I found out the other day from my hubby, that he will never be able to go to a halfway house due to the fact that he is on psych meds. If a person is on psych meds, they will NEVER make "full minimum level"! He needs those psych meds. That's what started all this trouble to begin with. Being out of work, no health insurance and unable to pay for his scripts!!! He is Rapid cycleing bipolar type 2 with psycosis, adhd, ptsd, ocd & borderline personality. Right now he is in the county jail awaiting his sentence hearing. He is very depressed and suicidal and they had to raise 2 of his meds because all he does is write/read letters, look at pictures and cries all the time. He wrote me and told me that he is VERY suicidal, but the only thing that stops him is thinking of me and the boys. UGH!! Just going crazy :argh
HUGS...Keiko

Keiko
((((((((((hugs))))))))))) I feel for you, I know what you are going through.

The same thing has happened with my husband, the reason he has charges was he was undiagnosed schizophrenic. I am in Australia, we have a government rebate system here for people on psychosis meds, do you have that there???? The government approves the medication, you get a number, and you get your prescription at insurance cost. (it works a little different here I believe). I know the cost is high, a packet of 60 risperdone is $245 alone. My husband has 3 a day, so thats not close to a months worth.
When my husband was like that, I called the councellor, actually I screamed at her to do something. They ended up putting him on suicide watch, thank god, but it took me loosing my voice, and being over opinionated on the phone. I told them that I would hold them liable, and even taped the conversation.
I had to go to a high court (supreme court) cause after three months, I couldnt bare the pain he was going through. They finally let him out and put him in a lockdown part in a mental health facility, where I could go daily and visit him, until they got him back on track again.
If you ever want to talk, PM me ok, I am here to listen. I totally understand how you feel, this is a system I have been fighting for over 3 years now. My husband is due to go to trial soon, so maybe we can help each other through this.
I will keep you in my thoughts.

Hi Kyla...
Thank you for sharing with me. Thank you for your caring and understanding post. I think that right now my hubby is in a "psych ward" at the county jail. He tells me about the different people and from what he says, most of them did the same thing he did, went off meds, got hooked on drugs/alcohol or both and got in "trouble". He said there are some guys who are very heavliy medicated. There is one inmate who is only in a room with just a bed and nothing else, no sheets, blankets or anything cause he goes to the bathroom on the floor, eats and rolls around in his own poop and pee. This guy is always banging on the walls and the door. Then his one roommate will flush the toilet and drip a cup in and drink out of it. The roommate is always going through their stuff and taking things, but hubby feels badly for him cause this guy is soooo "out of it". Last week, they had a riot cause someone snitched on some of the inmates in his floor about having drugs. So, the guy who snitched was getting beat up by 6 other guys. They spayed mace everywhere and were on lockdown for 6 days. They have 4 guys per "room" which is only like 5 feet x 9 feet. Two of the guys have to sleep on the floor and the other 2 in bunkbeds. Lucky for my hubby he has a bed. His room is the only one that was a window & it overlooks the area where the woman inmates go out for their "outside" time. So when that happens, all the guys cram into his room and you know "satisfy" themselves, so there is "nasty stuff" all over the room and his bed. Then every other day, they are in "lockdown" for 26 hours stright. At times, they let them out late, that's most of the time. UGH!! Since the riot, he hasn't been able to receive any drawings that the boys make. Before that he was able to, but now nope. I get soooo fustraited cause one moment they can get something and then the next they can't. I never know what I can or can't send due to the whims of the CO's.
About the meds, when he was working it was still over 250.00 month for all his scripts....because he is also diabetic. The healthcare system is messed up over here.
I myself am supposed to be on psych meds, but they cost about 1,200.00/month!! UGH!!
I'm really glad that someone told me about this group. I've been feeling a lot better since joining yesterday. I hope that I will be able to help as much as everyone has been helping me.

HUGS...Keiko

Keiko
My heart goes out to you, what a MESSED UP mental health system they have in the jails there. Its hard enough having a mental illness without THAT going on. There is no compassion, and that is what really sickens me the most.

