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Seeking advice from parents with a child diagnosed with Schizophrenia
Mental Health | Last Active: May 28 6:13am | Replies (30)Comment receiving replies
I certainly understand your roller coaster ride. I surely will pray for you and your son too. My heart goes out to you. My family did not understand what was going on either many years ago at the onset, and I was ostersized from the family. It took years for them to accept that we have mental illness in the family. Meantime I was doing everything possible to study the condition, change doctors, get new opinions, rush to the school when he had a psychotic episode, or meds didn't work. They tried so many different ones on my son. That's why they call it "the practice of medicine". They practice on him until they get the right. It was a terrible roller coaster as you say. All the medications have side affects. Olanzepine makes him tired and gain weight, when he was always a tall lean person. I heard that Abilify doesn't do that. We may end up changing again! When does it end. My son is the sweetest man and I hate seeing him go thru this. I'm too stubborn to go for therapy for myself. He lives like a monk. Doesn't care to talk much or at all.i am a widow and fear for when I pass and he is left alone with no family. I had to get social services involved so someone will monitor him when I'm gone, but no one is as dedicated as a good mother. We have to keep our heads above water and pray for them. We are so alone here. My son is a sweet, quiet loner, no phone or computer, no interests any more. When he was younger he was an archer, marshall artist, fisherman, jogger, laborer, active until six years ago when he gave up and just stays in his room. We are older. He is 52 and I'm 76. I am a musician, so I soothe our souls with my music he enjoys hearing. My son worked for many years while on heavy meds. I'm sorry to go on and on. Just stay healthy, it's good you're seeing someone for your own mental health. All we can do is accept the situation and cry alone at night. It can be overwhelming. Be wishful and hopeful and keep life going the best you can. I hug you.
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@pta thank you for your good thoughts. Does your son do therapy? I think it helps. If he can get on Medicaid it’s covered as are the meds (yes, it’s harder for people that need it under this new hardcore admin that has cut back everything here to fight unwanted wars). Sorry I digress. We have tried to get him interested in things, hobbies, church, library, volunteering, sports, but nothing did. We finally got him a cheap membership to Planet Fitness, he was athletic and slim but gained weight with the meds, and that has really helped. Plus at least it gets him out of his apt a few times a week. He has his own apt nearby now, which helps his independence. I worry about him not having any friends, like he did before in school and when he was working, but he has discovered some online friends thru gaming and they all play station every day. Most of the day I’m afraid, but it’s better than nothing! Never had any support from extended family ( they always ignored us, when we lived in the same small Oklahoma town with them, and for no good reason last year his eldest brother secretly created a trust that cut my husband out of his parents inheritance, as he has POA). We found it by accident looking at online county records. Some nonsense excuse that he moved away and didn’t send money home regularly to support the other deadbeat brothers and families who lived in all the family rent houses with their families for free, as did the eldest brother) Bizarre. Yes I have issues over the whole thing and am bitter. We feel like we are on our own here too. Please share all you want, I think it helps to discuss with others in similar situation as we keep all this to ourselves as a shameful, dirty secret. And it shouldn’t be. But who could comprehend all this? One time one of my husband’s brothers commented that our son was just drinking or getting high too much. Ignorance. It’s hard for me not to blame them for everything.
Our son he does keep in close contact with us and both his siblings who live out of town, and we watch him closely. That and the video games is about it. Sorry, back to you: I will pray for your son that he does not completely give up and can keep looking for something that can bring him some joy. Music is great, maybe even some beginner lessons would be good for him. I know it takes self motivation though, I get it. Hugs your way….