I don’t know what to expect any more. I am guardian for my aunt Dx paranoid schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, manic depressive, and dementia. She has recently received dementia Dx after the first attempt to Dx in 2002. (Incomplete due to her immediate family removing her before further testing could be complete) unfortunately she also has a strong history of aggression and violence. At this time she is in a skilled nursing home, (texas) however she is now refusing meds and becoming manic. I have noticed such a change in her more “stable” moments. So much that I frightened for the staff and clients. (Understand she is my best friend) i need to understand how the dementia is affecting her schizophrenia. I can’t seem to find the line any more, lucid manic dementia, I just don’t know what to be prepared for. Advice?
I suggest you support her hobbies as long as they are safe… I’ve had the hardest time talking to those that are set in a way.
But, I would just take day by day… she likely shouldn’t drink or smoke 420.
I work with people with dementia, it’s very challenging. I’m not an expert at all on the subject-I have no degree or formal training, just hands on experience. My first thought about your inquiry is that she might be in the later stages of dementia considering her lack of compliance and behavior. My other thought is that dementia can kind of mimic paranoid schizophrenia anyway.
As far as I understand it dementia is progressive and not very easily treated even with memory enhancing meds…
I don’t know what you can do besides talking to the doctor about the stage of dementia she is in and getting an idea of what to expect down the road and visiting her as much as you can. I’m sorry, that’s a tough situation.
I just wish I could do more. I wish I could make her happy now. She hates me and does not understand her Dx refuses to beleve it. I hate that she can’t stay with us or her husband. It’s just not safe, she could get hurt, or seriously hurt someone else. I hate not being able to reach her anymore. I got her everything for her hobbies ( crafts ) a whole bed room set in purple her favorite color, a tv I even got her a older laptop ( she wants type her letters) I can’t afford to do anything else now. I don’t have finanical guardianship. Her family wanted it and to me it was not my first priority her safty was. I visit as much as I can but try to keep to a schedule. Her family visits and the nurse has to ask them (adults) to behave. She feeds off their negitive behavior. I just don’t know what to do to help her… It is killing me
Thank you
You may have to accept that she is just plain out of reach. That said, there’s a lot in the material listed below that may present opportunities to ease her suffering and that of her immediate family.
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Get a copy of these books, read them and have your family read them, as well. (Torrey can be a bit totalistic and unwilling to see exceptions to his “rules” at times, but most of his book is really worth the effort to plough through.)
http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Schizophrenia-6th-Edition-Family/dp/0062268856
http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Family-Guide-Schizophrenia/dp/1593851804/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=schizophren0c-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=XKLY6NWSWJSQ3VYN&creativeASIN=1593851804
Amazon.com
Amazon.com -
Get properly diagnosed by a board-certified psychopharmacologist who specializes in the psychotic disorders. One can find them at…
Find Top Psychiatrists by State. andhttps://psychiatrists.psychologytoday.com/rms/
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Work with that “psychiatrist” (or “p-doc”) to develop a medication formula that stabilizes their symptoms sufficiently so that they can tackle the psychotherapy that will disentangle their thinking.
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The best of the psychotherapies for that currently include…
DBT – What is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)? – Behavioral Tech
MBSR – http://www.mindfullivingprograms.com/whatMBSR.php
MBCT - Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy: theory and practice - PubMed
ACT – ACT | Association for Contextual Behavioral Science
10 StEP – Pair A Docks: The 10 StEPs of Emotion Processing
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the even newer somatic psychotherapies like…
MBBT – An Introduction to Mind-Body Bridging & the I-System – New Harbinger Publications, Inc
SEPT – Somatic experiencing - Wikipedia
SMPT – Sensorimotor psychotherapy - Wikipedia
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or standard CBTs, like…
REBT – Rational emotive behavior therapy - Wikipedia
Schematherapy – Schema therapy - Wikipedia
Learned Optimism – Learned optimism - Wikipedia
Standard CBT – Psychotherapy | NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness & scroll down
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If you/she/he needs a professional intervention to get through treatment resistance, tell me where you live, and I will get back to you with leads to those services.
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Look into the RAISE Project at Google.
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Look for mental illness clubhouses in your area (which can be hugely helpful… but may also pose risks). Dig through the many articles at Google to locate and investigate them.
All the best to you.
this is an incredible resource. I’m going to check out sources, THX!
Hey, I live in Colorado; my son is treatment resistant. Can you get you back to me with leads to those services.
Where in Colorado?
Small Podunk town - Pagosa Springs in southwest corner of the state.
The quality of mental health professionals in Santa Fe, NM, is very likely going to be the best of any within a reasonable distance.
Start at this link ( Best Psychiatrists Near Me in Santa Fe, NM | WebMD ) and work through all three pages. Call each one and ask if they do interventions on treatment resistant sz patients. (Make sure you tale to at least 10 of them so you can compare what you hear.) And take notes.
You’ll pretty likely have to take your son to Santa Fe, and the cost may be considerable. But in 8 or 9 cases out of 10, it’s a far better wager than just letting things continue as they are.
Some (most?) will want to hospitalize him briefly. You’ll need to find out if the hospital they want to use takes your insurance.
I’m so overwhelmed by your help. I will. We have Medicaid; but you are right, far better than letting things fall apart, been down that route.
She is currently in denton tx. I have contacted many places with no aid. However I finally found proof of id before age of 18! Now to see if it will actually help with finding a place. I don’t know how to handle this much hate. I end my days with a call from the woman that loved me telling me such horriable things. Everyday. I am being crushed no family support. Idk how much more I can take before I break.
Well tx mental health has failed. She is on way home and unstable.
Oh no…
All best to you; you and your aunt are in my thoughts
Schizophrenia and dementia can leave you at a loss. Maybe you could get some help from her immediate family. Surely one of them is responsible enough to help her. Maybe you could cut back on your support without abandoning it all together.