KrishnaSenior Contributor
Daughter catatonic
Well after 20 ECT treatments and new meds, my girl is finally eating, drinking, showering, interacting with staff to have her needs met and communicating verbally with people except me, her mum. I've seen her twice in a year and both times were visits I made to the hospital whilst she was catatonic. I haven't heard her voice for months and has refused phone calls or further visits from me without explanation. Her social worker finally convinced her that communications and support from family was so very important and so she finally agreed to ring me yesterday. I waited waited waited and no call came. My heart is breaking. After all she has been through since her hospitalisation in August, being unable to be there for her as she woke from each general anaesthetic, as she finally opened her eyes, as she finally had tube feeding removed, the list goes on. She is now well enough to attend an intensive rehab hospital but could be months due to the waiting list. Meanwhile she no longer requires the acute care the hospital provides and they don't want to keep her there any longer than necessary. I pray she can make it on her own back in society as she's not very keen about community teams keeping an eye on her. In the past she has skipped town and moved to another state. All I can do is live in hope, from a distance. A constant source of frustration and sadness. Oh the pain of having a child with mental health issues. Although she is now 26, perhaps it's time for me to just let it be.
