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Something’s not right

Mystiq
Casual Contributor

My brother has schizophrenia and stopped taking his medication

Sooo before I get into anything, I have to say that I don't think anyone should ever advise anyone to stop taking their meds if they have a serious mental illness. If they want to stop taking them, they need to talk to a doctor and have the ongoing support of a doctor to lower the dosages or something, and to have some sort of ongoing support worker to do check ins with them later on or something. I'll now list all the ways my brother changed or all the ways he has disturbed me and my parents since he stopped taking his meds:

-became quite manic (talking a lot and really fast, having so much energy that he would constantly jump around)

-went from being the laziest person I know, to thinking everything he did was a form of training therefore putting more energy into tasks that didn't need putting energy into. With this, came a constant competition with me to be better at literally everything.

-I thought it was good that he had more energy till I went on walks with him and he would randomly sprint, spin and leap, telling me he is training different parts of his body

-he bought a giant bright pink umbrella that cost over $120 or something and he takes it with him on every walk, protecting him from the sun he says.

-most of the time, when I try to talk to him, he always turns it into some kind of argument, where he always has to be right about something even though it has nothing to do with what I say. This could look like me saying I love something and him just saying how bad that thing is or trying to say that something he loves is better.

-he started wearing his backpack and shoes around the house every now and then (we have never worn shoes in the house, my parents are completely against it) when I asked him why he started doing this, he can't give straight answers, just saying cause he wants to. 
-he went from playing games on his PlayStation and computer all day to watching anime all day and then saying he hates games. He has literally spent most of his 33 year old life gaming. Literally thousands and thousands of hours of it.
-he moved his computer from the sun room to his bedroom, just so a week later, he claimed that he doesn't want to pay for the internet anymore, he doesn't want the internet, he will watch anime on his phone with the data from his phone and that's it.

-everytime my dad would want to talk to him, literally just to say good morning even- my brother would tell my dad viscouslly to shut up

-anytime my dad would accidentally stand behind my brother (not that close, like 3/4 feet away) my brother would yell at my dad to move

-he started going outside the front 6-8 in the middle of the night and every time he does this, it's for 5 minutes at a time so what that looks like is; he goes outside, closes the front door, comes back in after 5 minutes, goes inside his room, gets back outside for 5 minutes, goes back inside his room and so on, loudly opening and closing both doors on every way in and every way out. We tell him how this disrupts our sleep and he still does it every night.

- he just banged on the wall that seperates my room and his, constantly, perhaps trying to wake me up. They were big bangs, in about 20 second durations. I did not react as I've reacted to him waking me up in the middle of the night and that doesn't help anyone. He still doesn't see how selfish his actions are.

-just now (after the banging) he yelled at my dad for putting "his towels" with the rest of the towels. This has never been a problem.

I can't really think of anything stand outish anymore, I'm sure there's loads I've forgotten but my point in all of this is, can anyone relate, how do I deal? He doesn't listen when we tell him to get back on his meds and my parents are in constant stress because of his behaviours. He use to be nice and happy with me at least but ever since I reacted to his night habits, we don't talk at all anymore. He doesn't talk to anyone in this house. My parents now lock their doors before they sleep and I do to when I remember. Anyways, I guess I feel a bit better getting this all off my chest so thank you for having this safe space to do so.

10 REPLIES 10

Re: My brother has schizophrenia and stopped taking his medication

Yikes @Mystiq 

Sounds like this information needs to be conveyed to your brothers Psychiatrist.

Re: My brother has schizophrenia and stopped taking his medication

That's an awful lot to be dealing with. Suggest you ring the local CATT (crisis assessment treatment team) and tell them what's happening. Especially tell them if you think he's a danger to himself or others. They might choose to send him to hospital as an involuntary patient. That could be a good thing.

Re: My brother has schizophrenia and stopped taking his medication

@Mystiq  Hi Mystiq sounds like your brother is manic and needs to see his psychiatrist but of course cannot be forced to as an adult. The only way your brother can be forced into the mental health system is if he is a danger to himself or others..... I have schizoaffective disorder (schizophrenia with a mood disorder) and am medicated and wouldnt go off my meds but understand why so many people choose to. Stay safe and as I say if you feel in danger from your brother ring for an ambulance and explain the situation in the end you will be doing your brother a favour. Take care greenpeax

Re: My brother has schizophrenia and stopped taking his medication

Hi @Mystiq  @Jupiter @Shaz51 

@Jynx @traveller @greenpea @patientpatient @Former-Member 

Thankyou so much for posting this. As your post is a month old now, can I ask if or how you found resolve for your situation?

 

I am in exact same position. The person I live with (diagnosed schizophrenia) has gone off his meds.

 

There is no convincing him to start taking again. It has been about a week but I am seeing progressive decline in his mental health.

