Need URGENT help - Have seriously mentally ill young adult child

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got an adult kid in a similar situation but not as chaotic. I would definitely take the car away. Try to learn about resources from local NAMI participant parents.

I do think in 20 years we will be embarrassed at allowing the mentally ill to be homeless and “free.” It’s a terrible overextension of personal liberty.

Johns Hopkins has a schizophrenia center if you’re closer to Baltimore. Call!

Sadly we are forty+ years into this crisis. Reagan effectively took the money for community supports, which was to accompany closing mental institutions, and channeled it into GOP donors' pockets. There are individual GOP electeds (e.g., late Sen. Pete Domenici) who support increased financing for mental health needs, but most do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got an adult kid in a similar situation but not as chaotic. I would definitely take the car away. Try to learn about resources from local NAMI participant parents.

I do think in 20 years we will be embarrassed at allowing the mentally ill to be homeless and “free.” It’s a terrible overextension of personal liberty.

Johns Hopkins has a schizophrenia center if you’re closer to Baltimore. Call!

Sadly we are forty+ years into this crisis. Reagan effectively took the money for community supports, which was to accompany closing mental institutions, and channeled it into GOP donors' pockets. There are individual GOP electeds (e.g., late Sen. Pete Domenici) who support increased financing for mental health needs, but most do not.

In 1975 Reagan did do this. But I think other Democrats and Republicans since then can share the blame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all it's a disease, don't blame your child and who cares what their GPA was or is. stop with expectations. Recovery is possible but you also have to change. with that said this sounds just like one of our kids. Is there substance abuse? It sure sounds like it especially with the
psychosis. They need to want to get better and you have to have strong boundaries and not enable which is extremely difficult because you don't want to see a child go through this.

Seeing they are over 18 your options are limited and they will drain you of yourself without the boundaries.

Seek help for yourself if they are not going to get help, heck, even if they do get help, get some for yourself. therapy is a good things and don't shame this situation.

I am typing this fast and lacking sleep for days together. So I am not eloquent and may have miscommunicated. I do not care about the GPA or blame DC for the disease. I am just feeling hopeless with the lack of support system for seriously mentally unwell AC who are expected to decide about their own healthcare. Mental sick patients lack the capacity to make self-preserving decision and yet out healthcare burdens them with the decision! How do parents let kids wither away?

I am attending NAMI classes and trying to educate myself fast. Yet I find this whole situation lacking solution. Is there any experienced parents who know any other way than letting adult mentally ill child languish?

The problem is that it’s virtually impossible to hospitalize an adult for any length of time beyond when they’re a danger to self or others unless they’ve committed a crime. And without hospitalization, stabilization is hard. People with serious mental illness need medication, along with other supports.

This link has some resources that may be helpful: https://nationalepinet.org/resources/clients-and-families/

The RAISE/EpiNet initiative is a real success from NIMH and has helped a lot of people with psychosis, and their families. The model of care the clinics use is called Coordinated Speciality Care. It’s easier said than done, but it’s the gold standard treatment for young adults in this situation.

Is the link above for families with repeat psychosis? I will try to reach out to them and see if I can get some help for DC. Thank you so much!

You’re welcome. That link is for people with early psychotic episodes, which it sounds like your DC would fall under, in contrast to someone who was diagnosed with schizophrenia 10+ years ago, for example. The overall takeaway is that care for people with repeated psychosis requires multidisciplinary care, and that care should be team-based. There are good residential programs out there (e.g., Sheppard Pratt), which may ultimately be helpful for stabilization, though they’re not a long-term solution. Ultimately, supportive care that allows your DC to live as independently as possible is the goal.

With respect to meds, there are clear downsides in the form of significant side effects. At the same time, antipsychotics are also one of the best treatments we have to minimize risk of psychotic episodes and improve functioning. Any competent, ethical psychiatrist with experience in this area would acknowledge the dialectic: the meds are vital AND have significant side effects. That can mean titrating the dose to the lowest one that yields improvement, trying different meds to see what has the best benefit: risk ratio. It doesn’t mean foregoing meds entirely. While spontaneous and lasting recovery with meds is possible, it’s not common.

Please know this internet stranger is sending you hope and wishes for the best possible outcome for your child. You’re doing your best - this stuff is damn hard. Hugs.

[Anonymous]

You definitely should consider guardianship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got an adult kid in a similar situation but not as chaotic. I would definitely take the car away. Try to learn about resources from local NAMI participant parents.

