Well my wife and I have decided that he will not live on the street. As a Paramedic I see kids on the street and could not bear to see him living like that.
As for the courts, we have tried to get him commited and they have to appoint him an attorney. We have presented out case and they say that it is hearsay and that he has his rights. We have hired an attorney and he is up against the wall with my son's rights laws.
Everytime we go to court his court appointed attorney beings up this crap and the judge buys into it. We have appealed so many times and have now given up.
Dealing with mentally ill people is different for different people. It is all what comfort level you are at. My son will probably live with us till we die and that is okay by me.
He was first diagnosed at 15 and he has gone downhill from there. We have had him hospitalized twice and both times he did better as long as he was on his meds. Once he was released he quit taking them and he detiroiated and was back to "normal" (his normal or what we call baseline) in 6 months.
We could force him to take meds till he was 18 and now we have to get a court order. Since he is not a danger to himself or others the liberal courts want to protect his rights.
Well this is how he expresses his rights. He steps out in front of cars becasue he cannot be hurt or killed. He eats jars of peanut butter for breakfast. lunch and dinner. He stays up for 80 hours at a time and then sleeps for 4 hours and does another 48 hours before catching another nap.
He lives with my wife and and has his own room. We used to give him things like clothes and Walkman's because he loves music. But he cuts up the clothers and gives away his stereo, TV, computer and everything else. Now he uses the family computer and gets angry when he asks why he can't have his own and I tell him becasue he gives them away.
Some advice.
Go to NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) meetings to meet others that have relatives in the same boat.
Lower your expectations. Your sister will not recover and will not be successful in the normal sense of the word. Having lower expectations will not put you in a position of being dissappointed. If she does better than you expect you will be surprised rather than dissappointed.
Don't be ashamed of her. Mental illness strikes lots of people in every socioeconomic group. While there are some of those that will look down on you by association they are small people with small minds. Not being ashamed will show the world that mental illness is real and needs attention.
My wife just told me that her favorite Schizophrenia book is Surviving Schizophrenia by Fuller E Torry. She manages the mental health phone room in a major city and is well respected by her peers.
I am a Paramedic and also know how to deal with mental illness in my patients.
One comment that my son said when he first got sick was very telling. He told me that if my wife or I wanted a quite time we just turned off the stereo and went into the bedroom. For him the voices were always there and no matter what he did they kept talking to him. He gets no rest.
My heart goes out to you. It is a life long struggle but eventually you will get comfortable with it. Realize there is little you can do for her except love her and supprt her. If you try to struggle against it you will only wear yourself down and then you won't be any good at supporting her.
Chuck
I had a Pismo. I have had the motherboard replaced, the screen replaced, 4 power supplies replaced. 4 DVD players replaced and I am sure there is more.
It was well wortht he money for me. I finally sold it ot my daughter as it is all fixed up now. I upgraded to a used TiBook.
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Well my wife and I have decided that he will not live on the street. As a Paramedic I see kids on the street and could not bear to see him living like that. As for the courts, we have tried to get him commited and they have to appoint him an attorney. We have presented out case and they say that it is hearsay and that he has his rights. We have hired an attorney and he is up against the wall with my son's rights laws. Everytime we go to court his court appointed attorney beings up this crap and the judge buys into it. We have appealed so many times and have now given up. Dealing with mentally ill people is different for different people. It is all what comfort level you are at. My son will probably live with us till we die and that is okay by me.
He was first diagnosed at 15 and he has gone downhill from there. We have had him hospitalized twice and both times he did better as long as he was on his meds. Once he was released he quit taking them and he detiroiated and was back to "normal" (his normal or what we call baseline) in 6 months. We could force him to take meds till he was 18 and now we have to get a court order. Since he is not a danger to himself or others the liberal courts want to protect his rights. Well this is how he expresses his rights. He steps out in front of cars becasue he cannot be hurt or killed. He eats jars of peanut butter for breakfast. lunch and dinner. He stays up for 80 hours at a time and then sleeps for 4 hours and does another 48 hours before catching another nap. He lives with my wife and and has his own room. We used to give him things like clothes and Walkman's because he loves music. But he cuts up the clothers and gives away his stereo, TV, computer and everything else. Now he uses the family computer and gets angry when he asks why he can't have his own and I tell him becasue he gives them away. Some advice. Go to NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) meetings to meet others that have relatives in the same boat. Lower your expectations. Your sister will not recover and will not be successful in the normal sense of the word. Having lower expectations will not put you in a position of being dissappointed. If she does better than you expect you will be surprised rather than dissappointed. Don't be ashamed of her. Mental illness strikes lots of people in every socioeconomic group. While there are some of those that will look down on you by association they are small people with small minds. Not being ashamed will show the world that mental illness is real and needs attention. My wife just told me that her favorite Schizophrenia book is Surviving Schizophrenia by Fuller E Torry. She manages the mental health phone room in a major city and is well respected by her peers. I am a Paramedic and also know how to deal with mental illness in my patients. One comment that my son said when he first got sick was very telling. He told me that if my wife or I wanted a quite time we just turned off the stereo and went into the bedroom. For him the voices were always there and no matter what he did they kept talking to him. He gets no rest. My heart goes out to you. It is a life long struggle but eventually you will get comfortable with it. Realize there is little you can do for her except love her and supprt her. If you try to struggle against it you will only wear yourself down and then you won't be any good at supporting her. Chuck
I had a Pismo. I have had the motherboard replaced, the screen replaced, 4 power supplies replaced. 4 DVD players replaced and I am sure there is more. It was well wortht he money for me. I finally sold it ot my daughter as it is all fixed up now. I upgraded to a used TiBook.