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| *Women health>>>Schizophrenia |
How can you get a person with schizophrenia to take their meds? |
My friend's mom has her 30 year old schizphrenic son living at home with her and he refuses to take his meds. He is not violent, but has started to menace her. Also, he has become quite obessed with reading the bible. She feels unsafe, but there is nothing that the authorities can do as he has not actually hurt her. There was a time when he took medication and was much improved, however he thought that he was cured and stopped taking them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. First of all my heart goes out to your friend and her family. Mental illness is difficult. People who suffer from the illness often don't want to take their medication. When they don't take their meds they want to take it even LESS. There are a variety of reasons. Paranoia. Disliking the side effects. Thinking they aren't sick or are "cured". Thinking others want to change them. Etc. The unfortunate thing is that doctors and the authorities can't force him to do anything (he is over 18) until he becomes a threat to himself or others. It can feel like a waiting game or a time bomb... just waiting for them to get sick enough so they do something dangerous and get help but praying whatever they do will not be so bad that anyone gets hurt. The best advice I can give is to have the family stay in close contact with his doctors. Even if they can't tell them anything due to confidentiality the family can call and say "He isn't taking his meds." "He's obsessed with such-and-such right now" "We don't feel safe because..." etc. You can also tape record conversations of unusual things he is saying or video tape evidence of instability. My best friend recently did this with her mother who was so delusional at the time that she agreed (on tape) to be on tape. She didn't think what she was doing was odd. The family gave the tapes to her doctors. Your friend and her family need to watch him closely for warning signs that he is declining to a point that he may become dangerous to himself or to others. Your friend and her family can look into support groups for family members of mentally ill in the area. They can be a valuable outlet and resource. I wish there was more we could do but it is very difficult to navigate the health care system and schizophrenia is a tricky illness. It's frustrating and I feel for you and your friend. Source(s): Personal experience with family members who are ill. i would put it in his food, like chop it up good, he will never know Feature articles on schizophrenia: http://www.newstarget.com/schizophrenia.... Mush the meds up and mix them in with his food. slip it in their food like a roofie. Trick him so the "voices" tell him to take his meds. |
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