 

Same as you, he was kind & we were close, but now EVERY conversation is filled with hostility on his part, which I react to by becoming withdrawn & hopeless. I also notice that the things he talks about are disgusting, revolting subject matter. Some things are mild, like mentioning his toileting behavior (sorry - TMI)! But others are really dark & disturbing.

 

I have contacted his mental health providers, where he was previously receiving treatment, (but that ended at start of this year). They responded by calling him & after 5min chat decided he was fine.

 

Do I call them again? Ask for him to be monitored with weekly phone calls. I feel like it's inappropriate for me to take this action, but also, I cannot monitor him on my own.

 

My area has had many Covid19 cases, particularly health care system workers. Presently,  only emergency services are available (including mental health ward) I am worried that if I call CATT that either 1/ the system is too understaffed to help him OR 2/ he may contract COVID if hospitalized.

 

Thankyou for reading.

 

I feel better sharing this. I am very stressed by situation.

(Very sorry if I tagged too many people - mods have been very kind & helpful to me in past, I am desperate. Thank you so much)

 

Re: My brother has schizophrenia and stopped taking his medication

Hi @maddison, I am sorry to hear about the situation you are in and I hope that you are ok! I am most likely not the best person to ask about what you can do but I can share the advice that I've received from other senior contributors and moderators from this forum.

 

Even though your message was posted back in August (and you probably already received advice elsewhere) I wanted to respond here in case anyone else was in a similar situation and was wondering what they can do. In my case, my sister was acting in a similar manner where she had stopped taking her medication which resulted in a decline of her situation. The unfortunate aspect for my family and I was that we actually didn't realise she stopped taking her meds (we found out much later that she would put the medicine in her mouth but would spit it out in the bathroom) so we actually thought that her decline was due to the medicine not working. At first I reached out in the forums to see how I should be interacting with my sister and later on another thread on what I should do since my sister wasn't talking to anyone in her family.

 

The advice I received are as follows and I hope they will be useful to you or anyone else who might be facing a similar experience:

  • Ask questions using the LEAP method where you ask who/what/why/where/how questions impartially without judgement (this might be useful for you https://namipierce.org/the-leap-method/). The point is to show the person that you are willing to listen to what the are saying and want to try understand their position and experience. This will help build trust for them, and empathy for you.
  • Have a chat with them to see if they would like to see their psychiatrist and/or psychologist. They may require a medication review. You can ask them if they would like you to accompany them, or if they would like to contact anyone else they are close with to do so.
  • If the person is withdrawn and is spending a lot of time shut in their room and you are worried about them, you can check up with them by knocking/speaking through the door periodically. In my case, my sister would shut herself in her room for extensive hours (3 hours+ without even coming out for a toilet or water break). Another suggestion is to invite them out for a walk or some other activitiy e.g. going out grocery shopping. They might reject your invite as they feel overstimulated if they do go outside, but in the case that they agree, it would be good exercise and help them. 
  • If it is a close family member or friend, don't forget to keep telling them you love her/him and try to understand that they are lost in another reality and it may be hard to communicate with them. Please also don't forget that they love you very much too.
  • If you are concerned and need more help and don't know what to do, try ringing your local Mental Health Care Triage number. Depending on how serious the situation is they will be able to recommend things you can do e.g they can get in contact with the local Mental Health Unit to assist the person, or they can contact the ambulance to bring the person to hospital if they determine that the situation requires it. I know it is scary and stressful to make the call for a hospitalisation but if their situation is continuously deterioriating the best solution is to ensure that the person is getting the best medical care and support.

In my case, my sister's situation deteriorated quite quickly where the night before she was acting normal (enjoying her time with family, talking to us, eating well, etc.) but when she woke up she was feeling paranoid and wanted to 'escape' from her home. She felt like her family was 'poisioning her' with the food and water, and that she was being forced to stay at home. She was refusing to eat medicine as well, saying that it was poison. During the night she would not sleep but would sit and stay on alert with her eyes open and hands clutching her bag.The situation was quite scary and stressful as my family and I feared that my sister would run out of the house without us knowing and not contact us back.

 

Additionally, it was brought to my attention that my sister hated hospitalisation and also hated us for 'forcing her' to get hospitalised last time (when in truth she actually hospitalised herself but she was under the delusion that her family forced her to go). I was quite worried that if I called and got her hospitalised she would be angry at me and that it would break the trust, but after discussing this with my family and by discussing this with the Mental Health Care Triage team when I called up, it was confirmed that it would be in my sister's best interest to make sure she was getting her medication and being treated. If she was to continue not taking her medication, her symptoms i.e. the voices, delusions and hallucinations will only get stronger. She is now in hospital and is being taken care of there. Her mediciation has been increased and her situation is currently being monitored; and though it pains us to have a family member in hospital, we are relieved that she is under appropriate care. It will definitely take time for the situation to settle, but what my family can do is work with the medical team to assist in my sister's recovery.

