<p>busdriver11-</p>
<p>the problem is that he needs to understand he has a problem…like an alcoholic, and he must take meds forever. I could see putting them in food for a week, but he really needs to buy in and take care of it himself, unfortunately for the rest of his life…</p>
<p>Exactly. He is lucky to have you. And it is unconscionable how baroque the system is.</p>
<p>For the person who talked about grinding up meds to put in food – well, that’s illegal and could cause worse unforeseen repercussions like one poster alluded to.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for sharing your story. Mental illness is still so hush-hush. It is very taxing being a caretaker… where do you go for support when there is such a stigma? It is amazing in 2010 that society still thinks this way. Bi-polar patients are treated with the same anti-seizure drugs that an epileptic is. Those same anti-seizure drugs are used to control migraines. Research tells us they are all three in the same part of the brain and yet we still lower our voices to talk about mental illness.
I hope that you will find help for your son, and he will find peace. He is lucky to have you. Continue to reach out. Many caretakers of people with mental illnesses develop depression from the stress and isolation. You have done and incredible thing…reminding those that were aware, and educating those that were not, that mental illness is debilitating and strikes college students.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind about college students is their propensity to self-medicate. If they have the onset of a mental illness they may try to self-medicate with alcohol, drugs or both. This will make it hard to distinguish a psychological problem from an addiction. If your student develops an addiction, do not overlook the possibility of a mental disorder. </p>
<p>Lastly… and really as a side note…for previous posters (NOT OP) if you are interested in finding out about ‘implantable medication’, google the VNS Implant, a small implant that sends electrical impulses to your left vagus nerve to treat epilepsy and major depression, including bi-polar disorder.</p>
<p>I am sorry for everyone’s suffering here. It is so hard on the entire family.</p>
<p>An organization that has been helpful to our family over the years is NAMI, National Alliance for Mental Illness. Google them if you want to simply read descriptions of various illnesses, written in layperson’s language, in order to be alert to friends’ needs.</p>
<p>NAMI is consumer-based, holds support groups and meetings in some regions, provides a network, and engages in research.</p>
<p>NAMI has been a huge help to us. We took their classes 6 months after our S came home to try and understand mental illness and what we might be facing. </p>
<p>FYI-Their NAMIWALK fundraiser is coming up in early June. It’s a 5K.</p>
<p>No advice for you, kdos, but you’re in my thoughts. I so admire you for bravely coming here and talking about your son and his mental illness. I wish the best for you and your family.</p>
<p>kdos, so sorry to hear about your son. </p>
<p>We send our kids to college thinking they will mature into responsible adults and never expect this to happen to them. Did anyone at the college ever say anything? Was it the environment that was stressful? It is really heart breaking.</p>
<p>Thank you kdos for bringing this up. I feel for your son and family. I agree that young women can develop this in college as well. Although I see my son who is 30 minutes down the road a bit too much, I a currently relieved that he is close by.</p>
<p>So sorry you are going throughthis. IT is a difficuly and slippery slope to get someone who cannot see their need for treatment the help that they need. Hopefully he will cooperate and yo can get him the help that he needs.</p>
<p>kdos…I started to cry when I read about your son. Your ability to share your story has helped others. It was stories like yours that made me act so quickly when my daughter was exhibiting signs. Thankyou for your help and I have included your son and your family in my prayers.</p>
<p>kdos - I understand your situation. Cousins of mine had same scenario with their son - started senior year of high school. He was hospitalized for several weeks and diagnosed as bi-polar. He did manage to go away to college - but there were several instances where he went off his meds and had to be hospitalized and stabilized again. He did graduate, but has had a lot of trouble holding a job. He is now 28, has a graduate degree in math and is not employed beyond an adjunct teaching position. It has been a very long, difficult and expensive road for his parents. He now barely speaks to them, saying that they don’t understand him and favor his younger brother. They have gone through 10 years of hell trying to help him, are wiped out financially, and this is what they get. Not to mention the criticism they receive from certain family members who don’t truly understand the situation. I truly believe that mentall illness is one of the very worst things that can hit a family and I really symathize with you.</p>
<p>Kdos- thanks for sharing and helping to raise awareness. I work as a legal advocate for individual’s in the mental health system. Every day i see young people and their families dealing with the issues you described. It is heartbreaking and personally scary for me.as my daughterenters that age where schizophrenia often sees it’s onset I am vigilant in monitoring her mental health!</p>
<p>Thank you for taking the time to share your painful experience. I hope that things changes for the better for you and your son.</p>
<p>I know several other families who have had similar experiences. I’ve heard from them that the National Alliance on Mental Illness can be very helpful: [NAMI:</a> National Alliance on Mental Illness - Mental Health Support, Education and Advocacy](<a href=“http://www.nami.org/]NAMI:”>http://www.nami.org/)</p>
