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My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.

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Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.

#71

Post by acroyear »

Author's first impulse is to look to the state for the care of his child. WRONG!!!! YOU and your family are the primary folks responsible for this kid. Your wife had about the same chance of success as any set of teachers or state gov't goons but with much more incentives. What the hell was she doing? (probably getting her 'career' on - woo hoo!)

Why are ppl so apt to think that state employees are miracle workers? Central command/control and one-size-fits-all solutions (or any approximation thereof) are bound to fail for most of us who have special needs.

Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.

#72

Post by jlgreco »

droithomme wrote: post #60
jlgreco wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"We do know that young people whose family history suggests genetic risk for major mental illness (which might not be known for a particular adopted child) are playing with fire if they take schedule I drugs without medical supervision." Considering that "Schedule I" is nothing more than a legal classification, I would like to see how that works. Does it just so happen that drugs in that legal classification coincide…

His Schedule I mention was likely overreaching. Marijuana is relatively harmless and should be legalized. It is also known to be useful in the treatment of a number of ailments. However, we do know of one certain negative reaction, with a fair degree of certainty: genetically schizophrenic predispositioned people who smoke marijuana as teenagers are more likely to develop schizophrenia. Because of this, although it s…

Hmm, interesting stuff. It sounds like this risk doesn't really tapper off after the teenage years, but rather in the mid 20s. Makes a 21-year cut-off some states are considering (instead of the obvious 18) make a bit more sense.

Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.

#73

Post by Shorel »

hristov wrote: post #67
erichocean wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We do know that young people whose family history suggests genetic risk for major mental illness (which might not be known for a particular adopted child) are playing with fire if they take schedule I drugs without medical supervision. That marijuana is classified as a "schedule I drug" is, itself, obscene and a result of politics, not science. Therefore, the rest of your suggestion regarding them "playing with fire"…

There is a lot of research showing that marijuana speeds up the onset of schizophrenia in patients that are already genetically predisposed to it. See: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2005559-2,00....

Both alcohol and tobacco are legal, and have worse health consequences than marijuana.

The only real reason is that 90-70 years ago, the white people smoke tobacco and the black people smoke marijuana.

Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.

#74

Post by josephlord »

wonderzombie wrote: post #49
tjic wrote: post #25

Some problems just don't have good solutions. We're so used to political debates where the Republicans say "less regulation will solve X", the Democrats say "more spending will solve X", the libertarians say "X is none of the government's business", and each suggests that things will go swimmingly under their preferred way of attacking the problem. Some things, though, just suck. Schizophrenia is one of those things.…

I think this is too fatalistic. This sets the bar far too low -- you could substitute poverty or crime in here without substantially altering the meaning. No, you cannot "cure" it or "fix" it, but the alternative isn't "do nothing." That's a false dichotomy. At a minimum you can look for ways mitigate the impact it has on our society. See the pieces elsewhere in this thread which discuss the cost to our society incur…

Agree with the additional comment that the sufferer is part of the society the impact should be mitigated on.

Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.

#75

Post by aes256 »

lusr wrote: post #20
aes256 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really like the term 'mental illness', not so much because of the stigma attached to it, but because the term implies there is some 'normal' from which only a small subsection of the population deviates. In reality, there is no 'normal'. There is no one person with perfect mental health; perfect clarity of thought, perception, of feeling and action. Everyone, to put things bluntly, is a little fucked up. Thus…

There's a ridiculously vast difference between "a little fucked up" and serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, rapid cycling bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder. If you think serious mental illness isn't a real, debilitating reality, I encourage you to spend some time with somebody in a truly psychotic state and see how you feel afterwards. Then imagine living as that person. There may be no…

Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to belittle those with debilitating mental illnesses.

I simply don't like the view many seem to hold that mental illness is black and white; you have a mental illness or you don't.

Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.

#76

Post by jnar »

I'm out of words. Here everybody seem saying smart words about being mentally disable/ill, about politics and so on but you all miss the pivot.

