For the past twenty-eight years I have been a mother. A full-time stay-at-home and care-for-the-children mother. That was my job and nothing in my past had prepared me to write an article in any newspaper much less a consumer journal for mental health advocacy -- until one year ago. We came to learn that our youngest son, then a twenty-one year old college student, has schizophrenia; a serious mental illness. Our son, his siblings, grandparents, aunt, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and friends have been taken to a "foreign land." One we didn’t choose to visit and frankly, a language and culture we don’t want to learn. But learn we must because our son’s future (indeed, all our futures) are dependent on our mastering this foreign place.
None of us had been on the psychiatric floor of a hospital. Speaking as a parent, no training can prepare you for this shocker. Most parents spend the greater part of our children’s lives protecting them from the minor cuts and scrapes in life. So to be hit with this most serious of illnesses is very jolting. Navigating the medical and hospital world (especially now in the era of managed care) is not easy. I imagine it’s like getting troops "combat ready."
Our son’s first hospitalization panicked him and us and left us confused and terrified as to the future. While we felt he was safe and being treated during his hospitalization, we would soon come to learn that unlike many illnesses and diseases, schizophrenia has NO CURE. Recovery is a long road and so dependent on first finding the correct medication and dosage and then faithfully taking this medication in conjunction with therapy.
After thirty days as an inpatient, our son was released from the hospital and along with his prescriptions for antipsychotic medication and cogentin (to combat the side effects of these meds), he was instructed to attend a daily outpatient day treatment program. He went for a couple of days but then decided this day treatment wasn’t for him. For a while he kept taking his meds and seeing a therapist biweekly. He even held down a full-time job as a dishwasher in a local restaurant but after a time, he discontinued taking his medications (the side effects were many and besides, he felt "there isn’t anything wrong with me, I’m not sick"). We would learn that these reactions are common and it wasn’t long before he also stopped seeing his therapist.
Our son’s world would continue to unravel and he would eventually return to his psychotic state within three months necessitating another involuntary hospitalization. This time we were a little more prepared. We were fortunate to have learned of a hospital in Connecticut specializing in the treatment of psychiatric illnesses. With the aid of our local police -- we had to call the police to first take our son by ambulance to the county hospital and from there he was transferred by ambulance to the hospital in Connecticut.
Our guidance and direction for this second hospitalization -- the one that has put our son on his road to recovery -- came from a family friend; himself a recovering schizophrenic. We had been on the telephone to him three and four times a day in the weeks preceding our son’s second hospitalization. He would be our sounding board, our greatest source of strength and courage and, ultimately, our son’s savior. Through his daily assessment, he would identify the behaviors and isolation our son was exhibiting and he could counsel us as to what direction we should be taking in order to get the best help for our son. Because our friend was well into his recovery (his recovery began when he was put on Risperdal four years ago) and because he had also helped other people with serious mental illness, he knew when our son would need to be rehospitalized. He was further able to suggest a psychiatrist who might be able to "connect" with our son after his inpatient stay.
Because our friend intervened and we followed his suggestions, which have worked out well, I am able to write and say during these past six months, our son has been learning to manage his illness. Together with a psychiatrist he sees weekly and the benefit of daily medication, we are optimistic that one day our son will be able to offer a point in the right direction to someone not yet on their road to recovery. We all need to help and support each other -- share information as to what works, where to go for help and care about each other. If we do this, one day all people living with serious mental illness will be helped to live a life worth living.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
You'll Not Steal My Son's Life!
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Tuesday, August 16, 2011
You'll Not Steal My Son's Life!
For the past twenty-eight years I have been a mother. A full-time stay-at-home and care-for-the-children mother. That was my job and nothing in my past had prepared me to write an article in any newspaper much less a consumer journal for mental health advocacy -- until one year ago. We came to learn that our youngest son, then a twenty-one year old college student, has schizophrenia; a serious mental illness. Our son, his siblings, grandparents, aunt, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and friends have been taken to a "foreign land." One we didn’t choose to visit and frankly, a language and culture we don’t want to learn. But learn we must because our son’s future (indeed, all our futures) are dependent on our mastering this foreign place.
None of us had been on the psychiatric floor of a hospital. Speaking as a parent, no training can prepare you for this shocker. Most parents spend the greater part of our children’s lives protecting them from the minor cuts and scrapes in life. So to be hit with this most serious of illnesses is very jolting. Navigating the medical and hospital world (especially now in the era of managed care) is not easy. I imagine it’s like getting troops "combat ready."
Our son’s first hospitalization panicked him and us and left us confused and terrified as to the future. While we felt he was safe and being treated during his hospitalization, we would soon come to learn that unlike many illnesses and diseases, schizophrenia has NO CURE. Recovery is a long road and so dependent on first finding the correct medication and dosage and then faithfully taking this medication in conjunction with therapy.
