Why does he let his schizophrenic son lives as a homeless man on the street?
My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.
191–200 of 209 posts
Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.
#192The problem isn't the particular reforms, it is the idea that any reform could evoke the needed individualization from centrally planned institutions.
My heart aches to think of the hell this man is in, and that his father is in watching him. I have worked with people in this condition, it is heartbreaking. I get the screaming urgency to do SOMETHING.
But if that something doesn't make sense it just isn't going to work.
Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
And that's what shocked me as well. He made the right diagnosis with the right title and the right observations, but jumped to the wrong conclusions :-/
He made the right conclusions and these programs have already been implemented. (at least in my state) There are many community-based mental health providers. They are private-sector companies, usually nonprofits, that provide treatment paid for by state funding (medicaid, etc.).
No, it contradicts his own title and facts :
When he was in jail, with its regular routines and meals, Tim usually stabilized. But when he was released (...) he destabilized right away
The "humane reforms" may not have been just for the good. More details in http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4662700
Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
#195This is often discussed among homeless advocates, because such a large percentage of homeless have mental illnesses of various kinds. I do think reform had quite a bit arguing for it: old-style "insane asylums" were really not nice places, and involuntary commitment was used fairly widely, at times even producing involuntary surgeries (like the notorious period in which involuntary lobotomies were performed), which I…
Mental hospitals suck. Some suck more, some less but if you visit people in them you will be under no illusions but that they all suck.
Depending on what you mean by "Mental hospitals suck" I disagree. It isn't supposed to be a place you go for happy fun time, but there are some really nice ones. The problem is, the really nice ones are out of the reach for many people who need them because they are super expensive.
Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.
#196Earlier 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"…
It's still a major mood and behavior alterer. A trained professional should be directing the patient's use.
Only if you believe the mood and behavior being directed towards leads to immediate sociopathic actions; otherwise, society has little to say about how an individual decides to regulate his mood and behavior.
Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.
#197This is a tough story of a state legislator who became an adoptive father finding out that policies that he thought were humane reforms didn't end up helping people in this generation like his adoptive son. Some of my perspective on these issues comes from knowing Irving Gottesman, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Gottesman who was credited as the main adviser on schizophrenia relied on by the author of the book A…
The whole "Schedule I" thing is probably a bad choice of words on the authors part. Perhaps something along the lines of "mind altering substances"? Anything with the potential to significantly impact a persons impressions of the world around them is a bad idea in this situation.
There is a whole lotta things outside ingested and inhaled chemicals which can lead significantly impact a persons impressions of the world around them. I always found Julian Jaynes take on the interpretation of the schizophrenic mind as being one of degrees and perhaps just a few neuro-physical variations away from "normal" as interesting ponderage.
Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
" The author is arguing that his son would not be homeless if institutional care had not be shut down " Actually, he isn't . The only institutional care he mentions in the What I realize now section is "supportive short-term and long-term community housing and treatment", which doesn't sound like institutional care, in the sense of "When he was in jail, with its regular routines and meals, Tim usually stabilized". Th…
> "supportive short-term and long-term community housing and treatment", which doesn't sound like institutional care But it is. The housing/treatment he is referring to covers a range of facilities from supported housing to crisis centers to residential and secure residential treatment facilities based in the community. The goal of these facilities is to provide the stability necessary for a person to compensate and,…
Just curious, which state are you in?
Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wasn't MDMA (ecstasy) once considered for schizophrenic patients? It was supposed to not affect the patient as much. I never head the results.
MDMA is currently being tested (in sessions combined with therapy) for treating PTSD. I've heard nothing about its consideration for schizophrenia but it wouldn't be surprising.
Looked it up and this article mentions PTSD, schizophrenia, and Autism. There are some scholarly reference out there too. Seems mixed, but they want further studies.
http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/12/17/drug-‘ecstasy’-may-h...
Re: My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life.
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's a good point. The article begins with him discussing the shutdown of institutional care in favor of integrative approaches. But you're right, the solution he's promulgating at the end isn't really the same thing.
It's actually not a good point, see my reply above. Upvote for using the word 'promulgating' though. Good show :o)
Saying "that's a good point" has as much or more to do with social courtesy than "winning" the conversation. (Have you seen this? http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2012/09/03/120903sh_shouts_si... )
I say it's a good point because it may be worth making a distinction between early-mid 20th century institutional care in an asylum and early 21st century institutional care through a variety of assistance programs. You have presented a good case that the distinction is either meaningless or that there is a direct relationship between the former and the latter, but either way, the article doesn't spell out the link between the two.