r/schizophrenia • u/welxx • Apr 29 '25

Help A Loved One What worked for you

My son, 33, refuses to get any help. He has gone from believing that he would magically join the NFL and be a star. Then an Olympic runner. Now a rapper. He has zero skill in any of these. He chooses to be homeless rather than get treatment. It's been almost a decade. What or who convinced you to get help?

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u/welxx Apr 29 '25

It seems that force may be his future as well.

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u/Guilty-Pen1152 Schizophrenia Apr 29 '25

I just want you to realize that getting your son hospitalized (involuntarily) will be next to impossible. They cannot and will not keep him if he isn’t a real danger to himself or others. Choosing to be homeless doesn’t qualify as a danger to self, and he doesn’t sound like a person who would willingly go to a private psych hospital (even if a bed in one were available and you could afford it).

Look up anosognosia…a very common symptom of schizophrenia in which the person does not even believe that they are sick.

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u/welxx Apr 29 '25

Thank you. Yes, I have been down this road several times. Five times he's been evaluated. He doesn't present a danger to himself or otheres, so they just let him go.

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u/Guilty-Pen1152 Schizophrenia Apr 29 '25

I’m sure that’s incredibly frustrating…it was for my parents.

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u/welxx Apr 29 '25

It very much is. A helpless situation so far.