CameliaContributor
Dealing with denial
My 24 yr old son was hospitalised in the Mental Health Unit for 3 weeks after I had him committed by the court. He was psychotic and paranoid. He was living away from home and had been taking meth-amphetamines and I knew I had to do something as no-one else was helping him. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, but am not regretting it at all. He has been diagnosed with temporary schizophrenia (well we hope it will be temporary).
He has been home with us for over a month and is on depot medication once a month and that is working well. He is calm and pleasant with some side effects of sedation and the psychosis and paranoia seem to have gone.
My problem is that both my son and husband do not comprehend that my son is unwell. This means that my son has taken up regular cannibis use again, and my husband is angry with him for not getting a job and being independent. The same old patterns of their relationship are rearing their ugly heads and I feel that I'm stuck in the middle trying to mediate between them.
So much so that I reached the point of saying to my husband that if he can't accept his son is undergoing treatment and needs a calm and positive environment, then I'd have to go and find somewhere I can provide that for him.
I have given my husband information about schizophrenia - whether or not he has read it I can't be sure.
My son, believing that he is fine and just wants to get off the meds, refuses to even consider attending any form of counselling or psychology support to help him learn coping skills. He has suffered depression in the past, hasn't had a job for at least 3 years and those that he did have lasted only for a matter of weeks. He has a case worker under his ITO (involuntary treatment order) but they are mainly concerned about the medication and the psychosis - which has abated. Right now he is in a good place, but his marijuana use means that he is doubly sedated - his meds and the dope!
I understand why my husband is so angry - that we are trying to help our son yet he won't help himself by staying clean. My son thinks that we are out of touch with reality and that everyone smokes weed. I just don't know whether I am kidding myself that my son can be helped, or that once a drug addict always a drug addict. But as a mother I feel this is the best chance we may get to help put him on the right track.
I started seeing a psychologist but frankly I don't feel that I am getting many answers. I know there is no particular answer, but I would like to know if anyone else has had a similar experience and found a way to break through the denial at any level.
My greatest fear is that my husband will want to throw him out - again - and that will eventuate in my son return to worse drugs.
