My daughter is schitzophrenic. Getting help is difficult and very expensive - and that's if you're willing and able to pay for it. Keeping them medicated when they don't want to be is impossible - and the medication isn't a cure. It just makes the voices a lot quieter - the patient is still mentally ill, although perhaps functional.
Hugs to you. We dealt with two seriously mentally ill family members for years. Fortunately neither killed anyone, but the emotional toll on the families was extensive.
We need better mental health intervention and care much more than we need all the frippery fluff the government now pays for.
I’m so very sorry.
I have known a sociopath and have the scars to prove it. It’s a compelling whirlpool.
My son was diagnosed with this terrible brain disorder in 2006. I wish he had cancer - then he would get understanding and compassion, but alas the ignorance in the world about mental illness is such that the stigma of these illnesses is almost unbearable. (I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir).
I am the director for my state for a program called "Family to Family", conducted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Family to Family is a 12-week intensive education course, taught by trained family members, to educate families with ill loved ones. The program was a life saver for our family, which is why I eventually became a teacher and now the state director. Go here:
If you have not already taken F2F, I would stringly urge you to see if there is a NAMI affiliate in your area that offers the course.
The family member with the disease suffered for years...a genius, funny, charming. He killed too......Himself.