I’m glad that someone trying to work with yours saw him when he was so sick. They need to see the whole picture. Anyone who just sees them on their good days, has no idea.
This case manager/therapist is supposed to see him outside of an office setting at least once a week. More often if needs it - and will accept the help, which is the problem.
He’ll take him back & forth to appts if needed - in fact they want to do it.
They’ll also do some fun things based on my son’s interests - like go to the movies, go bowling, go to the park, whatever. When he’s ready, they’ll help him get back to school or find a job.
It’s a really good program IF he is willing to participate in it.
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He’ll get there! Hang in there.
That is a really good program - I hope you can get the meds to where he will participate.
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This does sound like a good program and I’m glad you have it. In which state so you live again? What is the official name of that program? We are in Ky and have ACT but it is so overloaded at present I have not had the first call back.
We live in Chesterfield, VA. The program is called ICT - Intensive Community Treatment.
They told me it’s based of a European model & they’ve been very successful with most people - people who came in even worse than my son.
They have a team that includes a dedicated psychiatrist & nurse. The nurse travels to do injections if you need her to. The psychiatrist will meet with patients outside the office if that’s needed.
Then, they have a manager who kind of coordinates things plus a receptionist/secretary - and about a dozen case workers/therapists. They’re keeping him to just one main guy to try to get him comfortable, but he could work with any of them - and they all do seem really nice and laid back.
They offer a full range of services to help him learn to be more independent - they have a clubhouse program too. If he wants to move out, they can help with something appropriate.
I know a few other counties here have similar things, so I don’t want to say it’s unique to our locality. If you’re interested, I would call up your local mental health center & ask if they have any kind of intensive program for people with severe mental illnesses like SZ.
It’s still not in my comfort zone because they want to take over many of the things I’ve been doing for years - get him to his dr’s appts, sit in on them, help him come to terms with his illness, get him to stay on his meds, etc.
It’s not that I don’t want them to do that, I have to get to a point where I have a high confidence level that it will work WITH HIM and I have to walk a fine line so that he knows it’s not that I want to get rid of him, but that I want things to be better for him. He’s already said “I’m sorry you don’t want me to live with you anymore” and “I’m sorry I’m so hard to raise” and things like that. Things have been difficult lately because we can’t get him stable, but I keep thinking back to what I could have done to make him think that, and while I can put my fingers on lots of mistakes I’ve made while frustrated, I can’t help but wonder if this program contributed to those thoughts.
I guess it all boils down to I’ll do whatever I can to keep his trust long term, and that might mean I give the ICT team some trouble by slowing things down.
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@engineerguy I find this fascinating and glad it worked for your wife. Now that it’s 10 months out, I’m wondering how your wife is doing now. My fingers are crossed she is well.
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consider sarcosine as a supplemental vitamin. It helped or daughter immensely. Brainvitaminz.com
It is a night and day difference