Can someone please give me any advise for my 20 year old son who has schizophrenia ? He has been diagnosed with it a year now . He is on Meds only because he is court ordered to. He believes that he has no condition and thinks he’s on meds because that is part of his probation . I am very worried once his probation ends he will stop taking his meds and smoke weed again . Any advise ? thank you !
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Hi @dexy
This is a general forum for people diagnosed with schizophrenia and related diseases. There is a family forum here
I hope you can have your questions answered and get your son help.
Take care friend 
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You should check out the family forum here
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@dexy I’d like to encourage you to join our forum for Family and Caregivers that can be found at:
While this is a peer support forum for people with schizophrenia and other closely related psychotic disorders, the Family forum is specifically for people like yourself, who have a loved one they are concerned about.
Also, please let your loved one know about this forum as they may find it helpful.
Best of luck,
Moonbeam
Volunteer Moderator
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Wow! We blasted @dexy with the same message three times. 
@dexy. You might see if your son would be interested in joining this diagnosed side of the forum. You’ll find lots of helpful folks on the family/caregiver side of the forum. 
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Thank you and i wish he would join this site ! He’s in denial , Its so hard as he thinks I’m the bad guy sometimes .
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Thank you so much …
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I will send you a video to help you with this. Try to understand his point of view with as much empathy as you can possibly muster.
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He might be in denial , but once he starts hearing voices or getting delusions and loss of reality he will want his meds then. You can’t remedy it with weed I know that. My experience is Weed makes it 10x worse really, cause it is part hallucinagen and will make you go into breakdowns or episodes and stuff like that.
I would really consider talking to him about that and asking him that. Smoking weed for me has also made me very paranoid too aside from giving me breakdowns n stuff that’s why I gave it up… Just give it a lil’ while. Once he starts going through all that he will want meds or either try to remedy it with weed.
Just give it time and he will accept what he has, and talk to him and give him support
Its strange as he’s on meds and its helping but he insists theres nothing wrong with him and that he’s on meds because he is court ordered to . I’m worried once his probation ends he will stop his meds .
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Well you might have to tell yourself , Hey he has to learn the hard way and go off meds and start gettings symptoms back until he get’s back on them. I have done that before. Thought I was alright without meds then went into a breakdown, then after the breakdowns and voices I just thought Hey I got to stop living like this and get back on meds to get me straight.
Although I did say I didn’t want any medication for Bi-polar or depression because I didn’t want any extra side effects from meds , I only get my aquired shot for sz which is Invega once a month. They put me on that while I was hospitalized one time and after a couple months it started working, so I stayed on it, and that’s my miracle med that I take that keeps all the symptoms away.
Well not all, I still get paranoia from time to time and hear noises and voices that are in my head, but for the most part I’m not having breakdowns anymore like loss of reality scary ones. Those are the ones that will get him to take his meds, when they scare him into doing it
. Get him into a doctor or psychiatrist and have him talk his problems out and be explained that weed doesn’t help szicophrenia it only intensifies it, and he needs the meds so he won’t get his symptoms back
I feel for you. I was diagnosed in 2005, and I still struggle with acceptance of this label. Was he diagnosed schizophrenia or schizoaffective? From my personal past experiences I didn’t want the meds because they made me miserably depressed. The psychosis was actually messing with my cognition and I assumed that the meds were making me dumb. I realized that there was something wrong but something this serious, no way. The doctors caught it early with him it seems, and the sooner it is treated the better the prognosis.
Its important that he talks about wanting to stop his meds with someone, especially a therapist can help. I’ve always had problems with this in the past and sometimes feel like I don’t need to be on medication when I clearly do particularly when I’m feeling better. My therapist and parents make sure to check in with me and when I feel like I dont need meds they talk with me about why and help me research what the medicine actually does. This usually helps with me staying med compliant -
Maybe it will help your son if you have an open conversation with him about why he might feel like going off his meds. Even sometimes validating concerns someone has can go a long way. Staying med compliant is not always easy and supporting him while also helping him see for himself that meds may be a better option could make a difference.
Hope this helps!
You are amazing and bless you for that ! he is seeing a whole team and they tell me the same thing that he is in denial , but i guess your so right , he has to learn the hard way i guess . Only time will tell . Thank you for your advice , i will wait for the day that my son thinks like you Keep well and all the best for you .
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Thank you Jillian ! i wish you well . He was diagnosed with schizophreniform than 6 months later schizophrenia . Meds seem to make him better , just concerned for him that he may decide to go off them after his probation is over , and yes they tell me once caught early the better the prognosis . I am wondering if he needs to be on meds for the rest of his life, but only time will tell i guess . Its extremely hard to digest and that Gd for these sites and Nami . I hope you have a beautiful day , all the best .
Thank you ! He does see a whole care team and a private therapist and they do tell him that and so do i but he gets so angry saying theres nothing wrong with him . My concern is that in 5 months time when his probation is over he will quit seeing any therapist and his meds too . I feel i have a 5 month time period to get him to understand his condition and I’m just praying something will click inside of him and give him some insight . He’s my only Son , and i feel so alone as my husband which is his step dad has no interest in him what so ever and his biological dad is barely in touch with him .
I would get the literature recommended by the Walsh Institute.
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