Schizophrenia - General Discussion
in Psychology & Therapy ·
So, I met my mother-in-law for the first time a few months back... my husband gave me a heads-up right away, though. He basically said, "Look, she’s not exactly mentally sound, just don't take her too seriously." Easy enough, right? But man, being at her place is a trip. She’ll just start rambling about things that have zero connection to what we're actually talking about—like, out of nowhere, she starts telling me all about how her son is in preschool now, how she changes his diapers, feeds him, and so on. It took me a second to realize she was talking about stuff from twenty years ago. And get this: she spends all day cooking food just to toss it straight in the trash. When I finally asked her what was going on and how long it had been like this, she just shrugged and was like, "Oh, forever. I'm sick, and nobody cares!" Apparently, she sees a shrink once a month, gets some pills, and that’s supposedly it—but honestly, looking at her, it’s like those meds aren't doing a damn thing. Then she'll suddenly lock herself in and refuse to open the door, claiming people stole her baby and she hasn't seen him since, but then she follows that up by saying she couldn't care less, before bursting into this uncontrollable, creepy laughter. Anyway, I sent my husband to see a specialist to get a real handle on what's happening, because I can't even begin to describe her behavior; it's like she's from another planet. The doctor says it's schizophrenia and just prescribed her a monthly shot of Haldol, and that's the end of it. Even here in America, if a doctor just drops a diagnosis like "schizophrenia" without any real follow-up or guidance... honestly, I feel like I'm losing my mind just dealing with it all. Has anyone else gone through something like this? Please, give me some advice or something, because I have no idea how to help when the psychiatrists are basically just checked out and acting like they don't give a rip. Peace.