In fact clozapine has many side effects and can stand alone as a therapy. Zuclopenthixol is a good combination with risperdal. Confused clozapine with zuclopenthixol. Sorry.
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Yes, it is the illness that makes the behavior so bad. Here is the US I have found it is almost impossible to get someone into a hospital for more than a few weeks who is psychotic unless they are dangerous to others.
Iām happy your brother has gained understanding of his illness, that is a big step.
Beautifully written and it sounds so smart ! Good job !
Thank you, Terry.
Not much nonetheless can be done to keep my son on course with the meds, Iāve gleaned. Heās starting to show signs of relapse. I want the LAWS to change, badly. If someone like my son and so many others keeps messing up off his meds, then make them f-ing take the meds. The pharms will support that, Iām sure, and arenāt they powerful lobbyists?
Sonās lovely on meds, a tyrant and threat when off. On and on it goes.
Savanna
I know this is very hard but I understand your position. Prayers that your son will have gained enough insight by now, and respond positively to the boundaries you establish because you love him so much, and that he will have many successes in the future!
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I wish I could get my stepson the help he needs, but he refuses. He knows heās different and I mean way different. He hears voices, yells, shouts, argues, lies, steals, and thinks itās ok because he needs it. Heās does all the crazy things that all of you have described. I personally cannot live with him anymore for my own health and safety. I had to lock my bedroom at night. He stalks my house. Iāve talked to many doctors and they say the meds can help them live a somewhat normal life. But why dont sz want to take the meds?
They donāt believe there is anything wrong with them. Lack of insight. Have you read Dr Amadorās book? Iām not sick, I donāt need help?
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Yes, please read the book āI Am Not Sick; I Donāt Need Helpā. Attend a NAMI Family Support Group and even better is to enroll in a no cost NAMI Family-to-Family Class. 50% of persons with SZ and 40% of persons with Bi-Polar illness have a symptom called āanosognosiaā that is a part of their illness. They CANNOT see themselves as they really are, either all or in part. It is called ālack of insightā as @DianeR refers to. This book is THE āgo-toā to learn how to talk with your loved one to get him to do the things that YOU want (because you believe that this is best for him) for reasons that HE wants. It is a āwin-winā. We can give up or look for ways to figure out how to do this with our loved ones who do not have insight. Or hope that things eventually change, but Iād rather be proactive! There are mention of these things elsewhere on this Forum.
Also, if your loved one ever gets to the point of requiring hospitalization, I will let you know that I was encouraged by professional caregiver to refuse to let my loved one come home. Guess what? He did not want to go to a homeless shelter so he cooperated and entered into a treatment program and has been taking meds for 6 months. These are available as private facilities (and can be very expensive although I know of at least one that takes Aetna) and I have also heard of good results via government programs for persons going that route. We are hopeful that counseling will continue to help our loved one gain insight. I know that our journey is not over but I will not give up.
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Dear Stone,
Your stepson does not want to take meds because the condition he (and my son) has itself deludes him into believing that heās fine as-is and that all others, no matter who (family, doctors, friends, police) are all wrong in finding anything wrong with him.
A psychiatric nurse once pointed out to me that this ālack of insightā or anosognosia, the Greek term, may in a strange way be a self-protective shield, because if these often very bright and sometimes gifted individuals were fully cognizant of their severe disorder. then depression, consequent suicide, or at minimum, a profound sense of loss would devastate them yet more utterly than the illness itself.
Our SZ kids lose social function, friends, and societal placement of a self-edifying sort. Imagine that. We humans are social animals: we need a sense of belonging, value, and placement in our social order. The sicker/more afflicted and psychotic the SZ person is, the greater his or her exile from these humanly natural needs: to belong principal among them.
Your stepson is likely severely afflicted with the disorder. If he can be co-erced to get on meds he may become gentle and sweet, even productive, and from othersā viewpoint livable or companionable; but he may never agree that he needs the meds.
My son got unmanageable just at Christmas. New Yearās Eve his caseworker came to the rescue with a task squad of five police officers. He just today was released from the psych ward under temporary conservatorship, with the office od our county conservator aiming for a year-long extension of that edict, which my son will protest in court, most likely.
To effect the T-con, as itās deemed, I helped by composing a lengthy detailed list of every psychiatric arrest over a ten-year period, every jailing, and all the evidence of his being āgravely disabled,ā from gross disorganization to inability to hold down a job, to feed himself, to socialize, etc.
My son twice tested an IQ of 170: he is brilliant. Still, no matter what all his smarts do not allow him to perceive his mental disease. Our kids with this condition need us to advocate for them, hard as this truly is for us.
If your stepson is scaring you, first off protect yourself. Get counsel with your NAMI chapter if thereās one in your vicinity. Most importantly, call emergency to intervene when thereās obvious trouble. You apparently have a spouse, so work together on this aim (Iām single). Keep at it.
My sonās taken the meds now that the T-con (Temporary Conservatorship) require, but it will be weeks before he calms down from his extreme psychosis. Heās home now, crazy but not scary, and Iāll see how it goes. I still love him, he still loves his mom, but forget ānormalā; thereās no telling with this tragic illness.
Savanna
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Thank you, I will hang in there. I do still fear him and seen him stalk our house. I keep my eyes open and pray. Thatās all I can do right now.
When my daughter was scaring me with night walking/talking we built a back door into her room so she had her own entrance/exit, and a hallway wall/door to stop access to the main house. That way she had her own āstudioā with a bathroom, bedroom, fridge, microwave, etc. We could lock her into her side when needed. And she could lock us into our side when she was paranoid (which was almost all the time). We also used fans and noise machines and a constantly running TV to drown out her conversations (sometimes screaming until hoarse) with her special beings. It was so hard to sleep sometimes, but I was less scared.
However, in December, a miracle happened: arrest, court date, judge ordered medication, and a med that worked (Haldol 30 day injection). Life is soooo very different now, the psychosis (voices and delusions) ended. I went from hopeless to anxious to feeling lucky in just a few weeks. Miracles are possible.
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Even Dr Amador who wrote the book āIām Not Sick, I Donāt Need Helpā locked his bedroom door when he was frightened by his brotherās behaviors during psychosis.
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Hi Savanna - youāre a great mom! I donāt think the probation officer/ case managers have any idea what theyāre talking about. They have this encoded idea theyāve been spoon fed about non compliance with medications. N is mentally ill, he may lack insight to needing medications so how does sending him out on his own while not medicated make any sense? If he gets violent again you have to be safe of course. Have a good plan ahead of time and keep working on getting him to get back on medication. Maybe a lower dose even? Hang in there! Youāre a warrior and a great mom.
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