(Feb. 20, 2014) I am the father of a 43-year-old son who suffers with a form of paranoid schizophrenia. In addition to paranoia and delusions, he has the symptoms of anosognosia – lacking awareness that he is ill – and regularly refuses any treatment.
Four years ago, my son – married with three small children – began to exhibit paranoia. His symptoms quickly escalated, deteriorating his relationships with his wife and parents. He went missing with his children on a “joy ride” out of state. This was one of the episodes that facilitated his placement on court-ordered treatment in Massachusetts.
Following his divorce, he moved to Maryland and evaded his treatment plan. In Maryland, where he lives now, because he is not gravely disabled or dangerous, he is not deemed ill enough to get treatment. As a consequence my son is frequently denied hospitalization in Maryland.
How can it be that in one state the law recognizes that my son is mentally ill provides treatment for someone who clearly needs it, while another state lets my son fall into a psychiatric crisis.
When he is not on his meds he gradually deteriorates. Like many parents of someone with severe mental illness, we usually know when he is beginning to deteriorate because he starts quoting the bible, wearing only one color and living out of his car. We watch his mental and physical health deteriorate while we remain helpless to intervene.
When I hear of an episode of violence in the media related to mental illness, I scan the names in the paper, always fearful that it is my son.
Today, lacking treatment, my son is very ill. He is unable to work and facing eviction. He spends his days detached from society, disappearing for weeks at a time and offering no insight to anyone as to what he is thinking. He has been arrested multiple times but still doesn’t qualify for treatment in Maryland.
We have been told that “he just needs to hit rock bottom and he will ask for help.” But how does a person with mental illness know when he hits rock bottom?
FATHER OF A MAN WITH SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS
MARYLAND RESIDENT
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