Born Schizophrenic: The journey continues

[Anonymous]

Just caught the last 25-30 minutes of it on TLC. Very interesting. Has anyone else seen this documentary?

[Anonymous]

Does it feature a girl named Janey?

I saw a documentary a few years ago with a little girl, Janey, and how devastating schizo was to her and her family - they had to live in 2 separate apartments, the parents' marriage was on the rocks, the younger brother was always fearful and sad, etc.

[Anonymous]

I've seen it. It was very interesting. I believe the parents are now getting divorced (or are already divorced) after the father admitted to having an affair. It does seem they both love their children very much, but it must be an extremely stressful situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does it feature a girl named Janey?

I saw a documentary a few years ago with a little girl, Janey, and how devastating schizo was to her and her family - they had to live in 2 separate apartments, the parents' marriage was on the rocks, the younger brother was always fearful and sad, etc.

Yes, it was an update on Jani and her brother Bhodi now that she's 13 and he's older (forgot age).

[Anonymous]

Last I saw, they thought Bodhi had it it too. Any update on him?

[Anonymous]

This story always rang really big red flags for me. They seem overly invested in their child having a really rare condition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This story always rang really big red flags for me. They seem overly invested in their child having a really rare condition.

Overly invested? Their child was incredibly ill with a debilitating mental illness.

[Anonymous]

That story could frighten anyone with Schizophrenia in their family not to have kids. Those parents will have to deal with this forever. Damn that father, bailed on the mom, leaving those two kids in her primary care. I'd like to punch him in the face.

[Anonymous]

OP here again yea the parents divorced he had an affair and moved to Minnesota to be with his girlfriend. janey was doing much better and the mom said she helps raise the son. The son is still not as communicative and the mom wants him to go on the same medicine (knlonzepam I believe?) as Janet but the doctors won't try it yet. She thinks he's schizofrenic as well. The dad thinks he's autistic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This story always rang really big red flags for me. They seem overly invested in their child having a really rare condition.

I agree. It's possible that she was/is schizophrenic, although it does not affect children. But it seemed to me that her parents created/encouraged at least some of her struggles, rather than helping her.

[Anonymous]

I didn't see the doc but I read an article in the NYTimes on this family when the girl was about 6 and her brother tiny.

What struck me most was the fact that there is no in-patient care for kids with schizophrenia as the onset is usually much later (late teens, early 20s).

Heartbreaking.

I know the father abandoned them and that is weak, but I don't know how anyone could hold it together under those conditions.

[Anonymous]

Was this a one time update or is it an update series? I'm interested in hearing the latest.

Last article I read on the family was how they'd found the right combination of drugs to stabilize the daughter and she was doing well, but the son was fairly bad off. The mother was convinced he was schizophrenic as well, but the doctors did not agree and diagnosed him with a severe autism disorder.

I can't imagine having two schizophrenic kids. I have a kid with anxiety disorder who goes through periods of "I feel great and don't need these meds anymore" only to come crashing down once it's out of their system. To constantly live in fear that if your child stopped taking their meds they could harm themselves, you, another family member, or a stranger must be terrifying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This story always rang really big red flags for me. They seem overly invested in their child having a really rare condition.

I had this impression from the book, which was written by the father; I thought the book was fiction until the very end (found it in an airplane seat pocket and read it during a night flight). I kept wondering why the parents made the choices they did when confronted with various behavior issues and situations in the book. They REALLY wanted the diagnosis, and were repeatedly told that their kid was not schizophrenic. Her symptoms were not definitive at all. The parents seemed very, very odd to me. I was rather shocked when I realized the book was not fiction at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was this a one time update or is it an update series? I'm interested in hearing the latest.

Last article I read on the family was how they'd found the right combination of drugs to stabilize the daughter and she was doing well, but the son was fairly bad off. The mother was convinced he was schizophrenic as well, but the doctors did not agree and diagnosed him with a severe autism disorder.

I can't imagine having two schizophrenic kids. I have a kid with anxiety disorder who goes through periods of "I feel great and don't need these meds anymore" only to come crashing down once it's out of their system. To constantly live in fear that if your child stopped taking their meds they could harm themselves, you, another family member, or a stranger must be terrifying.

Seemed to have just been a one time update. The girl is 14 and about to start high school. Not sure how old this update was though

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This story always rang really big red flags for me. They seem overly invested in their child having a really rare condition.

I had this impression from the book, which was written by the father; I thought the book was fiction until the very end (found it in an airplane seat pocket and read it during a night flight). I kept wondering why the parents made the choices they did when confronted with various behavior issues and situations in the book. They REALLY wanted the diagnosis, and were repeatedly told that their kid was not schizophrenic. Her symptoms were not definitive at all. The parents seemed very, very odd to me. I was rather shocked when I realized the book was not fiction at all.

In some cases, people want specific diagnoses because it opens up different options for treatment. Like in VA, it is almost impossible to get a young person with a primary autism diagnoses into a residential mental health facility.