schizophrenia has entered into my inner circle

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Well not confirmed yet, but the delusion and paranoia is there. Reality has hit when my youngest daughter at 21 informed us that the job she loved for a year she no longer likes. Then we find out that she’s on stress leave and then she tells us that they are conspiring to make her crazy at work, they bugged her phone and have her apartment tapped and finally the cops called because she’s reporting it to them and they want someone to pick her up. All thi has happened in the last few days and now she’s involuntarily committed to a psych ward. Heavily sedated and we are waiting for clearance to visit, maybe tomorrow.
We are freaked out.

I’ve known a couple of young people with the disease under medication. I have never seen them smile.

Its incurable, but manageable

Tell me you know of someone who has schizophrenia. is taking medication and is happy. I just want to have my happy daughter back.

2

Oh Jesus, Dutchman, I’m so sorry, that sucks.

3

It is kinda scary that someone can end up involuntarily committed and heavily sedated just for having unusual thoughts or delusions, not violent or dangerous. Yikes!

4

But they are dangerous thoughts: the jump from “everybody is after me” to “I must defend myself, and the best defense is a good offense!” is very small.

I’m sorry, Dutchman; hopefully she’ll be able to get the care she needs.

5

My very good friend had that happen, almost exactly, but she was diagnosed as bipolar on an extended mania.

She smiles a lot, now that she’s getting proper treatment.

I’m sorry this is happening to your daughter, and my thoughts are with your family.

6

My uncle had it. (He recently paased away.)

It get’s better and she will level out.

This advice you may not be able to use for quite some time. But I hope you remember it and more importantly, take it to heart. This is a point of contention my mother and I used to argue about.

His Doctor had a very strict regiment of drugs, drugs, drugs, do some recomended chores, more drugs and then the rest of his time was spent outside on the porch smoking or in his room watching TV.

Absolutely zero fun in his life.

However, I knew one thing about my Uncle, He liked beer and pretty women. So sometimes, much to my Mother’s and Doctor’s displeasure, I’d sneak him out of my Mother’s house and take him to some place like Hooters. So he could have a beer or two (Two was his limit) and get an eyeful.

Ironically, he had such a sweet disposition; the waitresses loved him. And were more than happy to take pictures with him and stuff like that.

Now, I not suggesting taking your daughter to Hooters. The point I’m trying to make is: Life isn’t just about keeping some one alive, (Doctors seem to forget that sometimes) it’s about living!!

At some point, you have to say to yourself: “Screw what the doctors say, screw what everbody else says, I’m going to do THIS because I know THIS makes my daughter happy.”

This isn’t advice to live by every day, but in moderation, of course.

7

I am so, so sorry. My uncle is schizophrenic so I understand what this could mean for your family.

The best I can tell you is this - research indicates that the single most important factor for how a schizophrenic copes with his or her illness is family support. The more “normal” her life can be, the better - in certain countries in Africa, for instance, schizophrenics have a much higher rate of recovery than in the U.S. because it isn’t treated like a medical problem and the schizophrenics are more integrated into the every day fabric of social life. I’m not saying to ignore her illness, and definitely make sure she has a strong mental health professional network, just don’t underestimate her ability to be an active and participating member of society.

I do know schizophrenics who live reasonably normal lives on medication. One of them is the president of a local chapter of NAMI in Michigan, as well as a successful graduate student. His stated reason for doing so well? Family support.

8

hoping for the best - might be bipolar still? - whatever that is. so sorry!

9

^This, I’ve known one or two people that were diagnosed and even when not on meds and while they certainly had some strange thoughts they were able to function for the most part. I imagine there is a spectrum like most other things.

10

That kind of thinking scares the shit out of me, it could be used to lock up anyone who is a little strange in their thoughts because they “might” become a threat.

11

But that’s not what happened here. The OPs daughter needed evaluation and help to determine if her delusions were dangerous and the cause. The OP doesn’t need to hear the suggestion that he’s done something wrong, when he has not.

All the best Dutchman. I hope you can see her soon.

12

This happened to a friend of mine from college as well. She had a manic phase that was so intense, she believed that there was a conspiracy against her that included the government and her husband, and that people were spying on her via (among other things) drive-thru intercom boxes. She drove halfway across her state before finally stopping and daring to call her husband, telling him what happened and that she was starting to doubt he was in on any plot.

She had to be hospitalized for a little while, but (after some setbacks in treatment, admittedly) these days she’s doing well on a combination of meds and therapy. She has a great job, she just bought a new house, she’s pretty happy.

