My daughter,… the AVID student, the prom princess, the Sac State scholar,… now strapped and confined to a hospital bed after her third bout of jail; a horrific two week imprisonment for a failure-to-appear warrant since I had her arrested for erratic behavior one month ago.
We had thought she was on drugs, but the toxicology report was clear. She’s currently on a 5270 hold.
The medical records are sealed since she isn’t a minor anymore, so all of the facts aren’t disclosed to us. She doesn’t believe she’s mentally ill and refuses any medication.
But we know what we saw the night that “thing” emerged. It wasn’t my daughter. She physically hurt us.
I don’t believe in demonic possession, but I’ve seen scary movies about such things and we were living in horror once she had her first psychotic break.
Now that I think back, she was acting so reckless the past few years. I guess that was her cry for help and it went unrecognized by family and friends. I can never forgive myself for being so blind.
She was attacked the beginning of this year, beaten by four guys, sexually assaulted, and her possessions stolen. A report was filed but has gone unanswered so far. She told one of many social-workers that she had deserved it.
I don’t know if her condition may be related solely to PTSD. I am afraid since she has every symptom of Schizoaffective Disorder, that there is little hope for recovery.
She bit a nurse a few nights back and has no memory of doing so.
She won’t bathe. She stiffens and cries. She’s okay one moment, then she stares you down, judging you. Her eyes turn strange, almost black in color and her face grows pale, sunken…
She is highly defiant and righteous in her opinions. She will argue, chastise, and ask why you want to hurt her. Sadly, she will even tell us to kill her after she’s attempted to hurt herself three times so far.
It makes me sick that one of my co-workers tells me to give-up on her and to live my own life.
The love I feel for my daughter is unconditional. I will not give-up on her as heartbreaking as this is. I just wish that I can find peace to help her and sleep at night.
It’s not an easy situation but the key is the drugs. Taking those pills help most folks. I know it’s tough…even then there’s some problems but every little thing you can do to promote the taking of pills is a good thing! Don’t be too keen…she’ll pick up on that…if it’s psychosis then it’s a hard slog for sure but a lot of us come from dark places!
Don’t fight…be supportive but sneaky if you can. You don’t argue with psychotics you tone it down and do the quiet things. Every little thing you do to get her to take medications is the win…and it needs a few weeks at least to see some joy. It’s not easy but your daughter is worth it. People are such assholes. I’ve been rabidly psychotic and my wonderful family just sheltered me and helped me through it!
I admire you that your in for the long haul. Do what you need to do!
Well if shes sz putting her in jail is not helping. Jails dont treat. Also, having sza isnt the worst thing in the qorld. My dad said once I was treated that it was like I never has sza at all. I can work and finish college and dozens of my friends are supportive of my illness. You a tiny bit sound like you think she is doing this stuff against you and really, if she is at her worst- you guys very well could be scaring her to death. There is hope.
@amygdala: Did you mean to post in this section? This forum is intended for discussions between those diagnosed with SZ or similar afflictions. We do have a parent/caregiver area that you can find here:
You will have to sign up again to post on that side as that portion of the community is on a separate server from this one and they don’t share user databases.
Thank you, Rogueone, for reaching out and being supportive. This illness is six weeks new to us, the family, and as well as herself. No one knew what that was,… stomping around and screeching the first three days her symptoms emerged.
I cannot imaging what it is like to go through, yet alone what she’s going through. It’s hard on those whose families are going through this with them. More tragic are those without any family support.
But today was a breakthrough.
She was transferred to a psych hospital yesterday, and the staff seems supportive, friendly, and helpful. My diagnosis of Schizoaffective Disorder was correct, so I guess Psych in college paid-off. Although she refused to speak with her doctor today, the staff diagnosed her with that particular disorder and SHE FINALLY TOOK MEDS LAST NIGHT!
She doesn’t like the way it makes her feel, but we told her to give it a chance, like anyone would with any illness to heal. She will be released to us soon if she demonstrates that she’s capable of taking care of herself, which we hope so.
Hey, I live around Sac. I am sorry to hear about your daughter. They should have not put her in any kind of jail. None of her actions are personal. When I am psychotic, I have treated some people in ways I could not imagine I did. It is good she is taking meds! They can make all the difference. I hope all goes well especially for a fellow sac area resident.