Hi
We've had a really rough year, and now it's time to focus on my son.
He is 22 years old, and a really sweet kid. He didn't talk much from 6th grade until we figured out what was going on about 3 years ago. He started taking Abilify and did better. About a year ago we upped his dosage of Abilify and now he smiles and laughs and can hold a normal conversation and learn new things. His biggest problem is that he is really shy and its hard for him to get involved with kids his age. He's lived with a number of roomates, but it hasn't worked out very well because he wants to spend alot of time with them. Now he lives at home with me which makes him feel less lonely, but he really misses interacting with kids his age.
There are different kinds of schizophrenia, and he always explains that he doesn't have the kind that makes him kill people, he just thinks other people are going to kill him. He also said that he likes his dillusions and would like to keep them (that was a few years ago, now they have mostly faded and he realizes that they weren't real, but he often has to double check if something he is thinking is real, or if he is just being paranoid - mostly very mild things like getting in trouble for being on the internet). Abilify is great!!
For a while he thought ghosts might be real (maybe they are), but then he wasn't sure until he was very sure he saw a ghost rat dissappear into the wall and he was very upset about it. Upon investigation we found a very small hole in the wall that a rat actually disappeared into (he was very relieved). He mostly sees things the right way, he's just not completely confident in his ability.
His constant emotional pain is the very hardest thing in my life. He can force himeself to be happy for a few hours a day, but every few days he doesn't want to live. He knows enough to know that he isn't completely normal and really wants just basic friendship.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
C
We've had a really rough year, and now it's time to focus on my son.
He is 22 years old, and a really sweet kid. He didn't talk much from 6th grade until we figured out what was going on about 3 years ago. He started taking Abilify and did better. About a year ago we upped his dosage of Abilify and now he smiles and laughs and can hold a normal conversation and learn new things. His biggest problem is that he is really shy and its hard for him to get involved with kids his age. He's lived with a number of roomates, but it hasn't worked out very well because he wants to spend alot of time with them. Now he lives at home with me which makes him feel less lonely, but he really misses interacting with kids his age.
There are different kinds of schizophrenia, and he always explains that he doesn't have the kind that makes him kill people, he just thinks other people are going to kill him. He also said that he likes his dillusions and would like to keep them (that was a few years ago, now they have mostly faded and he realizes that they weren't real, but he often has to double check if something he is thinking is real, or if he is just being paranoid - mostly very mild things like getting in trouble for being on the internet). Abilify is great!!
For a while he thought ghosts might be real (maybe they are), but then he wasn't sure until he was very sure he saw a ghost rat dissappear into the wall and he was very upset about it. Upon investigation we found a very small hole in the wall that a rat actually disappeared into (he was very relieved). He mostly sees things the right way, he's just not completely confident in his ability.
His constant emotional pain is the very hardest thing in my life. He can force himeself to be happy for a few hours a day, but every few days he doesn't want to live. He knows enough to know that he isn't completely normal and really wants just basic friendship.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
C