Hello,

I recommend you check out the Xavier Amador book I Am Not Sick, I Don't Need Help (2010, Vida Press).  Anosognosia, or the lack of awareness that you have an illness, affects about 50 percent of the people diagnosed with SZ.  So if you're not sick, you won't need meds.  This might account for why your son stopped taking his medication: he might not think he needs it.

You might need to get him involuntarily committed.  You can call his psychiatrist or whoever was last treating him and ask that doctor to call in to the emergency room and say, "Mrs. Daugherty's son so-and-so is coming into the ER and I don't want you to release him, he needs to be admitted."

That is how one mother I interviewed for this Web site was able to get her son the help he needed.  Otherwise you will need to make the case he is a danger to himself or others, the criteria for admission to a psych ward in the U.S.

Also call NAMI at (800) 950-NAMI (6264) to get the name and phone number of the local chapter in your city or town.  The "NAMI mommies" there at the family support meeting will have even more tips and techniques for getting your son the help he needs.

A person who exhibits anosognosia CAN be convinced to take meds even though he doesn't think he's sick.  Amador has counseled tens of thousands of family members on how to persuade their loved ones to get treatment and stay in treatment.

Regards,

Christina