Its common for people in a mental health ward to wonder off with others belongings. My husband was like yours, he draw pictures all day long, thats all he did. People with a mental illness, I find, are so talented, with there drawings and writings. The world would be such a boring place without them. Anyway, this one man took off we his artwork one day, and my husband draws figure art, that I found rather tasteful. This nurse came up to him (I was there) and beat him in the head with this art, and told him he was dirty and disgusting. Well that was it for me. I went totally off. I told her she was narrow minded, and they had NO treatment for these people what so ever, they sat behind a desk and ingnored these patients all day, only coming near them to medicate them. My husband was rocking back and forth, part of his mental illness, and I told this nurse, that he could be nagging her all day long to stay medicated, but he draws his picture to help him, he was aware of his illness. I complained to the top, and she never worked in the psych ward again.
I used to bring in art work for all the patients, and sit them around, and draw with them, and they had a stereo in the mental health ward, so I would turn it on, and have them all up dancing, and laughing and talking, and found they were just like you or me, beautiful and wonderful individuals. They all thought I was the doctor, I was the ONLY person that would interact with them, other when they had there visitors, if any did.
I think my point is, that people with a mental illness shouldnt be treated like animals, but human beings. I have so many stories I could tell about mental health, the care, the patients I could write a book. My husband still has his bad days, even when he was in the mental health ward. He would talk to his "delusions" and I would tell the staff, that would literally laugh at him. Now, I make him focus on me, look at me, and I tell him there is no on there, and I talk him down through it.
I worry about him going back in the prison system, I dont know what the outcome of his trial will be. But no matter what, I will fight the forensic system as strong as the public system. I even had the forensic part of mental health call me when he was in jail asking me for the number for the CIA that my husband worked for. (My husband is American, but has NEVER worked for the CIA). I told him he needed to go and get a new degree, and call agent Mulder and Scully and hung up in his ear.
They are just so pathetic.

Dear Kyla...
Sorry for taking sooo long to get back to you. We've had company from Japan this past week, so have been busy with them. Also, my sons always seem to keep me hopping. Yesterday, when I wanted to post I didn't get a chance because I fell asleep trying to get my youngets to bed.
I truely understand about the "mental health" system. I've been in different psych wards and they treat you like the scum of the earth. Here in the states, you're maybe in there at most 5 days if you're lucky to have your insurance pay for that long. I've had some truely horrible stays. If you are diagnosed "borderline", they altomatically treat you like you're "trouble" and talk down to you like a child.
The time that I was in the psych ward when I met my hubby, a guy put his hand down my shirt. This was in front of the nurses station too and no one did a thing to help me. When I told Tony (hubby)what this guy did, he got very upset and helped me, but Tony was the one who got shot up with thorazine and the guy who put his hand down my shirt had nothing done to him. Then the same guy cornered me in the little kitchen which was really only a closet that was converted to have a microwave, sink and fridge...etc. Lucky for me, some other guy steped in and helped me. Again the staff didn't do a damn thing to help me!!
Tonight, my hubby called me and told me how crowded it is in there. There are at least 3 to 4 people per cell...which means 2 on bunk beds and 1 or 2 on the floor for sleeping and now there are 6 people sleeping on the floor in the "Day room"!! Talk about OVERCROWDING!!
Next month...the boys are I are going to Canada for a week...so I've been trying to write letters and get cards for my friend to mail for me while I'm away on vacation. Of course I'll be mailing stuff while we're gone, but I know how much mail means to him & I like to try to mail him something every day. Even if it's something printed from off line...like jokes or such. I also send him photos of the boys every few days as I have a digital camera. I think I've sent him about 100 pieces of mail or more since Jan 28th. He has been in jail since then. The guys and CO's always are suprised that he gets so much mail from me. They told him today, boy someone much really like you. I guess I just don't want him to loose hope. He is soooo worried that I won't be here for him in 4 years. With all the stuff that happened in the past 4 years of our relationship. I just know if he is on psych meds, no drinking/drugging and stays away from his "mental" sisters...things go much smoother. He really is a good guy, just lots of issues and he is going to try to work on those while in jail. As well as take as many classes they have to offer on anything and everything to make this a "learning" tool. I keep trying to give him hope, so his will/spirit won't be broke.
We're both nervous about the visit on the 7th. I know he wants to see the boys, but a 20 min non-contact visit, I don't think the boys will understand that, esp our oldest who is only 3 yo.
I felt so bad today, as hubby wanted to talk to him on the phone, but Tony didn't want to. He was just crying. He just misses Daddy so much. But he doesn't want to talk to him on the phone. Sometimes he will talk to him, but most of the time he just says no.
Even with us being seperated, the boys never not saw their dad for his long. I think maybe the most was 2 weeks. We're going on 2 months now since they saw their dad. It just breaks my heart.
Sorry for going and on.

