Let me just say this is strickly my opinion........if our loved one chose not to take meds for their mental illness there is nothing we can do...my son all of a sudden decides he no longer needs meds..he is shakey and can't see very well as he is also experiencing thought process that he doesn't want to have....so he decides...'hey these meds suck and they have "bad" side effects'....no no mommmy says do not go off your meds...well who the hell am i....JUST A MOM
he went off now
he is in the hole
for a undeterminate amount of time...for god knows who what cause he is garbled in his letter that i got today...
silver lining in the cloud.....pony behind all the shit????
i wasn't going to see him this weekend...but i had thought about it...
geesh...

Sam,

I totally relate to what you are saying. It is a very common trait for BP's to think they do not need their meds and then they stop- all hell breaks loose. They don't see it or feel it like we do. My daughter is bp and is now in a Juvenile Facility here in Ohio. I pray everyday that she takes her meds. The only way for them to even try to think straight and behave is to be on their meds-forever-period.

But, alas you are right-who are we? Just the moms! And we do know, we just wonder how long it will take till they get it.

I hope your son is ok and that he realizes that being BP's means he must take responsibility for himself and that includes his meds!

~Debra

Yeah, I hope that he is alright Samiam. The sad part is we canNOT make them understand how important these meds are. They will continue to think that the meds don't work, they have "terrible" side effects, and just quit taking em. I wish there was something "we" as their family could do about it.

Best wishes.

Samian ((hugs)))
I have so been there with the meds, and are there now as well. The "I feel normal, so I dont have to take it". IT SUX!!! It affects everyone. Its frustrating. Let it all out. I have felt like screaming this past couple of weeks, I thought I MIGHT need to take meds.

I just wish they could see their world sometimes through our eyes. We are the ones sticking up for them constantly, defending there actions, that if they were on their meds, we wouldnt be doing.

You would think the prison would make him take them, knowing his condition, not shove him in the hole, like thats gonna help a person with a mental illness WITHOUT meds.

Its frustrating!!!!!!!!!!
((hugs)) again, I feel you.

Thanks ya'll for your support...sigh...i get so tired sometimes

Hey Samian,
Im just stopping by to see how your son is doing? Is he doing alot better now?

Thinking of you ((hugs))

My Fiencee Kevin Just got jammed in the hole for no cause for at least a week(yeah right). he is bipolar, they did find that out while he was inside. However, they are doing no med management, and now putting him in there..you can imagine. I wish there was something i could do. It should be illegal to stuff him in a box for nothing, aggrivate the BP(psycosis,anxiety,depression..ect) and not do something about it. when he tried to talk to teh counseler, she just told him he was psychotic and that was the end of it. UGHHHHHHHHHHH
frustrated in MD..wish i could at least get him transered from VA to MD, we are at leat a little better tahn where he is in Nottaway ATM.

hi ravven!!! i wish i could give you some encouraging words but as you can see by most of our post we are all in the same boat with no paddles....******{HUGS}}}}anyway
take care you and your b/f will be in my thoughts
christine

humm kyla just saw your post...my son is still in the hole...he is not being charged with his attempted escape...i guess his lawyer called and raised hell and said someone should have been monitoring him closer on his lithium levels...(that's why he went off he thought he was getting too much..when in all actuality he was getting ready to cycle and got paranoid cause he wasn't getting enough..blah..blah..)
he is out of his cycle and clear right now but the hole is where he will stay til the send him back to SC and then who knows if they will let him out of the hole or keep him in there...but HE"S OK for now

Good morning to all,
What I am about to say isn't to offend anyone but there is 2 sides to it all.
Our son, who is bi-polar, ADHD, is 25 yrs old (in July) had at the age of 17, decided to take himself off of his medication. We've been through the highs and lows, the lies and deceit, violent behavior and paranoid rantings. We've done this since he was 8 yrs. old. Our encouragement to get back on the medication, has been a positive decision in all our lives. But I can tell you from experience that while off the medication, they will tell you one thing when in all actuality is ends up being something completely opposite. I know the CO's sometimes are NOT the greatest but 9 times out of 10, there had to have been something to spark the situation for the inmate to end up in trouble....maybe or maybe not by them, but without the medication they don't always think straight and act out as if it were normal to them when in fact it ends up getting them in trouble.
From a trouble Mother, I have endured a LOT of these situatioins and I know that during these...my son is NOT himself, otherwise he would have handled things differently...being on the medicaiton gives them the ability to think straight.
Sorry to drag this out....just saying I see both angles.
Anyone can PM me if they want to talk.
Lynn:)

Lynn
What you said is so true. Its hard for us, but its hard for them, because as you said, they act out, when they normally wouldnt act out if they when on medication. You put it very well :)

My boyfriend is bi-polar, and did not take the meds while in prison. He has been home for 10 days (without meds) and if has been awful. He leaves in the morning and doesn't come back until after his curfew, always an excuse. He is in his own world, and very difficult to talk to. I don't know what to do. He has an appointment this week with a counselor. I don't know if I can wait that long! Help!

He has an appointment this week with a counselor. I don't know if I can wait that long! Help!