<p>I recently became aware of a campus group that has chapters across the country. I am not sure if it was on my son’s campus but maybe it will be helpful for others. This is what they say as their mission. It is called ACTIVE MINDS.</p>
<p>“Active Minds is the only organization working to utilize the student voice to change the conversation about mental health on college campuses. By developing and supporting chapters of a student-run mental health awareness, education, and advocacy group on campuses, the organization works to increase students’ awareness of mental health issues, provide information and resources regarding mental health and mental illness, encourage students to seek help as soon as it is needed, and serve as liaison between students and the mental health community.”</p>
<p>“Staying on meds is key. (Why don’t they make implantable meds for the mentally ill? Allowing her to decide when/if to take meds led to most of her problems.)”</p>
<p>They don’t make implantable meds, but they do have shots that are used every 3-4 weeks. The person with custody (which is what you need to get) brings the patient to the doctor’s office for the shot on schedule. It doesn’t necessarily relieve all symptoms, but it may allow the patient to live safely with family members and experience some relief from hallucinations and paranoia.</p>
<p>The main reasons people with schizophrenia don’t continue to take their medications are (1) side effects, which can be significant, and (2) they may prefer their hallucinatory world to the depressing reality. When they take medication, they may go from being the crucial link at the center of a global spy ring, receiving personal messages from Putin and Oprah…to being a severely ill, unemployed college dropout living in their parents’ house. Since the prognosis for long-term recovery is not that good, it’s easy to see why someone would resist returning to that reality.</p>
<p>Also, people often overlook the fact that patients without mental illness usually don’t take their medicine perfectly, either. Any doctor will tell you that compliance with a daily medication regimen, such as for diabetes, is pretty low, even when the consequence may be paralysis, blindness, death, etc. People with mental illness have the same reluctance to admit they need life-long treatment as everyone else.</p>
<p>Here are the risks and potential side effects of Geodon, an antipsychotic. Other antipsychotics have similar risks (maybe not the possibility of heart attacks though).</p>
<pre><code>* Geodon may cause dangerous problems with your heart rhythm (the way your heart beats). Call your healthcare professional right away if you:
o Faint or lose consciousness
o Feel a change in the way your heart normally beats (palpitations)
<p>I think the real side effect is what Hanna described </p>
<p>
[quote]
they may go from being the crucial link at the center of a global spy ring, receiving personal messages from Putin and Oprah…to being a severely ill, unemployed college dropout living in their parents’ house.[/quote[</p>
<p>I’d much rather be the center of a global spy ring rather than the real me anyday.</p>
<p>I think that’s the reason why people feel they lose creativity when they go on meds. When you’re the center of a global spy ring, I imagine you can write interesting novels if you’re a creative writer.</p>
<p>" When you’re the center of a global spy ring, I imagine you can write interesting novels if you’re a creative writer."</p>
<p>Sadly, such novels would be interesting only to the mentally ill person who is writing them.</p>
<p>A few years ago, I went to hear a well known writer read from their upcoming new book. The writer read an incoherent, paranoid chapter indicating that the writer was involved in some kind of spy ring with the government. Although the writer was known for fiction, this book was supposed to be autobiographical.</p>
<p>The writer was emotionally flat and obviously was “off.”</p>
<p>I had seen the writer at a reading about 10 years prior to this one, and the writer behaved totally differently – was humorous and emotionally expressive – and that book – which became reasonably popular – was interesting and coherent.</p>
<p>To no surprise of mine, the book that I most recently heard the writer read has never been released.</p>
<p>absolutely no question that many of these meds have very unpleasant side effects. I have clients I work with who have had diabetes and other serious illnesses result. Sometimes I really understand why they don’t want to take them. However, I also work with clients who are absolutely tortured by paranoid thoughts and really can not function independently. Some of these clients ARE taking meds and still suffer from horrible psychosis. It is so horrible for them. And mental illness has such a stigma in our society that it is difficult for their families and them to deal with.
A catch 22- whether to take the meds and perhaps have significant side effects BUT maybe, and I say maybe, control the mental illness OR not take the meds and suffer with mental illness. I am thankful every day for the blessing of good mental health.</p>
<p>I’m not aware of anyone writing novels while in the throes of untreated schizophrenia. The thought process is far too chaotic and disjointed to allow for that kind of thing. You could make this argument about painters, perhaps, like Van Gogh (whatever his diagnosis might have been if he were around today). But novels? No. It’s not “creativity” to have your conscious and subconscious thoughts living all around you, uncontrollably, all the time. It sounds like you’re talking about something other than schizophrenia if you’re talking about a loss of “creativity” in treatment.</p>