HUGS...Keiko


Keiko
My heart goes out to you, what a MESSED UP mental health system they have in the jails there. Its hard enough having a mental illness without THAT going on. There is no compassion, and that is what really sickens me the most.

Its common for people in a mental health ward to wonder off with others belongings. My husband was like yours, he draw pictures all day long, thats all he did. People with a mental illness, I find, are so talented, with there drawings and writings. The world would be such a boring place without them. Anyway, this one man took off we his artwork one day, and my husband draws figure art, that I found rather tasteful. This nurse came up to him (I was there) and beat him in the head with this art, and told him he was dirty and disgusting. Well that was it for me. I went totally off. I told her she was narrow minded, and they had NO treatment for these people what so ever, they sat behind a desk and ingnored these patients all day, only coming near them to medicate them. My husband was rocking back and forth, part of his mental illness, and I told this nurse, that he could be nagging her all day long to stay medicated, but he draws his picture to help him, he was aware of his illness. I complained to the top, and she never worked in the psych ward again.
I used to bring in art work for all the patients, and sit them around, and draw with them, and they had a stereo in the mental health ward, so I would turn it on, and have them all up dancing, and laughing and talking, and found they were just like you or me, beautiful and wonderful individuals. They all thought I was the doctor, I was the ONLY person that would interact with them, other when they had there visitors, if any did.
I think my point is, that people with a mental illness shouldnt be treated like animals, but human beings. I have so many stories I could tell about mental health, the care, the patients I could write a book. My husband still has his bad days, even when he was in the mental health ward. He would talk to his "delusions" and I would tell the staff, that would literally laugh at him. Now, I make him focus on me, look at me, and I tell him there is no on there, and I talk him down through it.
I worry about him going back in the prison system, I dont know what the outcome of his trial will be. But no matter what, I will fight the forensic system as strong as the public system. I even had the forensic part of mental health call me when he was in jail asking me for the number for the CIA that my husband worked for. (My husband is American, but has NEVER worked for the CIA). I told him he needed to go and get a new degree, and call agent Mulder and Scully and hung up in his ear.
They are just so pathetic.

Hey Keiki
I posted this in another thread here, but can you tell me anything on
"thorazine"
My husband has just been prescribed with 50 mgs a day on that, I will get it for him tomorrow, but he still has to take his risperdone, and a anti depressant, and me knowing nothing about thorazine wanted more info. The internet says its like a sedative or something, Im hoping I dont end up with a zombie of a husband with all the medication that mental health are shoving him on.
Its a worry
Any info on that would be appeciated.
Thanks for sharing your story to :) I think it helps us to talk about it

thorazine:
- Description: Thorazine is in a class of drugs called phenothiazines. It works by changing the actions of chemicals in your brain.
- Phenothiazines (FEE-noe-THYE-a-zeens) are used to treat serious mental and emotional disorders, including schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.
- Antipsychotic

Antipsychotic Medications

Antipsychotic medications have been available since the mid-1950s. They have greatly improved the outlook for individual patients. These medications reduce the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia (http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/schizophrenia/index.htm) and usually allow the patient to function more effectively and appropriately. Antipsychotic drugs are the best treatment now available, but they do not “cure” schizophrenia or ensure that there will be no further psychotic episodes. The choice and dosage of medication can be made only by a qualified physician who is well trained in the medical treatment of mental disorders. The dosage of medication is individualized for each patient, since people may vary a great deal in the amount of drug needed to reduce symptoms without producing troublesome side effects.