 

I hope this helps! I have just consolidated all the advice I've received so far in one post. (I'll link the previous threads here in case anyone wants to read the actual posts: https://saneforums.org/t5/Something-s-not-right/My-sister-is-not-talking-to-anyone-I-don-t-know-what...

and https://saneforums.org/t5/Useful-resources/Any-advice-on-how-to-interact-with-my-sister-who-has/m-p/...).

 

Additionally, special thanks to @Tortoiseshell , @Schitzo , @Zoe87 , @greenpea and @BPDSurvivor for your help in particular. I am just tagging you in this post to give you credit and to thank you for all your help.

 

Warmest Regards, 
Rivulet 

Re: My brother has schizophrenia and stopped taking his medication

Hello @Rivulet 

 

This is fantastic information. I cannot thankyou enough for taking the time to post this. I haven't clicked on the links you provided yet, & I will, just wanted to quickly say thankyou & that I appreciate this so much.

My/our situation is ongoing. He is taking medication, but it is not consistent & much less than prescribed. I find my greatest hurdle is that he has no mental health provider linked in with his treatment. He had been receiving treatment through our local public mental health team for over 10 years, but this ended at the start of this year ( I don't know why, but I suspect it may be due to funding).

There are also other complications that I won't go into, except to say, that your clear and concise advice, & descriptions are exactly the guidance I have been seeking.
Your post is very helpful to me. Thanks 🙂

Re: My brother has schizophrenia and stopped taking his medication

Hi @maddison , I am glad I am able to help! This is what I've learned through conversation and experience with others. It is frustrating when it becomes difficult to receive treatment consistently especially with funding and the financial burden. I don't know what area you're located in but it would be good if you will be able to take on any government health support if that is available or just try to make sure he gets in contact with a psychologist or psychiatrist who will be able to assist medically. They will also be able to work around any worries he might have with the medication eg. he might be avoiding due to the side effects or not accept that something is wrong. For my situation, it has been helpful with Medicare as under the treatment plan we can claim up to 10 sessions with a mental health professional each year: (https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/subjects/whats-covered-medicare/mental-health-care.... Here's where you can find more details if it is relevant to you.

 

It is always hard to know if your approach or decision is the correct one, and it can be scary as well but please know that you are not alone and that there are many people out there to help support you too. Thank you also for your kindness and care in taking care of the person you're living with. I am sure that they are very thankful for it too even if they are not able to say so right now. Please don't forget to take care of yourself too!

 

I also found the information in this link quite helpful as well so please check it out when you're free: http://www.schizophrenia.com/family/60tip.html 

 

I wish you and him all the best! Please take care and feel free to keep us updated with your situation!! 

 

Warmest Regards, 
Rivulet

Re: My brother has schizophrenia and stopped taking his medication

Hi @maddison , I am glad I am able to help! This is what I've learned through conversation and experience with others. It is frustrating when it becomes difficult to receive treatment consistently especially with funding and the financial burden. I don't know what area you're located in but it would be good if you will be able to take on any government health support if that is available or just try to make sure he gets in contact with a psychologist or psychiatrist who will be able to assist medically. They will also be able to work around any worries he might have with the medication eg. he might be avoiding due to the side effects or not accept that something is wrong. For my situation, it has been helpful with Medicare as under the treatment plan we can claim up to 10 sessions with a mental health professional each year: (https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/subjects/whats-covered-medicare/mental-health-care.... Here's where you can find more details if it is relevant to you.

 

It is always hard to know if your approach or decision is the correct one, and it can be scary as well but please know that you are not alone and that there are many people out there to help support you too. Thank you also for your kindness and care in taking care of the person you're living with. I am sure that they are very thankful for it too even if they are not able to say so right now. Please don't forget to take care of yourself too!

 

I also found the information in this link quite helpful as well so please check it out when you're free: http://www.schizophrenia.com/family/60tip.html

I found it particulary useful in terms of what I should and should not do when interacting with the person when they are not their best but you want to talk to them.

 

I wish you and him all the best! Please take care and feel free to keep us updated with your situation!! 

 

Warmest Regards, 
Rivulet

Re: My brother has schizophrenia and stopped taking his medication

Thank you @Rivulet for being so supportive here. @maddison , juggling medication is certainly very hard. Have you spoken to your brother's treating team about his inconsistencies with medication? They may be able to organise a monthly injection etc. I'm not an expert around this, but sometimes, this is the best option.

 

Take care @maddison , and please do visit some of the links provided by @Rivulet .

 

Cheers, 

BPDSurvivor

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