Friends, Family & Carers Forum

[Hubby21_Dad23]

Update.

CATT finally came out to visit, realised he is at risk and have taken my son to hospital.

I pray the system can help him.

[Former-Member]

Hello @Hubby21_Dad23

Thinking of you ... take the time for a bit of respite without feeling guilty

Please advocate for your son as an inpatient ... esp if previous treatment not working ... do engage the free legal service if a treatment order is served.

Darcy

[Former-Member]

Checking in @Hubby21_Dad23

[Former-Member]

Hi @Hubby21_Dad23
Checking in to wish you a safe and blessed Christmas.

[Hubby21_Dad23]

Hi @Former-Member,
It has been an eventful few weeks here. I will tell of later. Thanks for following up. Wishing you and Mr Darcy a safe and happy Christmas.

[Former-Member]

Hi @Hubby21_Dad23
Checking in to see how you are doing.

[Hubby21_Dad23]

Hi @Former-Member,

Thanks for following up. Hope you and Mr Darcy had a great Christmas and are doing OK?

We have had lots of things happen since CATT placed our son in APU (Acute Phsychaitric Unit) prior to Christmas. He was in for just over a week when APU had a water pipe burst and had to evacuate everyone. Some went to other hospitals whilst they discharged my son back home. One night later he had a suicide atempt and we called 000. Thankfully he was OK. He was cleared by the toxicologist and moved the next morning from emergency to a short stay area and when we went to visit him the next day he had another suicide attempt in the hospital. I wont put details on here, but it was myself and wife that found him in the cubicle and yelled for help. We had about 10 staff there assisting within seconds. Thankfully he was again saved and OK.

Since APU was still under repair, there was only the high security area they had available at the hospital (SECU), but when my wife and I visited this area, we decided it would be better for our son to stay at home with daily visits from CATT to make sure he was safe.

Things have settled a bit in last week or so, thank goodness.

CATT have been fantastic, but we have now exhausted their ablity to assist any further (unless he attempts again). Fortunately we had him referred to a private phsychiatrist about 5 weeks ago and he has his first appointment next week. We hope to get him rediagnosed after talking with the CATT pshych's we believe there could be some form of Aspergers in there as well. We have also managed to get him to agree to see a physchologist who specialises in Cognative Analytical Therapy. He has had plenty of CBT before, but apparently this new treatment is working well with some.

In between all of that I have arranged to obtain power fo attorney (financial and medical) for my son to sort out his debts since he wont have any income for some time. We are also trying to see if he can get some disability allowance.

It has been a long few weeks, fortunately I have been on leave from work to help my wife, but it has put a huge strain on the family and I have returned to work this week. I am arranging for some help for the rest of my family as well. It has affected everyone and we are all dealing with it in different ways, but need some counselling to ensure everyone is coping well.

We are fortunate that our son is accepting treatment at this stage, as we can only help him if he wants to be helped. It looks like a long road ahead, but "Onward and upward" as they say.

Thanks for letting me vent.

[Former-Member]

@Hubby21_Dad23
I do hope that your son continues to accept treatment and that he will eventually go into remission. I trust too the family can get counseling or whatever help you need, it is all so exhausting at times and often each person deals with things differently things, working things out can take time. Family psych education has been shown to be highly beneficial for both the patient and carer alike and can reduce rates of relapse significantly.

I do hope you and your wife are able to take some time out to show each other tenderness and care.

[River9]

Hi there @Hubby21_Dad23, we haven't met before. I'm River9, one of the Moderators here on the Forums 🙂 

Have just read your recent post about your son and wanted to check in with you. It sounds like it has been a very intense and I would imagine stressful few weeks. 

I'm glad to hear that you felt supported by the CAT team that came and made daily check-ins with your son. It sounds like you and your family have worked hard over the last few weeks at creating a strong support network for your son around his mental health and also other aspects of his life like his finances etc. It is nice to hear that he is receptive to treatment at this stage.

You're back at the work this week - I hope you have had as smooth a transition back as possible. 

Have you managed any time over the past few weeks to look after or do anything for yourself?