(Feb. 3, 2014) Dealing with my son’s mental illness has been difficult and heartbreaking. Over the past 24 years I have intervened many times. But if I hadn't been there to help, Steve would be in jail or dead.
At 40-years old, Steve seems more like a child than an adult. Besides suffering with severe mental illness, he also used drugs and the combination was terrible.
His anger and behavior were so out of control he was often picked up by the police and carried to the police station or a local hospital. But he was over 18-years old so his father and I were unable to help him as he refused to believe there was anything wrong. Like many people with mental illness, he was unable to recognize his sickness.
As a result, over the course of his illness he was kicked out of nearly 50 apartments, psychiatric programs and halfway homes. So many people told me to just give up and throw in the towel, to shut Steve out of my life. I never listened to those people and I am thankful that I never lost faith in my son's ability to recover.
Steve's father and I were finally able to convince the court and medical providers that Steve qualified for Arizona’s assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) program. Now he regularly takes his medication and has some insight into his mental illness.
The difference between him before court-ordered treatment and after is like night and day. Before, getting him to take his medicine was one of our biggest problems. We always knew that when he stopped taking his medicine, trouble with drugs and alcohol and behavioral issues would soon follow. AOT helped Steve with both of these issues.
He is smiling again, keeps his anger under control and seems to know that he needs his medicine. We no longer have to convince him to take it.
I don't know what the future will hold for Steve, but for the first time I feel like he has a chance.
Steve's Mother
ARIZONA
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