Hello, I am new to this forum feeling so relieved that this exists for families. My son is 19, he was misdiagnosed at 16 with Bipolar and recently last year with Schizophrenia - this diagnosis feels like an immense loss of the child I once knew and the idea of the adult he would become.
Maintaining a healthy relationship with him is utterly important to me. I try to exhaust all options to keep him safe at home but its exhausting at times. I have 2 daughters that I also have to think about. Like most people my husband isnāt very educated on serious mental illnesses. He is supportive but Iām the full-time caretaker and oversee all his care.
There are so many struggles but right now medicine compliance - heās been off his meds for 2 months and psychosis symptoms have reappeared. I donāt ever want to be the type of parent to hospitalize him for any discrepancy but how can I best support him right now??
It is a long journey. Do not put all this on you. Try to talk clearly with dad and daughters abt your sonās condition. Try to see how all can help because it is hard on only one person. Your son needs meds. No way out of it . He being 19 doctors will not give you much info if he is in the hospital, nor his doctorās visits. Advance medical will help if you can get your son to cooperate The other extreme is guardianship if you think that would work, but this is a hard decision. He needs to find a doctor he likes That is very important. Injections rather than daily pills improve compliance. Motivate him to do hobbies, exercise, or something he enjoys to take his mind off his illnessā¦ Wishing you the best.
I know your heartache momof3. My son was also diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 19. I have to work hard at keeping my āmotherās griefā at bay and focus on the fact that after some very difficult times he is now on medication that works and is happily living with us and slowly creating a life for himself. It hasnāt been easy but we got there in the end.
Iāve had to be a pretty strong advocate with the health system (in Australia). For a while he was in and out of hospital - just wouldnāt comply with his medication regime and would get quite unwell and weād have to take him back to stabilise him. This went on until we found the righ medication for him and a doctor who was genuninely wanting the best outcome for him. He is not the man he might otherwise have been - he has to deal with the ānegativeā symptoms of the illness (lack of motivation, apathy, some difficulty getting organised, shying away from social interaction) but he is slowly finding things he enjoys (fossicking, rock polishing at a gem club, fishing) and tells us he is happy. I could write a book on the journey weāve been on. In brief what I would offer is:
Look after yourself - you canāt be an effective advocate for him if youāre not well yourself;
Recognise that he may not have the life you thought he would, but he can still have a happy life;
Get him on medication that works for him and donāt shy away from hospitals and doctors. People with Schizophrenia absolutely need medication to help them live their best life. Getting him the treatment he needs is number one priority - its such a challenging illness - they donāt really understand that theyāre unwell so you can sympathise with them in that they donāt want to take medication, but without it they suffer terribly.
stay connected with caregiver groups and forums. Its hard to suddenly find yourself a āmemberā of this community but use them to draw strength and encouragement.
I wish you all the very best momof3
Thank you so much for sharing your story. It gives me comfort to know that I am not alone in this journey. I apologize itās taken so long to reply. Itās been hard to get online sneaking around. I know that I need the support but because he has this thing about āprivacyā I donāt want him finding out that I am putting any of his business out to world.
I think we finally got him on a good dose of medication and yes also struggling with the negative symptoms absolutely shying away from any and all type of social interactions as a result he has not been able to complete HS and get his HS Diploma. Which is extremely frustrating for him because he used to be a mathematician genius and honor roll student up until his sophomore HS yearā¦ when his mental health started to decline. He is having trouble with reading comprehension, something he never struggled with beforeā¦ which makes him more angry and agitated and affects his confidence.
He has good doctors but I feel like he needs more support, Iāve tried to get him into an Early Psychosis Program but there a waitlist for that too. Just have to keep trying.