Hi, Pauley....

Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do for him except let him know you care. It's a good sign that he is willing to see a counselor, though.....

For the time being, I suggest you "detach" from the situation as much as possible. You don't deserve to be frazzled over his behavior, when you can't control it.

Strength to you,
Susan

I have been doing a good bit of research lately, but need to ask a question. I know that "sleeping too much" is a symptom, but he has been asleep for close to 20 hours. He will awaken, but falls right back to sleep. Is it common to sleep this long???

sleeping too much...depressed cycle...not sleeping...the manic cycle
sometimes my son would go for days without sleep...then crash and burn and sleep for a whole day..

I have a question. Are there psychologists on-staff or psychiatrists? If someone is not prescribed meds, is that because the "psych" doesn't feel there's a need, or is it the inmate's choice whether they will take the meds? Can they force the inmate to take them? Yeah, I know. Can't make anybody do anything they don't wanna do. I guess before I go back to the inmate, I want to have this cleared-up first. Thanks!

in my son's situatiion ...he was ordered to take his meds and put on displenary action if he refused. he requested protective actions until he could acclamated to his meds. he didn't feel safe.."they" wouldn't do that so he refused to take all meds..nothing ever came of it...he never went to the "hole"...in another prison. they refused to call the doc to get him on meds..said he was acting out for show...this time he wanted his meds..he was in county and wanted to get started before he got to prison..i had to fight to get him meds...the only place that i know they have PSYch docs are in medical facilities..my son was in miami FDC and they had docs "in house"...mostly i think you need to ask the facility how they do it...psych docs are expensive and mostly they(the prisons) don't want to send out the inmate..Just my experience

There's a new program in Kentucky called CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) that basically trains police officers in how to recognize symptoms of mental illnesses to determine whether the individual should go to the hospital or to jail. 31 officers were trained recently in Louisville. The officers were taught, among other things how to de-escalate a situaltion involving someone obviously struggling with those symptoms. There is even a 24/7 hotline they can call to get help identifying symptoms.

Sounds good to me. I have bipolar disorder and when I'm psychotic I need to be in the hospital, not in a restraining chair in the jail where the stress just makes me worse.

As for not taking meds? I hate taking meds. I take a pile of meds twice a day. Part of them are for diabetes. When I look at those pills I ask myself which one of my toes I don't mind getting rid of today. Same thing with bipolar disorder. The questions become, when do I want to go back to jail, when do I want to run out of money and sleep on the streets again, when do I want to give my brain over to hell. So even though I'm tempted to NOT take the meds, the consequences of Not taking them far outway price of taking the pills. It's seems impossible to convince someone who is currently ill (not cycling) what is best. It took me 31 years (started my battle at age 18) to get to this place where it is ALWAYS best to take the pills. I think I've taken every psychotropic med there has ever bee. The most important thing I've learned though is to recognize symptoms as they are beginning instead of waiting until I'm so manic I can't see straight. I know to take more medicine when I'm getting manic and then less when I'm back down. I can only do this because my doctor has learned that he can trust me. And I trust him. That's the best situation. Mutual trust. Not taking meds doesn't help. It always is a crash course into destruction.

A support group always helps me. If it's available on the outside, I highly recommend it. I facilitate 5 meetings a month and I think it helps me more than them. Tried to get a group started under the covering of my church but they won't let me in the jail because I don't live in the right county. Makes sense to me. Keep out someone who understands the illnesses. ???? :confused:

Don't know if this helps or not. Seems like one lousey step at a time.but it is a step.

One other thing. Saw the post about sleeping too much.

Sleeping 20 hours a day could be from depression. It could also be from hypothyroidism. It could be a side effect from medication. It could be from boredom. Many things can contribute.

I started sleeping a lot at one point and asked the pdoc if I could cut back on the meds. He said to see the mdoc. Taking thyroid and feeling much better.

Tell me to shut up if I start talking to much. :angry:

JoAnne

:rolleyes: Let me just say this is strickly my opinion........if our loved one chose not to take meds for their mental illness there is nothing we can do...my son all of a sudden decides he no longer needs meds..he is shakey and can't see very well as he is also experiencing thought process that he doesn't want to have....so he decides...'hey these meds suck and they have "bad" side effects'....no no mommmy says do not go off your meds...well who the hell am i....JUST A MOM
he went off now
he is in the hole
for a undeterminate amount of time...for god knows who what cause he is garbled in his letter that i got today...
silver lining in the cloud.....pony behind all the shit????
i wasn't going to see him this weekend...but i had thought about it...
geesh...Hi Samiam,
So sorry to hear about your son. I'm a therapist with a daughter similarly circumstanced. For what it's worth, newer medications including lamictal and abilify have a more tolerable side effect profile. In addition, if the doctor prescribing knows what they are doing, almost all bipolars experience disabling anxiety and often a benzodiazepine (e.g. ativan, clonipin or xanex) is very helpful to manage manic/hypomanic episodes as well as anxiety. These are also very tolerable and virtually eradicate problems with anger management. You are not alone beloved. My prayers are with. Sending angels.