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What next please?

FrancisContributor11 Oct 2015, 12:00 am AEDT

What next please?

Hi there.
My son is 23 and i am not actually sure of his diagnosis. Past history is ptsd and severe anxiety from serious accident and legal consequences of accident at 18 years old. At 21 began heavy marihijuana use followed by first episode psychosis 2 years ago. Past 2 years is on and off antipsychotics, involuntary hospitilisation, recent voluntary hospitilisation. He has reduced his marijuana use dramatically and for past 3 weeks has been taking meds only because I am handing it to him daily to take. Past few years many offers of help from all services available but he does not utilise ANY services available. He was discharged from private clinic and public system and now we are on our own again. He does not want to reconnect with public services and case worker again. His communication is improving each day but he is isolated from people, spends 24/7 at home and barely talks to us.
If we ask how he is feeling, we barely get an answer and often repeats the question and throws it bavk at us. He is well educated and extremely intelligent and we all find him very challenging to talk to.
What is my next step and how do i present services like head space and other organisations to him? I feel a mentor may be helpful as he has many goals but is stuck on how to move forward. How can i get him involved with other prople do he is not so aline this world?

16 replies

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In response to: What next please?

AlienBP2Senior Contributor11 Oct 2015, 9:26 pm AEDT

Re: What next please?

Jack Russell's a very Energetic; the Parsons Jack Russell has longer legs and was bred for keeping up with horses and going down fox wholes Be Warned they have a " very strong hunting instinct"
They are a big dog in a little dog....
The next dog will be a red retriever perhaps as they love the water....and I swim and kayak ...Wuff wuff Al

In response to: What next please?

FrancisContributor11 Oct 2015, 9:38 pm AEDT

Re: What next please?

Thanks for sharing. It was suggested a while ago to us by his lovely case worker to communicate via texts, letters, emails....whatever works. This is a good idea considering young people communicate this way all the time anyway. So i think its great practice if it works. My son doesnt use technology mych anymore but thanks for reminding me as i will contact a few places and get some brochures to leave for him. Im pleased your daughter has got help. I am reading a book about gut health and its impact on the mind and I share this info in general conversation to my husband whilst my son is lingering about. I noticed he is now making his healthy smoothies again and taking all his nutitionsl supplements to improve his physical health. Well done to us for being creative in our communication and ieven better when it works! Take care and much love to you your family. Xx

In response to: Re: What next please?

JannaSenior Contributor11 Oct 2015, 11:18 pm AEDT

Re: What next please?

Hi,

Not sure if this would be appropriate but if you're considering getting a dog look into minddog.org.au/
"mindDog assists mental health sufferers to procure, train and certify psychiatric service dogs. These dogs assist people with mental health disorders whose ives are often severely compromised by anxiety and
fear. With their mindDog they are able to travel on public transport, access public places and take
part in social activities which have been closed off to them

Janna ❤️

In response to: What next please?

timeandNew Contributor13 Oct 2015, 7:06 pm AEDT

Re: What next please?

Hi Francis,

just thought I'd drop you a line to cover off the mentor angle in your email. My son is 16 and has had a tough year with anxiety and depression. This is the first time we have faced these challenges and it has been a real eye opener to what a large number of families are going through in our society.

I have no mental health qualifications whatsoever however I have been a CEO of an international company and have led a large number of big projects around the world. In addition, I have started a couple of businesses and have sold one aswell. Throughout my career I have mentored a large number of adults. I have seen a lot of people struggle with balancing their jobs, careers, family, friends and themselves. Indeed, I have struggled myself on occassion and have sought out people I trusted to provide me with some perspective, some insights and some ideas.

Given our journey with our son we are becoming a lot more aware of ways in which my family and I can help our own son but also we are discovering how we may also be able to help other families. With this in mind, I would be happy to meet your son if you thought it would help. I could talk him through my career journey, the challenges, what worked and what didn't work. I can also overlay the challenges that everyone faces nowadays to remain mentally healthy in the work environment. Though I have a degree, I don't have any health education. I would be talking to your son as I have been asked to talk to other people's sons regarding how to move forward in their career. I also introduce a number of my mistakes and the things I learnt. Hopefully some wisdom prevails.

Please don't feel obliged to take me up on my offer. I just thought I'd reach out and offer the hand of support. We all need that now and again.

If you would like to talk to me I'm sure we can tee something up. First step is probably replying to this post.

All the very best.

In response to: What next please?

FrancisContributor13 Oct 2015, 11:16 pm AEDT

Re: What next please?

Thank you kindly for your input and generous offer. Today we actually invited a lovely lady into our home for a family dinner with our son to discuss future options. I met her through my workplace, she currently works with youths in our area and in conversation I discovered that she is keen to do mentoring with young adults in the community as there are many services for youths but not much available for the young to mid 20 year olds. It was a great success with our son being very receptive to her assistance and guidance. I really appreciate your kindness and will certainly keep it in mind. It may be very helpful further down the track as my son would like to set up his own business and im sure you could offer him some valuable information with all your expertise.
I hope your son had a good day today and i hope tomorrow is an even better one for the both of you! Take care 🙂

In response to: Re: What next please?

timeandNew Contributor14 Oct 2015, 10:33 am AEDT

Re: What next please?

That's great news. So glad to hear you've moved forward a little. If I can help in the future just let me know.

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