It's a sad and scary story. Clearly he needs help and people need to be protected but I don't think it's as simply as yay he got meds. He will be chemically restrained, will endure horrid side effects, and be put at risk for tardive dyskinesia. Over a period of months or years he will lose drive, motivation, cognitive functioning, the capacity for joy, and much of his humanity. Statistically his life will be shortened by 25 years. He will risk fatal side effects from medications. He will have breakthrough psychosis CAUSED by the meds. He will frequently go off his meds and will be even more psychotic/dangerous because of rebound issues (much worse than his baseline state). He will have a worse prognosis than his unmedicated counterparts who receive different forms of treatment. Again, society needs to be protected, thoughtful pharmacotherapy has its role but these are very difficult and complex issues that can’t be reduced to “just say yes.”

Hey, Liz -

New computer and I hope the old non-anonymous settings are cleared.

I don't remember seeing anything in TTWS recently about loneliness and people who are mentally ill/have mental illness. It's not something that we can brag about like saying that we're "16 years clean and sober" or a "five-year cancer survivor". It's a rough slog and can be very alienating for one's friends.

This is not a "poor me" idea - I really think that people who have disabling mental illness of any magnitude (parity diagnoses, for example) tend to see friends drop away. I know that I don't want to have to explain things over and over again if I have to take time off of work or am not up to being social.

Personally, the people who have stood by me the longest are the people who have known me the longest, starting with my family and a couple of high school and college friends (one of whom is mentally ill himself). I am surprised that my partner hasn't given me the heave-ho, so I must bring some value to the relationship (23 years).

So: isolation and continuing loss of friendships and relationships - is it reasonable to assume that this contributes to a lessening of quality of life for the MI? Does it create an environment conducive for the MI to rely more on medications to feel more "normal"? It's a quandary. Does this validate the 12-step model used by NAMI which was borrowed from AA? That may be a way to break the isolation.

Thought I'd share it with you. Feel free to share as you see fit.

John

Come off it, medication isn't going to fix this guy. He was looking for attention and had to commit a violent act to get it, that just sucks.