The large majority of people with schizophrenia show substantial improvement when treated with antipsychotic drugs. Some patients, however, are not helped very much by the medications and a few do not seem to need them. It is difficult to predict which patients will fall into these two groups and to distinguish them from the large majority of patients who do benefit from treatment with antipsychotic drugs.

A number of new antipsychotic drugs (http://mentalhealth.about.com/library/drugs/blatypical.htm) (the so-called “atypical antipsychotics”) have been introduced since 1990. The first of these, clozapine (Clozaril), has been shown to be more effective than other antipsychotics, although the possibility of severe side effects – in particular, a condition called agranulocytosis (loss of the white blood cells that fight infection) – requires that patients be monitored with blood tests every one or two weeks. Even newer antipsychotic drugs, such as risperidone (Risperdal), aripiprazole (Abilify) and olanzapine (Zyprexa), are safer than the older drugs or clozapine, and they also may be better tolerated. They may or may not treat the illness as well as clozapine, however. Several additional antipsychotics are currently under development (http://mentalhealth.about.com/library/drugs/blatyp-ed.htm).

Antipsychotic drugs are often very effective in treating certain symptoms of schizophrenia, particularly hallucinations and delusions; unfortunately, the drugs may not be as helpful with other symptoms, such as reduced motivation and emotional expressiveness. Indeed, the older antipsychotics (which also went by the name of “neuroleptics”), medicines like haloperidol (Haldol) or chlorpromazine (Thorazine), may even produce side effects that resemble the more difficult to treat symptoms. Often, lowering the dose or switching to a different medicine may reduce these side effects; the newer medicines, including olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel), and risperidone (Risperdal), appear less likely to have this problem. Sometimes when people with schizophrenia become depressed, other symptoms can appear to worsen. The symptoms may improve with the addition of an antidepressant medication.

Patients and families sometimes become worried about the antipsychotic medications used to treat schizophrenia. In addition to concern about side effects, they may worry that such drugs could lead to addiction. However, antipsychotic medications do not produce a “high” (euphoria) or addictive behavior in people who take them. Another misconception about antipsychotic drugs is that they act as a kind of mind control, or a “chemical straitjacket.” Antipsychotic drugs used at the appropriate dosage do not “knock out” people or take away their free will. While these medications can be sedating, and while this effect can be useful when treatment is initiated particularly if an individual is quite agitated, the utility of the drugs is not due to sedation but to their ability to diminish the hallucinations, agitation, confusion, and delusions of a psychotic episode. Thus, antipsychotic medications should eventually help an individual with schizophrenia to deal with the world more rationally.



How Long Should People With Schizophrenia Take Antipsychotic Drugs?

Antipsychotic medications reduce the risk of future psychotic episodes in patients who have recovered from an acute episode. Even with continued drug treatment, some people who have recovered will suffer relapses. Far higher relapse rates are seen when medication is discontinued. In most cases, it would not be accurate to say that continued drug treatment “prevents” relapses; rather, it reduces their intensity and frequency. The treatment of severe psychotic symptoms generally requires higher dosages than those used for maintenance treatment. If symptoms reappear on a lower dosage, a temporary increase in dosage may prevent a full-blown relapse.

Because relapse of illness is more likely when antipsychotic medications are discontinued or taken irregularly, it is very important that people with schizophrenia work with their doctors and family members to adhere to their treatment plan. Adherence to treatment refers to the degree to which patients follow the treatment plans recommended by their doctors. Good adherence involves taking prescribed medication at the correct dose and proper times each day, attending clinic appointments, and/or carefully following other treatment procedures. Treatment adherence is often difficult for people with schizophrenia, but it can be made easier with the help of several strategies and can lead to improved quality of life.

