Friends, Family & Carers Forum

[jon]

my 21 year old son was diagnosed with  Schizophrenia after smashing his tv, playstation, guitar etc. all his expensive belongings begining of 2015 at the hospital. while he was in there they got his medication right and working for him then when he got out he got great help from mental health marion with a good mental health worker and a good psychiatrist who worked closely with our local g.p. i gave him his medication everyday at the same time and everything ran smoothly for a year. at the end of last year his mental health worker moved to a different group and wasn't replaced and he also stopped getting appointments with his psychiatrist. then this year his g.p. got cancer and had to take time off so he really wasn't seeing anyone on a regular basis. march this year he stopped taking his medication and over a period of a couple months i saw his sleeping paterns getting really bad, his moods got very bad and he isolated himself from everyone. i knew something was wrong and after 2 months he told me he has stopped taking his medication and refused to restart it. he got so bad i had to ring mental health who gave him a new case manager and new psychiatrist who put him on a 1 month order to take his medication and negotiated taking a lower dose and see how he goes on that. after starting his medication again i saw a great improvement and his new mental health worker seemed to be quite good and very hands on. things wern't perfect but they were better. then a couple of months ago i noticed his behavior start to get bad again and he began getting more paranoid than usual. he began by getting pissed off at his computer and smashed one of the monitors, next week he smashed the whole computer and threw it in the bin. the next week he smashed his $1000 guitar with a hammer and threatened to hit me with the hammer if i didn't ring the doctor. i rang mental health and they rang the police and an ambulance and he spent 1 night in the hospital and got out the next day. i refused to press charges with the police and told them all he needs is his doctor to see him and get his medication working again. then a week later he had another temper tantrum and smashed his tv and playstation and all the games etc. once again mental health was called and the police came and an ambulance took him to hospital. he spent 4 days in the hospital then came out and told me they released him because he wasn't having psychotic episodes it's just that his thinking is not good. he also told me he was told to continue on the same medication he was taking and was given a new mental health worker. he told me he had stopped taking his medication for a week but had started again. last year his previous psychiatrist saw me with my son which was good because i could bring up things he forgot about and had a good idea of what was going on. i also went to the g.p. with him and sat in on home visits by his mental health worker. this new psychiatrist won't let me go in and my son hasn't seen his g.p. for many months because of his health. the last time my son saw this years psychiatrist he came out laughing saying he was told he was doing really good. now my son has been to the hospital twice, had the police called twice, he has been talking about suicide, smashing his belongings, threatening me, and not taking his medication all the time so i went into g.p. plus and asked to see his mental health worker. i explained to her everything that was going on and asked her if she was going to do anything and if the psychiatrist was going to do something and explained earlyer this year when his medication was lowered it was a compramise and to see how he did on a lower medication and now obviously it's not working and should be adjusted accordingly. she kept trying to explain there is a process they have to follow and a whole lot more mumbo jumbo. i kept saying to her i don't care about that i just want to know if they were going to do anything to help my son. she said she will see what she can do and gave me her email address to email her and my sons psychiatrist on anything i thought was important. she also told me she was his mental health worker in the hospital and that they didn't tell him it was just his thinking that was wrong and that he left on his own free will not under advisement from them. i sent a number of large emails describing his behaviour from last year to now and how last year his medication although good and working his then g.p. and psychiatrist were still shuffling round ideas of how to get him on a better medication and now with his new psychiatrist instead of improving it he's halved it and everything has gone to crap. i also said it's not just my opinion but many other proffesionals opinion based on what i've told them my son urgently needs to see his doctor and have his medication at the very least increased and or changed. after the first email she said that mental health were going to have a meeting and discuss what they should do next and then get my son to go see his psychiatrist after that meeting. my son went and saw him, was given a new script for exactly the same medication and same amount as before, nothing to his suprise was brought up about his behaviour but instead they tried to convince him to go stay at a half way house. that's been sugested to him before and he does not want to go at all. he has abandonment issues involving his mum and granny and i refuse to force or encourage him to go if he doesn't want to. i just want his doctor and mental health worker get his medication soughted and then try to help him from there. then 2 weeks ago while i was sitting in the kitchen with our house mate my son came in making yelling ridiculously paranoid accusations with his fists in the air yelling at me to hit him, i refused and as he was walking into me i tried pushing him back and the result was him assaulting me. i finally calmed him down enough to get to my room and ring mental health. because it was a violent incedent they rang only the police who came out, took a statement from me, asked me if i wanted to press charges and again i said no, i just want mental health and his doctor to get his medication right so his violent behaviour stops. i've emailed mental health and told them what has now happened and i have not heard anything back and no one has seen my son since. i got called into the police station last week to sign some paperwork stating i don't want to press charges and explained to them once again i just want mental health and his psychiatrist to help make him better but they just seem to refuse to do they're job properly. the police advised me to only comunicate with mental health via email and keep a copy of the emails because if anything bad happens again they will have to take resonsibility for whatever my son does next. this week my son caught a train to town and back and told me all the way he was paranoid someone was going to stab him. a couple of nights ago he thought me and our house mate were talking about him and the next day my son threatened our house mate who incidently also suffers from schyzaphrenia and told him to stop talking about him behind his back or things are going to get very violent. i am fed up with mental health my sons mental health psychiatrist and really don't want to wait and see what my son does next before or should i say if mental health and his doctor step up and begin doing they're job properly. it seems to me as though mental health, well the mental health team that's been allocated to my son refuse to do anything until my son either kills himself or someone else. i am so frustrated, have no idea what to do and at my wits end.