After thirty days as an inpatient, our son was released from the hospital and along with his prescriptions for antipsychotic medication and cogentin (to combat the side effects of these meds), he was instructed to attend a daily outpatient day treatment program. He went for a couple of days but then decided this day treatment wasn’t for him. For a while he kept taking his meds and seeing a therapist biweekly. He even held down a full-time job as a dishwasher in a local restaurant but after a time, he discontinued taking his medications (the side effects were many and besides, he felt "there isn’t anything wrong with me, I’m not sick"). We would learn that these reactions are common and it wasn’t long before he also stopped seeing his therapist.
Our son’s world would continue to unravel and he would eventually return to his psychotic state within three months necessitating another involuntary hospitalization. This time we were a little more prepared. We were fortunate to have learned of a hospital in Connecticut specializing in the treatment of psychiatric illnesses. With the aid of our local police -- we had to call the police to first take our son by ambulance to the county hospital and from there he was transferred by ambulance to the hospital in Connecticut.
Our guidance and direction for this second hospitalization -- the one that has put our son on his road to recovery -- came from a family friend; himself a recovering schizophrenic. We had been on the telephone to him three and four times a day in the weeks preceding our son’s second hospitalization. He would be our sounding board, our greatest source of strength and courage and, ultimately, our son’s savior. Through his daily assessment, he would identify the behaviors and isolation our son was exhibiting and he could counsel us as to what direction we should be taking in order to get the best help for our son. Because our friend was well into his recovery (his recovery began when he was put on Risperdal four years ago) and because he had also helped other people with serious mental illness, he knew when our son would need to be rehospitalized. He was further able to suggest a psychiatrist who might be able to "connect" with our son after his inpatient stay.
Because our friend intervened and we followed his suggestions, which have worked out well, I am able to write and say during these past six months, our son has been learning to manage his illness. Together with a psychiatrist he sees weekly and the benefit of daily medication, we are optimistic that one day our son will be able to offer a point in the right direction to someone not yet on their road to recovery. We all need to help and support each other -- share information as to what works, where to go for help and care about each other. If we do this, one day all people living with serious mental illness will be helped to live a life worth living.
None of us had been on the psychiatric floor of a hospital. Speaking as a parent, no training can prepare you for this shocker. Most parents spend the greater part of our children’s lives protecting them from the minor cuts and scrapes in life. So to be hit with this most serious of illnesses is very jolting. Navigating the medical and hospital world (especially now in the era of managed care) is not easy. I imagine it’s like getting troops "combat ready."
Our son’s first hospitalization panicked him and us and left us confused and terrified as to the future. While we felt he was safe and being treated during his hospitalization, we would soon come to learn that unlike many illnesses and diseases, schizophrenia has NO CURE. Recovery is a long road and so dependent on first finding the correct medication and dosage and then faithfully taking this medication in conjunction with therapy.
After thirty days as an inpatient, our son was released from the hospital and along with his prescriptions for antipsychotic medication and cogentin (to combat the side effects of these meds), he was instructed to attend a daily outpatient day treatment program. He went for a couple of days but then decided this day treatment wasn’t for him. For a while he kept taking his meds and seeing a therapist biweekly. He even held down a full-time job as a dishwasher in a local restaurant but after a time, he discontinued taking his medications (the side effects were many and besides, he felt "there isn’t anything wrong with me, I’m not sick"). We would learn that these reactions are common and it wasn’t long before he also stopped seeing his therapist.
Our son’s world would continue to unravel and he would eventually return to his psychotic state within three months necessitating another involuntary hospitalization. This time we were a little more prepared. We were fortunate to have learned of a hospital in Connecticut specializing in the treatment of psychiatric illnesses. With the aid of our local police -- we had to call the police to first take our son by ambulance to the county hospital and from there he was transferred by ambulance to the hospital in Connecticut.
Our guidance and direction for this second hospitalization -- the one that has put our son on his road to recovery -- came from a family friend; himself a recovering schizophrenic. We had been on the telephone to him three and four times a day in the weeks preceding our son’s second hospitalization. He would be our sounding board, our greatest source of strength and courage and, ultimately, our son’s savior. Through his daily assessment, he would identify the behaviors and isolation our son was exhibiting and he could counsel us as to what direction we should be taking in order to get the best help for our son. Because our friend was well into his recovery (his recovery began when he was put on Risperdal four years ago) and because he had also helped other people with serious mental illness, he knew when our son would need to be rehospitalized. He was further able to suggest a psychiatrist who might be able to "connect" with our son after his inpatient stay.
Because our friend intervened and we followed his suggestions, which have worked out well, I am able to write and say during these past six months, our son has been learning to manage his illness. Together with a psychiatrist he sees weekly and the benefit of daily medication, we are optimistic that one day our son will be able to offer a point in the right direction to someone not yet on their road to recovery. We all need to help and support each other -- share information as to what works, where to go for help and care about each other. If we do this, one day all people living with serious mental illness will be helped to live a life worth living.
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