There are a variety of reasons why people with schizophrenia may not adhere to treatment. Patients may not believe they are ill and may deny the need for medication, or they may have such disorganized thinking that they cannot remember to take their daily doses. Family members or friends may not understand schizophrenia and may inappropriately advise the person with schizophrenia to stop treatment when he or she is feeling better. Physicians, who play an important role in helping their patients adhere to treatment, may neglect to ask patients how often they are taking their medications, or may be unwilling to accommodate a patient’s request to change dosages or try a new treatment. Some patients report that side effects of the medications seem worse than the illness itself. Further, substance abuse can interfere with the effectiveness of treatment, leading patients to discontinue medications. When a complicated treatment plan is added to any of these factors, good adherence may become even more challenging. Fortunately, there are many strategies that patients, doctors, and families can use to improve adherence and prevent worsening of the illness. Some antipsychotic medications, including haloperidol (Haldol), fluphenazine (Prolixin), perphenazine (Trilafon) and others, are available in long-acting injectable forms that eliminate the need to take pills every day. A major goal of current research on treatments for schizophrenia is to develop a wider variety of long-acting antipsychotics, especially the newer agents with milder side effects, which can be delivered through injection. Medication calendars or pill boxes labeled with the days of the week can help patients and caregivers know when medications have or have not been taken. Using electronic timers that beep when medications should be taken, or pairing medication taking with routine daily events like meals, can help patients remember and adhere to their dosing schedule. Engaging family members in observing oral medication taking by patients can help ensure adherence. In addition, through a variety of other methods of adherence monitoring, doctors can identify when pill taking is a problem for their patients and can work with them to make adherence easier. It is important to help motivate patients to continue taking their medications properly.



In addition to any of these adherence strategies, patient and family education about schizophrenia, its symptoms, and the medications being prescribed to treat the disease is an important part of the treatment process and helps support the rationale for good adherence.

What About Side Effects?

Antipsychotic drugs, like virtually all medications, have unwanted effects along with their beneficial effects. During the early phases of drug treatment, patients may be troubled by side effects such as drowsiness, restlessness, muscle spasms, tremor, dry mouth, or blurring of vision. Most of these can be corrected by lowering the dosage or can be controlled by other medications. Different patients have different treatment responses and side effects to various antipsychotic drugs. A patient may do better with one drug than another. The long-term side effects of antipsychotic drugs may pose a considerably more serious problem. Tardive dyskinesia (http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/psychopharmacology/a/tardtive.htm) (TD) is a disorder characterized by involuntary movements most often affecting the mouth, lips, and tongue, and sometimes the trunk or other parts of the body such as arms and legs. It occurs in about 15 to 20 percent of patients who have been receiving the older, “typical” antipsychotic drugs for many years, but TD can also develop in patients who have been treated with these drugs for shorter periods of time. In most cases, the symptoms of TD are mild, and the patient may be unaware of the movements. Antipsychotic medications developed in recent years all appear to have a much lower risk of producing TD than the older, traditional antipsychotics. The risk is not zero, however, and they can produce side effects of their own such as weight gain. In addition, if given at too high of a dose, the newer medications may lead to problems such as social withdrawal and symptoms resembling Parkinson’s disease, a disorder that affects movement. Nevertheless, the newer antipsychotics are a significant advance in treatment, and their optimal use in people with schizophrenia is a subject of much current research.

Tony said that the Thorzine has helped with the voices he hears and has "slowed" his mind down a bit...from racing thoughts and such...where he is able to concentrait enough to read books...etc. At first he was a bit tired, but when his got used to them he was fine.

