I have done everything I know to do to help my 26 yo son. I have had him hospitalized a few times only for him to get out and stop taking his meds. When he stops taking his meds the cycle starts all over again. I am concerned because my son has lost weight and his hygiene is poor. I don’t think he can properly take care of himself right now. I don’t know what else to do at this point.
Hi , does your son live alone ? if so does he live near you ? have you tried bribing him with something he likes or give him money in exchange for a monthly shot of meds or pills ?
My son had really bad negative symptoms. I felt like the more suggestions I made about his hygiene, the worst things would get. He got better as he got older, but when he is sad, he slips back. He told me once that he didn’t see the point. Nobody came to see him, his friends had all left him, and there wasn’t any point in being presentable. They suffer so much, its just not fair.
This is the issue most people with schizophrenia have, it’s called learn helplessness. They believe they are hopeless and can never recover so they never do anything to improve themselves. This negative way of thinking is what cause them to never get out of the hell they are stuck in. You need to encourage your son that there is hope for a great life. There are people out there who will be his friends. I am proof. I used to have absolutely no social life whatsoever. But the more I improved myself, the more confident I got and I realized that there are many people including pretty girls who like me. Good luck.
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He can recover do not lose hope. My grandson was a heroin addict with shizo Affective bipolar type, homeless, arrested few times. He is now clean holds a really good job. Clozapine got his mind better in just a week. He came home on all kinds of meds and we took him off one by one. He now only takes 200mg of clozapine and itsworking to lower his dose. Good luck clozapine was a miracle for him but I had to fight for it 2 years. It has been 6 years no relapse
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I understand exactly what you’re going through. My 27 yr old son was the same way. Still is with some things. I really believe the meds have a huge impact on what they do. Until the right combination happens you’ll have to just hang in there. Never give up. He doesn’t see the big picture. But we do. Make sure you have things taken care of for the future. That will help a ton
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@Believing Getting him on a monthly injection is the key. I never in a million years thought my son would agree to it but he did and it has been a life saver for him. He is on his second injection (haldol) and we saw improvement very quickly and he was able to gain insight into what has been happening with him.
I do worry about him continuing to get it each month because it does cause him to be EXTREMELY tired and have very low energy which he really hates but I am hoping that the longer he is on it that will eventually subside.
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He won’t have anything to do with a injection.
I understand , my son’s the same . He will never take an injection ! he’s dropped his meds to 5mg and wants to stop that too . The only reason why he is taking Abilify 5mg is because i’m bribing him . He is now suffering from ‘’ height ‘’ OCD symptoms and its hard to deal with . He now believes he is short 5’'8-9 and is finding doctors to help him grow taller and if they cant help him he doesnt want to live ! very stressful !!!
This illness is tough on those who have it, for sure. And tough on their families. Their delusions make solutions hard. Sometimes the things we do to try to help our loved ones don’t work out the way we want. My daughter had to go through 5 forced hospitalizations, 2 arrests, and a court order to stay on medicine before she got on and stayed on an effective medicine. Before that, she always threw her meds away once out of the hospital. Without the court order, I think she would never have stayed on her meds. I asked the judge for the court order for meds. Also, without my help, the doctor during her last hospitalization might never have known what prior meds worked the best so he could get her back on them.
What else can you do? Don’t give up hope. Don’t stop trying to help. Solving the riddle that schizophrenia presents to caregivers requires constant alertness and constant willingness to adjust life events toward their betterment.