Schizophrenia and forcing meds

E

Exterminate!!!

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I have a brother. Let's call him Chris.
Chris has a mental disease called Paranoid Schizophrenia, which is hereditary from his father. (He's only my half brother, p.s.) This disease causes him to have a conspiracy complex--- blah blah blah. Look it up. Anyway, he's been on and off his medication ever since the disease began to display itself during his Navy tour. As a loving family, we've always tried to help him stick to them, and he tends to stick with it temporarily, especially after a stint in jail a few years ago. The problem is he always slips off again, convincing himself they've done their job, or that he never needed them in the first place. This has recently led to the loss of his wife. My question is: Is it right to keep trying to get him to take his meds no matter how bad he struggles with it? Is it even worth the struggle itself? Is there anything else we can do?
 
As they say," you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. " You can only do so much after that it is up to him to determine his own destiny. Always be there if he wants help but do nothing to MAKE HIM take his meds because he will or will not take them with or without your being around. Good luck.
 
That's basically what we've always done. Even Chris has had enough of us doing our best in that way. I'm just worried he'll reach out to us again for survival and we'll have to say that we won't let him in until he medicates himself again.
 
Well that's all that you can really do, thankfuly he can at least still communicate with you.
 
Paranoid Schizophrenia is very difficult. Particularly if he is prone to strong delusions as well. It is a dangerous and unfortunately protentially fatal to others disease. Was the jail time for violent behavior?

Personally how I reacted would depend on the depth of the disease, he willingness to medicate, how prone he is to delusion and violence and if I'm putting others, like my children, at risk.

If he is slipping off the meds on a regular periodic schedule, he might just be building up a tolerence to them which then lets the paranoia remanifest. You might suggest he see if there is a schedule of substances he could rotate through to try and avoid this.
 
It may be worth the struggle to get him to take his medications if his behaviour levels out. You may want to give him his medication a little early while he is on good behavior. There are some long acting medications out there you just have to check. I would check with a university MD or Pharmacy department to see if there are upcoming drugs soon to be on the market. He may even get into drug trails if the are available. Always check with you phamacy or doctor before starting to give drugs early. Maybe you can stagger the drugs that way he remains covered. You cannot let him make his own decisions regarding the taking of medications. I can see you and your family must really love him. There may be some support groups out there and they are usually a good source of informtion. God bless and good luck!
 
I'm very sorry that your brother is struggling with this disease, exterminate.

His situation sounds very typical of paranoid schizophrenia. Unfortunately you are all stuck between a rock and a hard place I think. There was a period of time following deinstitutionalization when there were quite a few programs available to provide the chronically mentally ill with free support and counseling services. Many of these programs have been starved to death, however you may still be able to find something in the way of a support group for him, as krokah suggested.

Chris will probably never be successful in life without his medication. I understand that it is a struggle, but it sounds like you are probably doing the best thing that you can do right now by providing him with a support network (your family) and trying to keep him on schedule with the medication.
 
I've thought of something else.

If your family has the financial resources you might consider hiring an in-home caretaker for Chris. I'm not sure what the resources are like where you live, but in my city there are quite a few--some that I've known personally.

These people are certified but they are certainly not mental health professionals. Their job is to be available on-call, to provide support, life-skills and routine, and basically anything else that is needed. If Chris were to get in trouble with the law again his caretaker would be an advocate for him, and certainly this would be a person who could help him stay on track with the medication. Basically, it would take some of the pressure off your family and give Chris another support (one who has some experience with the disease).

The prices vary (typically they set their own rates), but it can be fairly expensive.
 
I have some experience with a similar situation. It's almost impossible to get them to take their meds, since it's often interpreted in a paranoid way. Also, there is the secondary problem that one particular drug regime may not work well for that individual, and there are often side effects. So, he can't tailor the medication to his needs if he doesn't take them. Basically, you are fucked.
 
ogdred said:
I've thought of something else.

If your family has the financial resources you might consider hiring an in-home caretaker for Chris. I'm not sure what the resources are like where you live, but in my city there are quite a few--some that I've known personally.

These people are certified but they are certainly not mental health professionals. Their job is to be available on-call, to provide support, life-skills and routine, and basically anything else that is needed. If Chris were to get in trouble with the law again his caretaker would be an advocate for him, and certainly this would be a person who could help him stay on track with the medication. Basically, it would take some of the pressure off your family and give Chris another support (one who has some experience with the disease).

The prices vary (typically they set their own rates), but it can be fairly expensive.
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While i like your idea, ogdred, Chris is still very, very much independent, and would NEVER accept an in home caretaker. He's only 32 and would either (a) get resentful of being baby-sat, or (b) try to pin a conspiracy on them.

See where it backfires?
 
i think a problem would be that by telling him he is getting worse or bad agin may, in his mind, interpret that as the messenger being the bad one. this is a very delicate subject or i should say situation.
 
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