Hi everyone. My 19 year old son is currently in a mental hospital (Dual Diag Unit) and appears to be showing significant signs of bipolar disorder. His diagnosis is still in the early stages, but he is showing many of the symptoms and has been for quite sometime, although most recently has taken a nose dive into very serious. He was in an "episode" a few days ago and asked me to take him to a Dr. I did so willingly, not just because of his unusual behavior, but for his pot use and continuing fear of zombies. He has ADD but never needed meds as a child. His fear of zombies began about three years ago, took him to a therapist and it seemed to help. Over the last year he began his relationship with pot. He smokes everyday. About two months ago, his behavior completely changed. He was excessively hyper, depressed, moody, argumentative etc.
As I said he's in the hospital. He is on meds and has seemed to calm down quite a bit. He's gone three days without pot. He's in denial and now thinks there's nothing wrong with him. He refuses to admit that his pot use is habitual. He's angry with me for talking him into a hospital stay (of course the Dr. assessed him and thought he should be evaluated immediately.)
I am so confused and worried he will come home and refuse to take his medications. I am scared to push him away. I found his pot pipes in his room and threw them away. (He got really mad) I don't want him to hate me, but what do I do when he comes home? How in the heck am I supposed to treat him? I have a feeling he will just go off w/ his friends and resume his pot use which will not work with his meds. I am concerned for him as this episode was strange and scary. I don't want to push him away, but I have to do something. Any advice would be appreciated. He isn't really responding to his therapy or group sessions and thinks he doesn't belong there. "I'm not like these people." he keeps saying...
Last edited by upsetinhope; 02-22-2009 at 09:39 PM.
It isn't unusual to be in denial after one is initially diagnosed with bipolar. When I was diagnosed with bipolar 3 years ago, it took me a year to come to terms with my diagnosis. If I were you, I would gently encourage him to take his meds and it may help to explain that they will remove his paranoia as well. Perhaps if he can be convinced of this, he will be med-compliant. Neither is it unusual for people to be in denial when they are in the middle of a manic episode. When our thinking is clouded, we can't reason or think logically. He can't do this either and therefore thinks he doesn't belong with everyone else at the hospital. The same thing was true for me when I experienced my first manic/psychotic episode in 2006. I was in denial, kept telling the doctors nothing was wrong with me and that I didn't need to be hospitalized and even went so far as to insist that they (the doctors) were forcing me to be an unwilling participant in one of "their experiments." Keep telling and showing your son that you love him. This will go a long way in helping him realize that he has people in his life who care about his well-being. Good luck to you both.
__________________
Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
Last edited by dreams in neon; 02-22-2009 at 10:31 PM.
It isn't unusual to be in denial after one is initially diagnosed with bipolar. When I was diagnosed with bipolar 3 years ago, it took me a year to come to terms with my diagnosis. If I were you, I would gently encourage him to take his meds and it may help to explain that they will remove his paranoia as well. Perhaps if he can be convinced of this, he will be med-compliant. Neither is it unusual for people to be in denial when they are in the middle of a manic episode. When our thinking is clouded, we can't reason or think logically. He can't do this either and therefore thinks he doesn't belong with everyone else at the hospital. The same thing was true for me when I experienced my first manic/psychotic episode in 2006. I was in denial, kept telling the doctors nothing was wrong with me and that I didn't need to be hospitalized and even went so far as to insist that they (the doctors) were forcing me to be an unwilling participant in one of "their experiments." Keep telling and showing your son that you love him. This will go a long way in helping him realize that he has people in his life who care about his well-being. Good luck to you both.
Thank you for sharing your story and I wish you the best in your struggle. I didn't know that about the inability to reason with someone who is symptomatic. I thank you for sharing this with me, sounds like very good advice not to push him. My main concern is that he knows he is not alone. While I can't relate to these symptoms, I can relate to anxiety. I am being treated for panic and have been for close to ten years. Mental illness runs in my family. As a matter of fact every one in my family has some disorder or another. (We're all a mess) but my son is the worst I've ever seen. I will be gentle with him and hope that the meds work and make him feel better. If they make him feel better, I would think he would become a willing participant, in time anyway. Thanks again for sharing and good luck.
I wanted to add that it may take some time before his meds start to work. When I experienced my manic/psychotic episode 3 years ago, it took 3.5 weeks before my mania, voices, delusions and paranoia went away. Keep in mind though that even if he is on meds, he will still be symptomatic, but the meds will help reduce the severity of his symptoms. Meds will keep his moods level for the most part so that he doesn't escalate into mania or sink into depression. Hope this helps! If you have any other questions, do not hesitate to ask.
__________________
Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