This (young) adult was diagnosed with schizophrenia. If the US wouldn't have the health-care system it has, this guy would receive proper treatment without hassles. Being hospitalized and so on. But he wasn't, and now he's just the last of the leasts. Why he wasn't? Because he wasn't elegible according to the insurance. Obviously he wasn't i'd say. Companies exist to make profit, this is old story, no insurance want really to treat people who are going to require life-long medications and care.

So, try to learn something from this story and realize how the US system is broken when it comes to care about people who isn't Paris Hilton.

I heard Romney saying "nobody is dying in this country because of lacks in terms of health-care, they jsut go to the first aid". He said this because he's just evil. Anyone smart realizes that being stabilized and being treated are 2 different things.

Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.

#77

Post by macey »

car wrote: post #66
debacle wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anti-psychotic medication isn't like taking Tylenol. It can completely change a person's personality, and people have likened it to living in a fog.

What is your point? Schizophrenia already horribly changed the patients personality, medication just helps them deal with the symptoms. Before we had these drugs, schizophrenic patients were basically tortured (e.g. Lobotomy) because there was no way to help them.

The point is that it's an imperfect solution, and maybe if we fund research in this area a bit more, we can find a better one.

Also, this is a bit tangential, but I don't really perceive schizophrenia as changing one's personality. I have a close friend who is schizophrenic, and when she has episodes, hardly a bit of her real self remains. It's not a personality shift, it's more like a personality stroke/seizure.

Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.

#78

Post by efa »

Alex3917 wrote: post #70
debacle wrote: post #10

You can blame the schools for misdiagnosing ADHD, and you can blame them for a poor IEP, but you can't blame them for a child not having a normal life due to one of the most tragic diseases known to man. Schizophrenia is not the kind of disease you can treat with an IEP, and it sounds like the author's son fell out of the system from a very young age. Trying to blame anything but genetics and development for his son'…

"The author is wrong, and I'm sorry for that, but it's very unlikely that his son would have ever been a contributing member of society." In many less developed countries people with schizophrenia have better outcomes. It's only in the US where the condition is usually debilitating for life, because: A) The US healthcare system relies on longterm use of anti-psychotic medication as the main form of treatment, which t…

Can you elaborate? Are you saying in other countries the family/extended family generally care for the individual? Why are they more likely to hold down a job?

Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.

#79

Post by wooter »

fusiongyro wrote: post #29
debacle wrote: post #10

You can blame the schools for misdiagnosing ADHD, and you can blame them for a poor IEP, but you can't blame them for a child not having a normal life due to one of the most tragic diseases known to man. Schizophrenia is not the kind of disease you can treat with an IEP, and it sounds like the author's son fell out of the system from a very young age. Trying to blame anything but genetics and development for his son'…

This fatalistic attitude isn't wrong, but it is manifestly unhelpful and surprisingly expensive. Being homeless is not a zero-cost alternative to real treatment; in many cases, the cost of lavish treatment is far lower than the cost of ER visits and criminal proceedings that would otherwise be incurred. I believe Malcolm Gladwell wrote an article about chronic homelessness a few years ago, about Denver rolling out a…

pretty bold claim... source? below you said it was tried on "tens" of people. both ethics and finance differ quite a bit at any larger scale.

Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.

#80

Post by Afton »

Alex3917 wrote: post #70
debacle wrote: post #10

You can blame the schools for misdiagnosing ADHD, and you can blame them for a poor IEP, but you can't blame them for a child not having a normal life due to one of the most tragic diseases known to man. Schizophrenia is not the kind of disease you can treat with an IEP, and it sounds like the author's son fell out of the system from a very young age. Trying to blame anything but genetics and development for his son'…

"The author is wrong, and I'm sorry for that, but it's very unlikely that his son would have ever been a contributing member of society." In many less developed countries people with schizophrenia have better outcomes. It's only in the US where the condition is usually debilitating for life, because: A) The US healthcare system relies on longterm use of anti-psychotic medication as the main form of treatment, which t…

I'd be very surprised if this were true. Care to elaborate?
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