I took my boyfriend to a hospital after he started exhibiting EXTREME outbreaks of unrational psychosis. He was admitted against his will, and has refused medication since he has been in the hospital (30 days). He has stopped eating all together and is now on an IV drip to keep him from dehydrating. He is still suffering from psychosis and is now also extremely depressed because he is in a "mental ward". He can hide the psychosis for short periods of time and has also become very withdrawn. The staff has stated that they will begin a process to obtain a court order to insert a feeding tube because they are worried about his blood levels and to begin to medicate him. What can I hope for after they force him to take the medication? Will he be able to function normally? With him withdrawing himself so much from me and his family, it doesn't seem like he would be able to function in society. Will he realize that all of his psychosis was just that? As of now, he has moments where he is completely with it and knows that something is wrong and is depressed as a result of this (understandably so), and then has moments where he is convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that what is going on in his mind is real. He has not yet been diagnosed and with all of the reading I have done, it's hard to determine whether it is pz, bipolar, or something else... I know I am rambling, but this forum has already been very comforting and helpful. Once he is medicated, how long before he becomes himself again? Please help me cope with this... thank you for your time, amy
Q: Will he remember all of this after he gets treatment?
Hello amy,
He IS his own self, it's just that he's had a psychotic episode. Part of dealing with what happened is to be in shock and feel numb, and hope against hope and normalize, to want things to be better and to make right in one's mind what happened to you.
You need to know that recovery is not a quick and easy process; an episode comes on suddenly or gradually, but either way it builds up to that and neither can a person come down quickly. Your boyfriend needs to give himself as much time as he needs to recover and not rush things.
With love and patience for himself your boyfriend will begin to heal. If he's in denial that he's sick, and refuses medication, he will have a lot harder row to hoe. You know this and I'm sorry to say this but it is true.
We cannot always have the life we expected, after a diagnosis of a mental illness, but though our life is different, it can be better. Hundreds of thousands of people every day make the choice to live in recovery with an open mind and open heart.
Myself, I'm wary of this idea that a person has to live up to society's expectation for him. There is no shame in having schizophrenia, it's a medical condition, not a lifestyle choice or a personal weakness or personality trait.
Best wishes for you and your boyfriend as he begins to recover and find his way back to himself. He IS there.
Regards,
Chris
Hello amy,
I just re-read your Question, and want to focus on the idea that your boyfriend has withdrawn from you and his family. The isolation is a symptom, a hallmark, of the illness. When he gets out of the hospital, I recommend he join a day program where he can connect with other people in a supportive environment where there is daily group therapy, art therapy and also the patients can have lunch together. That is an option. I trust you are visiting him in the hospital. In one of his lucid moments, if you feel he is able and amenable to hearing you, perhaps you could suggest he find a day program when he gets out of the hospital. Sometimes, that's the best option. Because to withdraw isn't healthy, and a lot of times, "society" doesn't welcome back into the fold a person who's been released from a hospital, but the counselors and staff at the day program will open their arms wide.
It will take effort; however, your boyfriend can have a full, productive life if he makes his recovery the number one focus.
Best,
Chris
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