Hello Jade,

You are concerned for your son and what will happen when you're no longer in the picture.  I understand this clearly.

From what you've revealed I do not have enough to go on as to whether he might have schizophrenia.  You may want to look at this list of early warning signs and see if your son's behavior fits this criteria.  Even if it doesn't appear he has this illness his rage is enough of a signal that action needs to be taken.

A statistically insignificant number of people with schizophrenia are violent yet some of us are.  You use the words anger and rage and I interpret this as a form of verbal violence if not physical violence.

The criteria for admittance to a psych hospital is that a person is a danger to himself or someone else.  If at all you feel unsafe in his presence you could make the case that he is a danger and try to get him admitted.

A technique, motivational interviewing, has been used by family members to help persuade loved ones to seek and stay in treatment.  By this you would use the LEAP technique: Listen, Empathize, Agree, Partner.  You would listen to what he has to say, empathize with his concerns, agree that he sees things differently and partner with him to seek action.  Motivational interviewing is a way to link a person's getting help with his ability to achieve a life goal.  You would build a level of trust with the loved one so that you could at a receptive moment suggest that if he had a goal like, say, getting a job and his own apartment, that seeing someone who could help would enable him to achieve the goal.

This is the short course taken from Xavier Amador, PhD's book, I Am Not Sick, I Don't Need Help, which coaches family members on how to work with loved ones who lack the awareness that something is wrong and needs working on.  The 2007 edition is the updated edition.

My concern (and I hope I'm not reading into things) is that your son's rage could escalate if it hasn't already done so.  Be honest with yourself if you believe he could have symptoms of schizophrenia because in that case he needs immediate treatment.

I would suggest calling the local reputable psych hospital and explaining the situation that you do not feel safe and are concerned for your health as well as your son's.  If the cops got involved the reality is he might end up in jail and his situation would worsen without medication or appropriate treatment.  A lot of people with schizophrenia find themselves in jails, which are the biggest public psych hospitals in the U.S. by virtue of the fact that regular hospitals turn people away, they commit petty crimes, and then get locked up in jail.  So you need to make it clear to the staff at the psych hospital that you do not want this to happen, that you want him to be admitted and not turned away.

Play up with them any symptoms you believe your son is having to make the case that he needs to be admitted.

Like I said first off, you have only given us a broad view of what's happening.  And there could be other diagnoses that fit your son's behavior instead of or in addition to schizophrenia.  Consider what I have told you about the techniques Xavier Amador outlines in his book.  Be honest with yourself as to whether you feel safe and consider the other information I have given you too.

Regards,

Christina