Mental illness questions?
Written on June 24, 2009 – 5:39 pm | by Drug Abuse Help
I am not even sure what I am asking here.
When you first hold them, they become yours. That is how it was the first time I held my daughter 19 years ago. My wife had gone into labor early and I rushed to the hospital from work just in time to hold my baby girl. I never wanted to let her go.
She grew up to be my baby. Although I loved my 2nd daughter just as much, nothing beats holding the first born. She was perfect in every way. She did good in school, sports and everything else she tried. She made cheer leading her Junior and Senior years in high school. Her dream was to become a physical therapist.
When she went into Junior college, her behavior began to change and she started doing strange things. She would leave our car places and begin walking home. She withdrew from her friends and became detached from her little sister. Up to this point they were inseparable. I dismissed it as growing into adult hood. But it was becoming worse.
She became extremely combative and got to the point she was physcially combative toward all of us. Now I began suspecting drug use. After months of this I forced her to see a doctor, and much to my surprise there was no trace of substance abuse whatsoever. After several visits to specialists she was diagosed with "Schizoaffective disorder"
What the hell is Schizoaffective disorder? How did my baby get afflicted with such a disease? To make matters worse, their answer included bombarding her with pills which only make her a very tired girl.And now I feel like I am cuddling with someone who doesn’t even know me.
I have depleted our savings trying to get treatment for her. The money isn’t the issue, I would like to know how to bring back my baby at any cost.
For those of you that are suffering, how do you cope? What was the best treatment for you? What is Schizoaffective disorder? For those caring for someone with a mental illness, how do you cope?
