Tuesday, June 24, 2008 donnapr asks

Q: I am having trouble finding support for my daughter, 21, in Gainesville who has schizophrenia, help?

My daughter has been in Shands Hospital for 9 weeks after a horrible psychotic breakdown. At her hearing yesterday the judge said he is extending it another 60 days. She is on the right medication and is doing much better. She can get out much sooner. But her doctor does not want to let her go because she told him and the judge that she does not and will not take medication, she does not believe in medication and also does not agree with the diagnosis (suffers from poor insight). I believe that a key to help her would be to have someone around her age, (21-she is s student at UF Gainesville) who has schizophrenia, been hospitalized, is recovered or recovering, be a mentor. She needs a mentor/friend that she can talk to; Even if it is to say how much she hates her mother because she was Baker Acted. She needs a mentor/friend she can LEARN to trust. Right now she trusts no one, has no friends. She needs a support person. A mentor does not need to tell her to take meds, only that they understand her feelings. One friend can make a lot of difference in her recovery or motivation to get out of the hospital. I have been to NAMI, Active Minds, advertised and contacted the university. So far, no response. Any other suggestions??????

A desperate mother who loves her daughter very much and only wants her to be happy (and safe).

Answers (2)

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Christina Bruni

6/29/08 6:06pm

Hello donnapr,

Sorry I couldn't respond sooner. I was trying to come up with some ideas for how you could proceed. Please bear with me, I would like to hear more from you about what you did when you called NAMI because I'm surprised by their response.

I feel for what you're going through. I'm surprised there isn't a NAMI Connection peer support group in your area that meets once a week. The members talk about what's going on, and then they often go out for coffee or dinner or meet on the weekends to do things together. The support group members wouldn't tell her to take the medication if she was opposed to it, they might just relate their own stories with how the meds helped them.

The main thing is, a peer support group would give her support and feedback as she sets goals in her life and as she begins to do things to achieve the goals. You and I know that for someone to remain untreated, it is possibly unlikely that he or she would reach those goals. Any conversation has to be framed in terms of building the trust so that the family member or friend can gently suggest, "What would you like to do in your life?" And talk about that, and as the loved one becomes receptive because he or she trusts you, to broach medication as a way of enabling the person to achieve the goal.

You know this. It's fully detailed as a strategy in Xavier Amador's book, I Am Not Sick, I Don't Need Help. It seems like you may be familiar with the book, yet if you aren't, I suggest you read it.

I am surprised there isn't a NAMI Connection peer support group in your area. I would be willing to engage in e-mail correspondence with your daughter. I can be reached at christina.bruni1@gmail.com

Best regards,

Chri

Ananda

7/ 9/09 6:06pm

Hi, donnapr,

I live with and try to help a 27 yr old man who suffers from schizoaffective disorder and is bipolar. Have not managed to make a lot of difference in his internal life, but he believes that i have, as do his mother and father. The family was disintegrating, so i can here to see if I could help out. Mostly, I have managed to get the family into a position of relative non-conflict. At this point he feels as do I that he needs a social life. He needs to meet people instead of hanging out in his camper and playing video games, but it is hard for him to do. He finds it very taxing to interact with people. I am looking for a support group for him and others suffering from schizophrenia, schizo-affective, and/or bipolar challenges. He met a girl at a CSU who had similar problems and they seemed to have helped each other a bit while there, so i was hoping i could find others with whom he could relate. You can contact me at mettanatman@hotmail.com

Q: I am having trouble finding support for my daughter, 21, in Gainesville who has schizophrenia, help?

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