It sounds to me like you did the right thing for your situation. I hope you can find some peace for yourself and your husband. You tried for 15 years. Wow, long time. It is time for yourself now.
3 Likes
So much heartbreak because of this illness.
I am very glad I was encouraged to get guardianship, and I continued to battle thru many hospitalizations and forced admissions to residential settings.
None of it was perfect, none of it was easy, and I am so grateful for the psychiatrist who finally threw up his hands and said - “We are trying clozapine”.
I don’t take any of this for granted, and know the story could change if for some reason my son decided to stop taking his meds. But being on one that is effective has been important to him staying on them, as well as understanding that when necessary I will take action. His stability has contributed to insight, which itself then contributes to more growth and stability.
5 Likes
My son is 21 and he left home when he was 17 and he used drugs and slept on floors and couches and sometimes in fields in Missouri I called the police a couple times to try to get them to help him and they wouldn’t do a thing. My therapist and most everybody I know kept saying just let him do his thing and let go of him and I couldn’t I still can’t. But he did kind of start to get himself together he ended up in the mission in Kansas and he checked himself into a hospital cuz he was having a lot of suicidal thoughts and they got him on medicine and he’s been doing pretty good since then he had a little relapse with a psychosis and went to the mental hospital for about 2 weeks but he’s been out for over a month now he likes taking the medicine right now I’ve read everything I can read about it it’s very likely that he will stop taking his medicine at some point but I can’t get guardianship because it cost so much money have to have a lawyer he won’t even let me have medical guardianship over him it took some convincing to have him release his medical information to me and signed the HIPAA paper I’ll pray for you I hope it gets better.
1 Like
I hope your son decides to stay on medication @Tamara_Hurd . I know for a fact that without medication my daughter would have been lost to me. So I truly hope he does. Welcome to the site.
He’s been admitted several times. Now we are afraid if we send him against his will he will be even more angry. We decided to stay put and have a security expert come tell us what we need
1 Like
I’m in the same place as you. Injections worked but stopped almost 2 years now. Haven’t spoken to him since . Homeless and jail . Breaks my heart
If he dont recommend real time HD video everywhere in addition to notifying the police, he has no clue what he is doing…
I agree. In my experience once a medication takes hold, positive feedback can feed on itself. I remember my mother remarking on this when I was seemingly spiraling up rather than down. When you are in it, you don’t always recognize the progress you are making but to those around you it can be apparent and sometimes dramatic. I was lucky that the first typical AP medication worked for me and its success began to feed on itself.
1 Like
And I would add “with sound” when our son was basically terrorizing us inside our home, we installed cameras with sound capability - if there were threats being made we wanted to be able to offer proof.
1 Like
Just yesterday we had security system installed in our house. If he breaks in again when we leave , we will have police come. Last time he caused hundreds of damage to our house.
1 Like
My son badly damaged the garage apartment we built for him. My husband and I were just stunned silent when we saw all the damage. It’s a terrible low feeling isn’t it?
Yes it is. I often wonder why they do this?? Anger. Voices??
It likely varies with the individual. While I didn’t destroy anything significant, in my case anger and frustration would escalate to rages and I’d start slamming, banging and hitting things. Voices might trigger the rages, but I’d be wary of the cameras being destroyed in the process.
A common delusion is being surveilled, and sufferers might tear up walls etc to try and locate listening devices. Having the equipment out in the open may trigger action toward the devices. Much of my anger was frustration in my belief that I was being surveilled. I’d try to keep them well-hidden, or protected or have them only at the outside perimeter.
1 Like
My son’s damage looked like a mixture of anger and searching for devices.
Some of the holes were obviously from hitting the walls with something. Other damage focused on electrical outlets, light switches, ceiling fans and electrical wiring.
One time he went on some sort of rampage outside. We woke up to find outdoor furniture and decorations scattered around the yard.
When he began showing up suddenly screaming at us through windows, we got pretty shaky as you never expected it.
We know that he felt he was “paying us back” as he was sure we were the voices that yelled at him when he tried to sleep. When he moved out there were so many different kinds of ear plugs on the floor of his bedroom.
1 Like
I totally understand. I cried so many tears for my son so many tears I’ll pray for you you pray for all of us and I pray for our children and our loved ones
4 Likes
Call and Get social workers involved !! call them in to evaluate him and the home . You can call family social servces to make a check on him and they will take charge when you cant. ARE you in the U.S?
2 Likes
We are in Delaware. We did call crisis center once. They came with police. Once they saw what his place looked like ( 5 broken windows, holes etc) , they talked him into going. But being admitted is such a short term fix. Especially when it’s involuntary. The minute he is out… it starts all over again. He’s been involuntary committed several times. We went to a NAMI support meeting last night and I know we are not suppose to lose hope, But at this time , I really don’t have any hope things will ever change.
I can so feel for all of us. We put my son in the hospital 4 times now. He has his house threw everything out made holes in the walls says someone was tampering with the wiring. I just had his house rewired from a electrition this cost me quite a bit. He has been on Invaga 75mg and abilify he has been on a cto for a year now and is doing quite well. The cto will expire in March I know he won’t continue with the injection he told me that he doesn’t like the feeling and it’s poison. So now my stress is out of control again. I feel like my life has been stolen because of this illness. My son blames me for doing this to him. Thanks for listening
3 Likes
I remember you from the old site, seems you have a much better outcome today. So glad and good to hear. It is never easy, reading through these post, brings a lot of memories/struggles every step of the way.