I do think in 20 years we will be embarrassed at allowing the mentally ill to be homeless and “free.” It’s a terrible overextension of personal liberty.

Johns Hopkins has a schizophrenia center if you’re closer to Baltimore. Call!

Sadly we are forty+ years into this crisis. Reagan effectively took the money for community supports, which was to accompany closing mental institutions, and channeled it into GOP donors' pockets. There are individual GOP electeds (e.g., late Sen. Pete Domenici) who support increased financing for mental health needs, but most do not.

In 1975 Reagan did do this. But I think other Democrats and Republicans since then can share the blame.

Please say more. With the exception of Domenici, the GOP has opposed ACA, which covers mental health treatment, and a core number of GOP states have opposed the Medicaid expansion for poor and working folks in their states who do not have insurance.

For Reagan, he overturned Carter's work in this area by block granting the money, then cutting the money to the block grants. While block grants sound great in theory, GOP states often divert that money to other purposes, often ones benefiting the more affluent. The Mississippi volleyball arena is a recent example.

I would be interested to know your view on the Dem record here.

[Anonymous]

ACA expansion never helped with institutional care or community care to keep people out of institutions. The severely ill usually end up with SSI/Medicare/Medicaid, but none of these provide the needed supports.

The other half of the problem lies in the courts and criminal justice system. Patients needs to be arrested for crimes before treatment. Short term holds are terrible churn. Guardianship is a super privileged good that is very expensive.

[Anonymous]

Hey, OP, I've been thinking about you (I have a schizophrenic brother and its a journey). Can you give us a quick update on how you and your child are doing?

Hoping you're finding some help.

[Anonymous]

No one really knows how to deal with it. Yes, the services are available out there. You just have to figure out what questions to ask, what you need to do. There are more challenges to help someone over 18, than to help a child under 18. And you will need to advocate for that person. Remember, social workers and psychiatrist are just regular folks. They have a life too. After work, they do not have to deal with some of the mental health issues except for their own. They can not attend to your love one 24/7.

[Anonymous]

Please make sure he gets no access to guns.
I'm so sorry your child and family are going through this, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got an adult kid in a similar situation but not as chaotic. I would definitely take the car away. Try to learn about resources from local NAMI participant parents.

I do think in 20 years we will be embarrassed at allowing the mentally ill to be homeless and “free.” It’s a terrible overextension of personal liberty.

Johns Hopkins has a schizophrenia center if you’re closer to Baltimore. Call!

Sadly we are forty+ years into this crisis. Reagan effectively took the money for community supports, which was to accompany closing mental institutions, and channeled it into GOP donors' pockets. There are individual GOP electeds (e.g., late Sen. Pete Domenici) who support increased financing for mental health needs, but most do not.

Same. My 64 year old sister came down with it in college and only became compliant with meds and therapy after a suicide attempt several years ago. She could not live on her own without accumulating substantial credit card debt (resulting in bankruptcy) or keeping her rented apartment in such poor condition that the landlord refused to renew her lease. Twice she called the cops on other tenants due to her paranoia. My parents took her back in to avoid homelessness. They recently passed and now we siblings must deal with her still living in my parents' house and hoarding it. But she takes her meds and attends weekly therapy. She is as stable as we have ever seen her since diagnosis. She needs to be supported financially and emotionally the rest of her life or she will be homeless.

[Anonymous]

^^Pp with sister again. I would not give him use of a car. My sister took public transportation since she could not be trusted to drive a car safely. If he has a medical or other important appointment, one of you should try to take him.

[Anonymous]

My father was your DC, minus the heavy MJ use I think. He is near 70 and not in a good state, parents divorced when I was an adult, and my upbringing was challenging. I support him and my mother financially and have dealt with so many of the systemic issues talked about in this thread so far. His doctors can't communicate with me, law enforcement has been involved during dangerous paranoid instances. I'm sorry you're going through this as a parent, obviously it was difficult being a child to a parent with this disease - but I didn't know *why* life was difficult until I was much older and understood his disease. I am also a physician and, while not a psychiatrist, have cared for many people in this situation and have quite a bit of empathy and understanding for him and others like him. For some reason reading your story is the first time (I'm 45) I see a glimpse of what my grandmother went through with him back in the early 1970's. It's a hard road.

I don't know what to do except extend my support virtually through the internet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Florida also has Marchman Act for involuntary substance abuse treatment

But Florida doesn’t help anyone, right?