She had been raised by her grandmother because her mother had been diagnosed with schizophrenia but was not healthy/functional enough to raise a child. Now she thinks maybe it was bipolar disorder with severe manic episodes, and maybe some lithium might have helped her mom rather than trying to treat it like schizophrenia.

I hope your daughter, and your family, can get through this and that there is hope here.

13

I have schizophrenia. It’s a bitch to live with, but medication helps.

14

Like others have said, delusion and paranoia are symtoms of many conditions, some with excellent treatments available, wait and see.

My aunt who was diagnosed bipolar, had a terrifying and rapid series of cycles at one point. I would receive enormous wall-of-text emails which, when they could be deciphered at all, described conspiracies to poison her and the environment. She wasn’t dangerous but we were all very concerned for her well being because she might inadvertently self-harm while acting out her delusions (go talk to the whales and drown? throw herself in front of a car to save a squirrel? that sort of thing.)

Anyway, long story short, turns out it was a hormonal problem that was triggering the intensity of the episodes, and the cause was a small parathyroid tumor. I believe they removed her parathyroid and she’s doing better than ever before in her life.

So all I’m saying is, a few rambling, paranoid, incoherent conspiracy theories does not a schizophrenia diagnosis make.

15

I’m grateful for the sympathetic replies.

grude, It was hard enough to get her to the doctor, who very quickly prescribed a drug and sent her to a crisis counselor to be followed by a doctor visit later this week. She stayed with us Friday overnight, when my freaked out wife thought she successfully dissuaded our daughter from reporting the work conspiracy to the police. She was having great difficulty communicating with us. At times we waited for minutes while she stood there trying to get the words out. Several times she uncharacteristically would hug us for long periods.

I cried inside. I wanted to get her professional help as fast as possible.

We went for a long walk Saturday morning trying gently to go to the hospital with her and then she insisted to go back to her apartment. Two hours later we get a call to pick our daughter up from the police department. This time we successfully managed to get her to see another crisis counselor at the hospital which included us this time with my daughter’s consent and it seemed to go very well. After about three hours , around 8 pm my daughter was given a choice of voluntary commitment to a psych ward, a voluntary stay at a local “safe house” under supervision or home with us. All three choices with sedation. The CC seemed to suggest for the last choice.
Next day she accused co residents of stealing.

Whatever, but that was all the CC needed to take control from my daughter, commit her and start the process of recovery.

I’m so grateful to that crisis counselor.

16

Scary. As a father, I can’t even imagine what you are going through.

Is it normal that schizophrenia just pop up? Looking back, were there behaviors that you see now as indicators that you may have dismissed previously?

17

I am moving this thread to MPSIMS, where threads seeking support and information are best suited. In IMHO, people are encouraged to voice their opinion, and it is my opinion that the above comment isn’t helpful in this context. I’m not really admonishing you, grude, but using your comment as an example of why I’m moving the thread. Experiences, good or bad, and information, good or bad, will continue to be welcome as this thread continues.

Best of wishes to you and your family, Dutchman.

Ellen

18

Yes, it can pop up like that. FD’s daughter is exactly the age that it’s most likely to begin.

19

I’ve seen it happen to a cousin I grew up with, and to the son of a close friend of mine. Rough on families, rough on the individual, to be sure.

My cousin has managed to live a relatively happy and balanced, if limited life. He worked at a relatively uncomplicated job successfully for years, lives independently, and manages his own finances.

The son of my friend goes back and forth between being stable and coherent to being delusional and difficult to deal with, but there have been more good times than bad overall, per his mom.

My heart goes out to you and yours, Grienie!

20

My brother’s girlfriend is diagnosed schizophrenic, as well as bipolar. She’s very much on her meds, has gotten lots of supportive counseling, and is leading a very normal life. She’s working, taking college classes part time for a journalism degree, would go to school full time if finances allowed, travels to various cons, is involved with several fandom groups, and maintains a healthy long distance relationship. You’d never guess she has ongoing mental health issues unless she told you, or unless you noticed her higher than average number of sick days and doctor appointments. In a lot of ways it’s like living with diabetes or high blood pressure or a bad knee - she has to keep an eye on it, and compensate for it sometimes, but it is not the major defining feature of her life. Modern medicine is reasonably good at getting people functional, especially when there’s family there making sure that the patient stays on the rails.

Best wishes to you and yours. Don’t know what else to say that would be comforting, other than I hear you.