[Louise]

So sorry to hear you've been going through such a tough time! You have been very patient. I'm not surprised you are feeling frustrated. My 19 year old son has bipolar disorder but has only been hospitalized twice. He is struggling at the moment, trying to get better without medication. It really is frustrating as a parent watching them struggle and putting up with the irritating, and in your sons case, frightening behavior. Waiting for a breakthrough. Worrying. Then getting good too tired to even worry anymore...I do hope either the mental health team get your son stable on the right medication ....or else that he gets a long enough stay in hospital to get properly better.

[Karren]

I am sorry to hear of your troubles.I would go and sit in the mental health office or the psychiatrists office and not leave until you get help. You care about your son more than any one else. Keep on seeking help and shout for help from the roof tops. You deserve assistance, advice and you also need support. Bless you and please seek help from your GP and psychologist. Please do not stop looking until you get the help you have decided you need.

[Appleblossom]

I am very sad to read your post and have felt similar thoughts ... that a lot of mental health workers are not doing their job.  Continuity REALLY is IMPORTANT. SO you know the difference when their is informed intervention.

A few of my family members have done similar types of behaviour as your son.  It is not an unusual profile.  I suspect you are right about half-way houses .. if he doesnt want to go and you dont want him to go ... stick to your instincts ... my sister suicided in a halfway house .. they are not all they could be.

 I have 2 little nephews who have done the same things they were quite young  ... my brother was much older ... when he started acting out like your son ... once they do too many destructive things .. the person they hurt the most is themselves .. and it is horrible to watch that in a loved one ...

My son has managed to draw the line at destructive acts ... so then he is not turning his energy against himself or me.

I hear your son CALLING out for HELP and YOU reaching out and doing the right thing as a carer.   He feels over sensitive and exposed on public transport ... I am sure when I was most vulnerable I would not have coped on it either ... tho I like PT now ... 

For young men trying to integrate their sensitive side and their strength is so hard .. there are not enough social structures in place to manage it and falls to the family . 

 The notion that just making a clinical assessment of a person's state of mind ... is enough and playing safe on legal issues as more important than rehab or healing issues .. is a HUGE SYSTEMIC PROBLEM that the taxpayers fund.  To provide a service ... there needs to be ongoing help given and recieved by the clients or patients.... if it is genuine help .. over time it will get through.

I hope your personal situation gets better.

[Former-Member]

hello jon

This is my first time on here. I thought I would read some of the posts to get an idea of how to do things etc.  I read yours and can empathise with you. If you are talking about C3 ward in RAH I understand exactly the frustration. My adult son has finally been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after slipping through the cracks of not only the public system but the private system for many years. The paranoia has probably only appeared in the last 4 years. I'm not sure I am so overwhelmed and drained from the whole experience. The public hospital diagnosed the illness and my son refused to accept this. He rang me and although he was agitated and angry I was able to discern that he was not being listened to.  I managed to understand after a while that he was reading from "about your rights" pamphlet or something along those lines. Whilst I believed that he is seriously ill and there was a strong possibility that the diagnosis was correct I wanted to help my son with his rights. He also had private health insurance and wanted to be transferred to a private hospital and see a private psychiatrist.  I made many calls and had one nurse tell me that she did not like my tone, I was being sarcastic( anxiety stricken yes sarcastic no) she then said she would hang up on me and did so. I eventually found  my way to someone high up and spoke to her about my ordeal and my son's rights. She was appalled at my treatment and was very helpful. She organised for a second opinion/diagnosis by another psychiatrist working both at the public hospital and also in private practice. He gave the  same diagnosis. He personally rang me and although his manner was slightly condescending in the beginning his tone softened when he realised that I was listening to  his every word and realised that my own suspicions were confirmed. He also made the point that as my son was in total denial of his illness it would be a waste of time transferring him to a private hospital under the guidance of a private psychiatrist as once he  was released he would not continue consultations or medications. My son was supposed to have had assistance in finding new accommodation as it is unsafe for him to return to where he lived before. There was also mention of finding work somewhere in the literature. None of this occurred. Looking for a rental property for him was left up to myself and his father. He has been discharged and gone to stay with a friend neither of us know much about. Whether or not he has a bed, how much he is expected to pay, how he will be treated and how long he can stay there are all unknowns.

As parents, even though our son is an adult, we are left to feel guilty, insulted, confused and given conflicting information. If we feel this way  i hate to imagine how being an inpatient feels.

I have responded to your post as I experienced the same sort of apathy from many of the various staff involved. There were some who were very good and I can tell you that I thanked them profusely.

I will give the details of the person who finally helped me to  the administrator on here as I am not sure if I am legally able to post those details on here.

I hope that this can be of some help as I can read between the lines how much you love your son and only want to get the best help for him possible within such a dreadful public health system that we now have. So that he too can have a quality of life that he deserves and is entitled to.