My best friend got some very bad news

[AlCzervik]

Her Dad who i know and like a lot has been diagnosed at paranoid schizophrenic, he's in a hospital right now and refusing help, his doctor called her and said they are filing something with the court so he has a competency hearing at which point he will most likely be made a ward of the state and put into a state run mental institution. He's 63 and about 4 years ago he had an "episode" for lack of a better word and moved to Canada for a year, he came back to California and got help and took his meds until about 3 months ago and thats when the trouble started. For the past month he's been awful to be around, he had this overwhelming sense of well being and superiority to the point that he was so obnoxious and in your face that he actually got arrested, he assaulted an emergency room nurse and kicked the window out of the cruiser they put him into. So he is now considered violent and a danger to the community which he is but 3 months ago i could have never imagined this would happen.

[JimmyJazz]

1. Aw Jeez. I'm so sorry.

How sad. :hug:

[Guaranteed]

2. Hmmm...not a psychiatrist, so, with a grain of salt (supplied by me)...

Your reference to his constant sense of well-being and superiority could also signal a bipolar or manic disorder. The obnoxiousness, in particular.

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are often seen together, and they are sometimes hard to differentiate.

Just saying... :shrug: Could be the one, as opposed to the other....

Of course, I have no clue as to how he's been behaving. And, again, I'm not a psychiatrist.

[AlCzervik]

3. actually they said bi-polar as well, his meds were for bi-polar

the ones he stopped taking. they are also trying to see if he may also have early onset dementia.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Yeah.Some people want the mania even if it means the depression goes

along with it.

[IChing]

9. The guy that burned down his condo and part of mine quit taking his meds

for being bi-polar.
So you see it can lead to dangerous behavior.

Sorry, I hope he gets help before he hurts himself or someone else permanently.

[Ptah]

4. Schizophrenia is like that in my experience.

My brother stopped his meds, without his family's knowledge,
and four or five months later he ended hid life.
We wish to this day he had been institutionalized.

I just am trying to say that I hope your friend's Dad get the
treatment he needs.

:hug:

[Shine]

5. My BIL is mentally ill, paranoid schizophrenic, as well....

It's a challenge to see someone you love struggle with this illness. Brings up all kinds of issues.

Good luck to all concerned....

~Shine

[jobycom]

6. My brother is paranoid schizophrenic, too.

It's hard.

Sorry to hear it. One word of advice. Since it is a new diagnosis, and since it is odd to come down with schizophrenia that late in life, get several opinions. There have been cases of people with other illnesses that cause the symptoms of PS, and of Bipolar Disorder. Sometimes they are equally upsetting brain or nervous system illnesses. Sometimes they are dramatic dietary imbalances. Advise your friend to check out several options and doctors.

Even if it is PS, finding the right doctor is key. My brother went through a few doctors until he found one who connected well. The right doctor can match the right medication, which can make a huge difference, even eliminating some of the worst imbalances.

Anyway, good luck to your friend. It's a difficult thing.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. I am so sorry. I hope all turns out for the best in short order.

[Wapsie B]

10. I am so sorry.

Mental illness can be so tough to deal with.

[Lex]

11. Important: Is he being treated with meds for any other illness?

My SO's father had a very bad reaction to a drug called "Mirapex" which was for his Parkinson's (he started taking it shortly after his diagnosis of Parkinson's).

He ended up in a locked mental ward. The whole time they kept giving him the Mirapex for his Parkinson's and wondering why he was acting so psychotic.

It made him crazy, combative, delusional, etc.

As soon as they pulled him off the Mirapex and put him on another drug for his Parkinson's, he got almost instantly better.

Make sure your friend knows each and every drug that her father is taking right now and research it herself on the web for possible interactions.

[AlCzervik]

13. He stopped his Psyche meds? but he's on other meds for blood pressure

He's a big man, he was on a diet but he's still about 350lbs and his height is about 6'3. His doctor told my friend because of his refusal to take his medication that he's at a increased risk for a stroke or heart attack. He didn't stop taking his regular medication just the stuff for his mental illness.

[Lex]

14. Hmmm . . . wonder if he's had some mini-strokes that have

affected/injured his brain in such a way that it would present as schizophrenia?

It is late in life for schizophrenia to be showing up.

[AlCzervik]

16. They think he's had other episodes but less intense and written it off to

"Mood swings". About 2 weeks ago when he was having a tantrum my frined and her 2 kids came to my house to avoid him, her husband was trying to get her Dad out of the house, anyhow he kept calling her cell phone and leaving messages, one message would be very polite, almost too polite--"Please call you dear father" and then the next message was "You are a fucking ungrateful bitch whore" and then another back to being sweet. I'm really hoping he'll let the place he's in now treat him, if not he's going to end up at a state ward and that won't be good at all.

[Lex]

18. It's so distressing for the whole family. I hope your friend's Dad

will get the help he needs. Sometimes the time in an institution will give the family a break and get the patient the intense help and stability he needs.

My best to your friend and the whole family. :hug:

[bliss_eternal]

12. I'm sorry to hear this!

:hug:

Hopefully at some point, he will accept treatment--it can only help him.

[Tallison]

15. Sounds like institutionalization to get him stabilized

may be in his best interest, as paternalistic as that sounds, which depends on your (his) value system. What would he have wanted in such a situation when he was more lucid?

I have a close girlfriend who was diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic several years ago and has done incredibly well on clozaril. She considers her lucid self her "normal" self and is very motivated to avoid the psychotic decompensation she's previously experienced. Knowing that, as her friend, I would support short-term institutionalization to get her stabilized should she ever decompensate again.

[AlCzervik]

17. i think so, he needs help and even though he hates my friend and her

family right now it's for the best, we are afraid he's going to kill someone or himself and i really don't think he can control his actions, at first at thought he'd snap out of it until he started progressing further downhill and he actually became violent.