Dear Leif, considering all the cruelty that you experienced in the psychiatric hospital, you have managed to process it all and come out with so much useful information and suggested reading for other sufferers. It’s nothing short of an extraordinary amount of personal growth and so much compassion for your fellow humans. All credit to you. Warm wishes.
Thanks for posting. A “thick skin” is indeed a necessity for the loved ones of those suffering from mental illness. I am happy to hear that you are now in a relatively positive place. It’s critical to have someone to trust whom you can talk to in your life when a thousand potential stresses keep you in isolation. My son who has schizophrenia is finally in a positive place (after years in lockdown in a mental hospital) after basically being isolated (and off meds) for ten years. He wasn’t exactly homeless but was isolated and symptomatic and his med-compliance was likely negligible all those years because of his isolation. I had changed jobs and moved away. He no longer had family close to him. Now we are again in the same place and I have found him a good place to live. Memory losses and self-medication have always been instruments of his mental undoing. His most urgent unmet needs were discipline and reliable and effective routines. He claims meditation has been helpful for him while in the hospital. An unhealthy lifestyle has left him on cardiac and cholesterol meds. At 41, it seems he must not only deal with the mental issues but very dangerous physical ones as well due to his cardiac problems. Please keep a good thought for him and may God bless you, Leif. Be well and happy ~ gary
I’m not sure if you have come across Navigating Schizophrenia, but that blog is also by a parent. There’s also another by engineer David McGee, about his son Patrick’s episodes last year.
Thanks for reaching out. I wish there were easy answers that could help your son. In my day job, I work for The Schizophrenia Society of Alberts. I give presentations about mental health and give weekly calls to a list of people whi live out of town or are otherwise isolated. I’m not professionally trained but lived experience and recovery helps a lot. I have started to work with clients outside of the Province as we don’t do peer support outside of Alberta at my work. I call the person who is isolated and support then, encourage them and try to be their friend. I make these calls once or twice a week and also call their caregiver to uodate them and offer advice. There is no contract, not even an obligation to pay, but I offer this service for $50 USD per month. You are welcome to try it out and see if it helps and cancel at any time. Currently if someine decides my services could help, I also offer free digital versions of my three mental health books at no extra cost. Let me know how you feel about this and lets talk more either way. Take care Gary.
Thank you for sharing about the progression of your illness over your life. I have also prepared a WRAP plan.
Dear Leif, considering all the cruelty that you experienced in the psychiatric hospital, you have managed to process it all and come out with so much useful information and suggested reading for other sufferers. It’s nothing short of an extraordinary amount of personal growth and so much compassion for your fellow humans. All credit to you. Warm wishes.
Thanks for posting. A “thick skin” is indeed a necessity for the loved ones of those suffering from mental illness. I am happy to hear that you are now in a relatively positive place. It’s critical to have someone to trust whom you can talk to in your life when a thousand potential stresses keep you in isolation. My son who has schizophrenia is finally in a positive place (after years in lockdown in a mental hospital) after basically being isolated (and off meds) for ten years. He wasn’t exactly homeless but was isolated and symptomatic and his med-compliance was likely negligible all those years because of his isolation. I had changed jobs and moved away. He no longer had family close to him. Now we are again in the same place and I have found him a good place to live. Memory losses and self-medication have always been instruments of his mental undoing. His most urgent unmet needs were discipline and reliable and effective routines. He claims meditation has been helpful for him while in the hospital. An unhealthy lifestyle has left him on cardiac and cholesterol meds. At 41, it seems he must not only deal with the mental issues but very dangerous physical ones as well due to his cardiac problems. Please keep a good thought for him and may God bless you, Leif. Be well and happy ~ gary
I’m not sure if you have come across Navigating Schizophrenia, but that blog is also by a parent. There’s also another by engineer David McGee, about his son Patrick’s episodes last year.
Hi Gary.
Thanks for reaching out. I wish there were easy answers that could help your son. In my day job, I work for The Schizophrenia Society of Alberts. I give presentations about mental health and give weekly calls to a list of people whi live out of town or are otherwise isolated. I’m not professionally trained but lived experience and recovery helps a lot. I have started to work with clients outside of the Province as we don’t do peer support outside of Alberta at my work. I call the person who is isolated and support then, encourage them and try to be their friend. I make these calls once or twice a week and also call their caregiver to uodate them and offer advice. There is no contract, not even an obligation to pay, but I offer this service for $50 USD per month. You are welcome to try it out and see if it helps and cancel at any time. Currently if someine decides my services could help, I also offer free digital versions of my three mental health books at no extra cost. Let me know how you feel about this and lets talk more either way. Take care Gary.
Leif
P. S. I have always wanted to see Vancouver!
Vancouver is simply amazing. I am happy to give advice and suggestions if and when you want to visit.
Leif