Denton County Living Well Magazine September/October 2019 | Page 42

A MOTHER’S HARROWING TALE
OF HER SON’S DECLINE INTO
MENTAL ILLNESS––
R
and Signs to Watch for in Your
egardless of our kids’ trials and Teen or Young Adult
tribulations during childhood and
into teen years, the furthest thing
from any parent’s mind is that
our child might develop a serious
mental illness. Unfortunately, it’s an equal
opportunity disease that can strike even
model kids who’ve rarely experienced a
difficult day in their lives. Just as kids are
preparing to become independent adults
is when serious mental illness (SMI) often
strikes. The incurable brain diseases of
schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder,
and bipolar disorder combined strike one
in every 25 people typically as they are
entering adulthood.
My son (who I’ll call Sean) was diagnosed
with schizoaffective disorder at the age of
19. This disease is the combined illness-
es of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
The first several years of his adult life were
spent inside a living hell—literally. The
early stage was marked primarily by de-
lusions and paranoia: there was a govern-
ment conspiracy against him, Li’l Wayne
and Drake were writing derogatory songs
about him, and pimps were trying to kill
him. But this was only the beginning of a
downward spiral.
The first year of treatment showed only
mild success. Antipsychotics are relatively
fast acting, and if monitored, can be quick-
ly adjusted or changed. But with a severe shortage of psy-
chiatric beds, lack of adequate federal and state funding
for mental health care services, and laws as sick as those
who are ill—problems that exist in every state in Ameri-
ca—he was in and out of the hospital within days, still in
psychosis. Further hindering recovery, he was allowed only
one 30-minute psychiatric appointment per month despite
having a severe brain disease.
There are two broader problems with treatment for the SMI
in America, which are laws and funding.
Laws were created decades ago to protect the rights of
seriously mentally ill individuals. But legislators didn’t take
40
into account that those with SMI are often unaware of
their illness due to a symptom called anosognosia. As a
result, the SMI are most often unwilling to seek treatment.
Mental hospitals have shut down in droves in recent de-
cades. At the same time, public funding for treatment has
dwindled drastically. This has impeded the development
of adequate outpatient services and housing for seriously
mentally ill people.
Important to note, new research indicates episodes of
psychosis may cause more damage to the brain. The lack
of timely, adequate, and appropriate treatment often re-
sults in each episode becoming increasingly more se-
DENTON COUNTY Living Well Magazine | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019