- Category: Crisis Response, Involuntary Commitment Barriers
- Tag(s): Anosognosia / Lack of Insight, Co-Occurring Substance Use, Incarceration, Violence or Threat Toward Family or Caregiver
I have a son I love very much, my only son. My son used methamphetamine, and someone gave him a hot shot that led to paranoid schizophrenia. He started acting out, talking about things that were not true, but he believed them. This started when he was 14 yrs old.
The abuse started with me and his stepdad. We divorced. It’s been a nightmare – I gave social services guardianship, and that was a mistake. They sent him to places no one should have been. Finally, my father believed me and went to get him. He was in and out of jail; the hospitals would not keep him more than a week. I lost two homes because he was in psychosis.
He is a very good man who would give his shirt off his back. He has had 4 guardians and an ACT team. My son does not understand what’s going on with his mind.
When he does drugs, he thinks he owns all these properties and went in on a woman, thinking it was his. He realized and immediately apologized. But earlier that day, I had called and asked for help, and no one would help me. That’s what it’s led to. He has suffocated me, put a knife to my mom’s throat. No charges were made.
He is 45 now, and he still doesn’t have the correct help. I have been by his side, but he hates me the most and hits and cusses me.
I have to hope for the future – they don’t care and don’t keep their responsibility for the people they have. That’s the reason we have so many homeless people. I’ve pleaded and begged for help – they tell me he hasn’t committed enough crimes. Parents would be helped. Why are the people that are supposed to be helping our young people… and why do we have so many housing issues… and they say affordable, but the middle class still are in the cold. Please help me make a difference and get my son the help that he deserves.
*Each story is shared by someone impacted by untreated SMI, lightly edited for clarity, never for meaning.
THE ASK
The author’s message for legislators:
- Stop making families wait for a crime before the system will move.
- My son doesn’t know he is sick. He will never ask for help himself. The law needs to account for that.
- When family calls and says their loved one is in crisis, someone needs to come with the authority to help. Not a form. A person.
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