new carer

Hi @nanna ,

Welcome to the forums! I'm called Hobbit and I am a moderator on these forums.This is a great place to connect with people who can give you some really good advice and support.

It's a hard situation you are in and I feel for you. It's very scary when someone you love has just been given a diagnosis, and you must be feeling very unsure right now. I can say though, that he is in a safe place right now in the hospital, and you are certainly doing the right thing by coming onto forums like these and reaching out for help.

I have included two factsheets here and here that I thought you might find useful.

Also, there are many carer support organisations that can help, if you tell us which state you are in we can provide you with some relevant details.

In the meantime, have a look around these forums, you will find many really caring and supportive people you can talk to here.

And please keep posting, it's important to have a network of support.

Again, welcome!

Hobbit

I don't know forum is more appropriate so i am writing here. For two days now my daughter and i have had to call the police due to my grandsons episodes. We now know that they are pyschotic episodes. Today the police took him to hospital. It was heartbreaking when they put him in handcuffs. We felt that we had no other option. We are both exhausted and drained. I missed work tonight because of how i was feeling. My boss sent me home. He is now home on new medication. We just wait for the next outburst and hope that he doesn't hurt himself or others. My daughter and I have been advised to get our support systems into place, which we will do. I don't know how to face this without it affecting my mental wellbeing. i want to support my daugher and grandchild but just don't know how i can do it and survive mentally. Thanks for the listening ear.

I feel for you. My son was hospitalised with psychosis the night before his 17th birthday just a few months ago. I was very concerned, it was such a shock. He was in hospital for 2.5 weeks, out for 1.5 weeks then back in for 1.5 weeks. Thankfully in his case he has made a very good recovery, it is amazing what the medication can do. He is home with me now and happy and stable on medication. The psychiatrists are saying that if he stays on the medication for a year, he may never have any more MI problems. So try not to panic! And no matter how difficult your journey may be, there is support available. This forum is great and I am also going to see if I can find a group of carers I can meet up with occasionally.

Hi nanna,

I'd like to echo Louise's comments. My son was also hospitalised with first episode psychosis (schizoaffective disorder) last year when he was 17 (in the middle of his HSC). He was in hospital for 5 weeks, out for 2 weeks, then back in for another 5 weeks. My wife and I were so worried that we'd lose our son as he was self harming (both in and out of hospital), and getting worse every day even though he was on different medications. Thankfully, his medication was changed during his second hospital stay and he started to turn the corner. Together with his excellent psychiatrist, my son has made an amazing recovery, and continues to improve every day. We have our son back! So please don't give up hope.

Regards,

Evets