Minds on the Edge http://www.mindsontheedge.org/

'Minds on the Edge' "Facing the issues of Serious Mental Illness" This is a great resource. Also on facebook.

Recovery for us means Flexibility, Education, and a Unified Front

Support of our son’s emotional growth is one of many critical components in our son’s continued recovery. Along with our own ability to stay healthy while helping him. We use the book “How to Raise Emotionally Healthy Children: Meeting the Five Critical Needs of Children...and Parents Too!’ by Gerald Newmark, Ph.D.; “I Am Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help” by Dr. Xavier Amador with Anna-Lisa Johanson; “Trust After Trauma: A Guide to Relationships for Survivors and Those Who Love Them” by Aprhrodite Matsakis, Ph.D. from the Sidran Foundation; also various Al-Anon material to give us the flexibility through our own education in order to address the evolving emotional needs of our son and ourselves through this process. From ‘How to Raise Emotionally Healthy Children” we are able to examine through the way they break it all down, if we are meeting the five critical emotional needs that everyone has: Being Respected Feeling Important Feeling Accepted Feeling Included Feeling Secure Using “I’m Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help” and “Trust After Trauma” we are able to think about how to approach and how to communicate best with our son. Using some slogans from Al-Anon help us to ‘Keep it simple’ so he can better process and remember what we discuss. It also serves as a source of support for wanted behavior. For us, it reminds us that we need to care for ourselves, too. We have family meetings to discuss issues and solutions where our son has equal input and can bring anything to the meeting to discuss as well. This helps to give us the flexibility to change certain things as he progresses in his abilities while keeping to the general frame work needed as well as keeping everyone on the same page. When a new task is presented, I still use the standard Applied Behavioral Analysis approach that is tailored to our son. This helps to set him up to succeed and therefore helps to build up his self esteem. Thus, we are able to move forward at his pace. This is an over simplified outline of what we do to support his emotional well being but it is a good outline and a great place to start and we return to it when needed.

More psychiatric beds! More available treatment!

Did anyone watch Dr. Xavior Amador on Piers Morgan? Dr. Amador was saying (not his exact words but my understanding of what he said) that the stigma lies with the decrease in hospital beds and lack of treatment available to those who suffer from the first 'break' of a psychotic episode which on an average is age 24. The age of James Holmes. Breaking the slogan or mission statement down to the basic need is important. More beds, more treatment!

Clarification

It has been brought to my attention, and rightly so, that I have not made a very important point clear so I will try to do that now. I have a great deal of respect for my son’s wishes and the choices he makes in his life. This includes but is not limited to posting information about his condition, treatment, and recovery. All the information on my blog site concerning my son has been done with his approval. All information he does not want me to share will not be shared. Should he change his mind at any point in the future about what has already been disclosed, that information will be removed. My son hopes to someday have a book out that will give others who suffer as severely as he has some hope that there is a better way to live life. To hang on and stick it out because with time, things will get better. It will be his story. He told me that he wants to say the things he would have wanted to hear when he was struggling with not wanting to accept treatment and feeling so very confused about the world he found himself in. He hopes that his story might encourage more people to get help. This book may or may not happen. To our family it’s about the healing process of working on such an ambitious project, having the heart to help others, and most of all the insight he has gained since being on Clozapine for almost five years now. We do have our son back. We haven’t forgotten how we came to this place in time or how quickly it can change should he decide to stop being compliant to medication. We are grateful and feel blessed to have regained so much. We are well aware how differently it could have turned out. That is why I started this blog site. Not to dictate any ideal, medication, or specific behavioral modification program that I feel will work for everyone or anyone who suffers from a brain disorder. Only to explain what we did that worked for us in the hope it might give others another option they may want to try if they think it might benefit their situation. I do not believe that those who don’t need medication should have to take it. However, I strongly believe that those who do need it but can’t get it because of the very brain disorder that threatens their life and perhaps the life of others should be able to get it. It has saved my son, myself, and our family.

He's Feeling Better Than Ever!

Along with his newly embraced ‘diet’ (portion control, no to little sugar, red meat once a month) and exercise schedule (cardio two times a week for at least 1/2 hour at the gym plus one day swimming and a lot of walking around), our son takes the following supplements under the advisement of his nutritionalist and with the approval of his treatment team based on a current blood panel: Niacin 1500mg daily. We can really see a difference in the amount of 'inner stimulation' and improved cognitive abilities when he is taking this. Magnesium (citrate) 150mg B-12 5000mg daily. Promotes brain nerve health. B-2 (riboflavin) 100mg D3 6000I.U. daily. Helps so many bodily functions including heart health! He is tested for his D3 level so we don't give him too much which is toxic. C 1000mg daily. E 400 I.U. Omega-3 (Fish Oil) 2400mg daily. I would not recommend giving any supplements ( D3 and Magnesium - these levels need to be monitored as excess can be toxic) before consulting with professionals.