Thank you for your response. I know that the advent of psychotropic drugs has been a mixed blessing and curse, but I suppose I like to imagine what might have been possible if they'd controlled my mother's symptoms. As it was, during occasional visits, I was never sure she knew who I was. She wasn't diagnosed until she'd been married and had three children, a decade and several states removed from her parents. It was also the era of the schizophrenogenic mother model, and I think my father deliberately kept us at a distance. We had little, if any, relationship with them. In any case, her younger sister also developed schizophrenia, and they had her lobotomized (partially) and cared for her and her children afterwards. I published a memoir about trying to invent a mother from the scant evidence I have. At speaking engagements, I was blown away by the stories I heard from others about family members who suffered. We just don't talk easily about mental illness. That's why it's so important to hear your stories. Thank you for being willing to share.
This just seems so extra... to take a kid away from their parent, take a part of the brain or shock it. I cannot fathom this kind of treatment as servicable and only a few generations ago. I'm just now dialing in on things regarding this illness. So I as well appreciate any personal experiences. Thank you for sharing these!
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with your daughter. My mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia when I was an infant (1953) and institutionalized until her death when I was 13, as was common in the day. I've spent most of my life trying to understand the person and mother she would have been if she'd been able. I wonder what kind of mother she could have been if effective treatments (better than EST and insulin shock therapy) had been available. I'd like to think we could have had a real relationship in that case. Your story is important. Thank you for sharing it.
Thank you for sharing all that is going on. I'm optimistic about the new drug and I'm so glad that your daughter was able to report that the existing drug wasn't working. In my own experience, I've had a heck of a time being able to accurately report that I'm not doing well under a particular drug. It's always taken my family to tell the doctors that I'm not right. I'm sorry our health care system makes it so difficult to access medications. I hope and pray everything works out.
Thank you for your response. I know that the advent of psychotropic drugs has been a mixed blessing and curse, but I suppose I like to imagine what might have been possible if they'd controlled my mother's symptoms. As it was, during occasional visits, I was never sure she knew who I was. She wasn't diagnosed until she'd been married and had three children, a decade and several states removed from her parents. It was also the era of the schizophrenogenic mother model, and I think my father deliberately kept us at a distance. We had little, if any, relationship with them. In any case, her younger sister also developed schizophrenia, and they had her lobotomized (partially) and cared for her and her children afterwards. I published a memoir about trying to invent a mother from the scant evidence I have. At speaking engagements, I was blown away by the stories I heard from others about family members who suffered. We just don't talk easily about mental illness. That's why it's so important to hear your stories. Thank you for being willing to share.
This just seems so extra... to take a kid away from their parent, take a part of the brain or shock it. I cannot fathom this kind of treatment as servicable and only a few generations ago. I'm just now dialing in on things regarding this illness. So I as well appreciate any personal experiences. Thank you for sharing these!
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with your daughter. My mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia when I was an infant (1953) and institutionalized until her death when I was 13, as was common in the day. I've spent most of my life trying to understand the person and mother she would have been if she'd been able. I wonder what kind of mother she could have been if effective treatments (better than EST and insulin shock therapy) had been available. I'd like to think we could have had a real relationship in that case. Your story is important. Thank you for sharing it.
The things medicine has done in the name of progress is a multitude of sins for sure. I'm sorry you lost your mother so horribly. It's heartbreaking.
There are so many good hearted people who just need proper health care and a world of love and kindness would immediately open up.
Shade really suffers, physical attacks by her own mind against herself. It's the most terrifying thing to witness, yet the least understood.
Janice
I'm curious, did you have a relationship with her parents and how did they care for her?
Thank you also for sharing 🙏💕
Thank you for sharing all that is going on. I'm optimistic about the new drug and I'm so glad that your daughter was able to report that the existing drug wasn't working. In my own experience, I've had a heck of a time being able to accurately report that I'm not doing well under a particular drug. It's always taken my family to tell the doctors that I'm not right. I'm sorry our health care system makes it so difficult to access medications. I hope and pray everything works out.
There is always hope, but we still have to keep working on solutions too! Thank you for your well-wishes. Sending the same in return!