forgetting things, etc. My youngest daughter has depression and anxiety which she is learning to manage. Many times, I see the older one with schizoaffective disorder trying to get answers from the younger one. i.e. you may be surprised when your older sister gets well, how much you have contributed.
Best wishes.
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