Thanks Keiko so much for that information :)

I hope that it works for him, as he will be taking both thorazine and risperdone. The Risperdone alone makes him tired, he takes that at night, but he still has auditory voices and some fear, so they are adding thorazine in as well. I will let you know how it all works. I think he is hoping to get him off the risperdone eventually. I guess its all trial and error with all pychosis meds. He started off on a low dose of risperdone, that just went higher and higher, so I think instead of giving him the maximum dose, they want to see how he goes.
I tell you, this medication stuff is a worry. Especially when they are under alot of stress (which your husband would be in prison) the medication doesnt take affect as long, and doesnt work the way it should work. My husband also takes Endep (amatripiline) which is an anti depressant. It just makes me worry what all these different drugs are doing to his body.

Also I must add, he has days he wont take his meds, as he hates the feeling that it gives him.
The thing is, how the hell are you supposed to get a person with paranoid schizophrenia to get an injection. I suggested that once to him with his doctor, and he totally freaked out at me.
Its a good idea, but its just hard convincing them that the injection is for there own good.

Hi Kayla...
I used to take risperdone way back when and BOY did it ever make me sleepy. I was only taking 1 mg at the time at that, but after 4 years of being on it, I had to stop as in woman it makes your body think it's in menopause and you stop having your period.
I think that the hard thing is trying to find a the "right" combination of meds for everyone, as everyone's brains/bodies react differently to meds.
My Hubby is finally realizing that his meds are something that he can never stop taking, as everytime he stoped taking them he got into trouble and this time it was BIG BIG trouble.
They might be trying to wean him off of the risperdone while putting him on the thorazine. I know that sometimes they will do that while putting someone a new med, slowly decrease the one med and up the other.

HUGS...Keiko


Thanks Keiko so much for that information :)

I hope that it works for him, as he will be taking both thorazine and risperdone. The Risperdone alone makes him tired, he takes that at night, but he still has auditory voices and some fear, so they are adding thorazine in as well. I will let you know how it all works. I think he is hoping to get him off the risperdone eventually. I guess its all trial and error with all pychosis meds. He started off on a low dose of risperdone, that just went higher and higher, so I think instead of giving him the maximum dose, they want to see how he goes.
I tell you, this medication stuff is a worry. Especially when they are under alot of stress (which your husband would be in prison) the medication doesnt take affect as long, and doesnt work the way it should work. My husband also takes Endep (amatripiline) which is an anti depressant. It just makes me worry what all these different drugs are doing to his body.

Kyla...that's the tough part with meds, it takes about 4 weeks for your body to get used to new ones or when they change your dossage. You can't see a change until you're taking the med for 4 weeks or more. Also most of the "side effects" will go by then, but it's getting to that point that is tough. If at times he's not taking his meds, that will be tough, as most of them need to have be taken consistently to have what they call the "theriputic level".

HUGS...Keiko


Also I must add, he has days he wont take his meds, as he hates the feeling that it gives him.
The thing is, how the hell are you supposed to get a person with paranoid schizophrenia to get an injection. I suggested that once to him with his doctor, and he totally freaked out at me.
Its a good idea, but its just hard convincing them that the injection is for there own good.

Thanks Keiko for all the great advice. :)

no worries :)

HUGS

Keiko,
Just wanted to address the issue of halfway houses in NJ. First of all, please tell your husband not to necessarily believe everything he hears in jail or even when he goes to CRAF [the central reception center for NJ prisons]--men gossip and run rumors that put women to shame [no gender bias, really!!! lol].

Halfway houses in the NJDOC are of two categories--some are specifically for substance abuse treatment and the others are for pre-release [one is supposed to be about 18 months from parole or release before being eligible for halfway house placement althou this is not always the case]. At this time I do not believe any of the houses are staffed with the type of staff that would be needed for those with either a dual diagnosis or strictly mental health disorders--this is a more costly for halfway houses [psychiatrists, RN's and other types of professionals] and therefore they would have to charge more $$. Currently the DOC is re-contracting with all the halfway house vendors throughout NJ; I understand they want at least a few dual programs but I'm not sure about just mental health programs. The issue is also one of stability--staff is trained to manage basic medical problems but are not equipped or staffed to manage mental health crisis [i.e., suicidal ideation, hearing voices, etc...] that may be more likely to occur in a less structured setting like a halfway house. Halfway house staff are not guards or necessarily all clinicans, per se, and there is no backup but to send them to a locale crisis unit or return to the prison. Those with brittle or unstable medical conditions don't see halfway house placement either!!!

We need to do better re: treatment of those w/mental illness so that persons with these disabilities don't end up in prison in the first place but if they do, better resources for them in this environment. Prisons were never really designed to "house" those with acute mental illness but they are now society's warehouse--they have become "stuck" with a problem we [meaning the community at large] have created.
The system is much sicker than any given mentally disabled incarcerated person, that is for sure!!!

This nurse came up to him (I was there) and beat him in the head with this art, and told him he was dirty and disgusting.
You've got to be kidding me??? You witnessed this behavior yourself? You should have immediately filed a complaint. In this country, a nurse will lose her license for that type of behavior. I can't imagine a nurse so horrible as to display this type of deplorable behavior. Was this an RN or a CNA? because an RN is trained through years of nursing school about psych disorders, and how to handle them. Nurses work very very hard to earn a license to practice, and something like this would get it taken away very quick. CNA's on the other hand (nurse's aides) aren't specifically trained in dealing with disease process and treatment, and it's possible that this "nurse" didn't know what she was doing-- just a warm body to help keep the prisoners in check. :pissed:

TrppinAphrodite
First off, I gotta say I love Audrey Hepburn, and breakfast at Tiffanys is my favourite ALL time movie, cause I could so relate to Holly Gollighty :).

The nurse was a RN, she was in charge of the ward that day. I saw worse than that, I saw a RN give a psychiatric patient a chinese burn so bad up her arm that is went black (this was a guy as well) and I went OFF at him, that he said him and I could take it out in court, and I said, yeah, please, lets do that, and they through me out, and through my husband out with medication he never had took before, after a few weeks being in mental health, and said to follow it up in the community.
The way the patients were treated in there was negligent and disgusting. They were left in a backyard to sit and chain smoke and feed off each other. There was no art for them, no therapy, NOTHING. I took art paper, pencils, etc, with me, and got them all gathered around, they thought I was the doctor. I talked to them all like they were human beings, I had them up dancing (they had a stereo there that when visitors came, they let them put on to make out they were doing good for the patients). I got way to close to alot of the patients there, and fought for them, but my hands were tied. Thing was, the staff didnt care, because they didnt have to do there job, they just sat behind there desk all day long, making out they were doing good.
Let me tell you another story while I was there, that I AM following up still.
There was this young guy with bi polar. He went to the desk (thats where they lived) and said, Im going to commit suicide. The staff go, whatever, just leave us alone. He went up about 4 times that day, and said that, no one took time out to talk to him. SO he went in his room, got his sheet, tied it at the back of the room, closed the door, and hung himself. Well alarms went off everywhere. (the ward is in the hospital) Well the paramedics arrived, and the guy was still alive. BUT, in there room, they are not allowed to have power points. So there was nowhere to plug in a cardiac machine. So they are running in the hallways, found one, and buy the time they got back, this guy was dead. You know in the report it said, they had no idea. But I was at the desk when this guy said that, and I tried to talk to this guy as well. They won the case, cause "they had no idea". I have written to my local politicians, and everyone about it, and the cover ups that they allow in there is sickening. I was so glad my husband got out of there alive to be honest with you. I have so many horror stories about mental health, Ive been fighting this system for 3 years now.

Medications are really harmful you should try not to get your husband medicated ..

i am an ex con that was just released. i have mental health issues and went to a halfway house that just started for mentally ill inmates in newark called columbus house thats part of kintock. Being "special needs" will not stop him from having "full min" i know the system inside and out in NJ! Things that would stop him from full min are arson, sex, too many superior court warrants etc.

Just so you know , this thread was started in 2004!