My Son's Delusions - How Can I Help

My son is 16 and ever since he lost his virginity a few months ago, he's been having strange delusions. First he thought he raped the girl (which I know for a fact he did not), then he moved on to thinking he's raped every kid we've ever known (which I know he has not). He's worried, sad, freaking out most of the time. He has now decided he probably didn't hurt anyone, but that he might in the future, and he's so upset about it he can't enjoy anything.

But it seems to me that he's just overrun with paranoia and fear, and I'm not sure its even related to the sex. Its almost like he's intent on finding something, anything to freak out about. How can I help him? Inpatient doesn't work, outpatient doesn't work. I need a real solution.

He's on Risperidone for a mood disorder (anger), and he went to a mental hospital a year ago for jumping in front of a bus. When he came out he was 100 times worse than when he went in, because they put him on prozac and that made him even more suicidal. Took me a while to get him stabilized. I am not interested in sending him back to inpatient care. I want to get him some actual help.

But with all that being said, suicidal, angry, he's never been worried/paranoid/scared like he is now. This is something totally new.

Thanks for any advice you can give. I just don't know what to do.

I'm going to try to cover this as much as possible. First off, I'm sorry that your son is going though that, from personal experience, I know it can be rough. I'll give you a little bit of my background. I was put on antidepressants, it gave me an adverse reaction and somehow managed to induce schizophrenia. I had never had a problem like that before. I always been fine. Anyways, the hospital put me on all kinds of stuff and believe that I was psychotic. My husband knew otherwise, he knew the drugs they gave me in the first place caused it. I had convinced myself during that frame of mind that I hurt everyone's babies ( I love babies, I would never in my life hurt one) This only drug me down worse. I eventually weaned myself off of all medication with the help of antivan & seeing a therapist. She was not much help. The main help came from me & my family being supportive, I started going to the gym regularly and staying clean of all drugs or anything that would increase my dopa-mine levels dramatically. I have always heard that exercise can help correct chemicals in the brain & hormones and I believe it does. I think the main thing here is to wean your son off of the medication ( I am no doctor, but it's something to look into) If he never had a problem like this before, I suggest that the medication could be making him worse. Also, caffeine tends to make me feel weird sometimes, so I limit it or drink water to balance it out. The thing is if a person doesn't have an actual problem, medicine can help cause that problem. I would talk to him and see if he was doing any drugs/alcohol when this started occurring. I know when my brother smokes marijuana, it tends to make him weird for a few days and sometimes it can be hard to get yourself out of the state of mind even after the stuff wears off. Another thing I suggest is helping him find a hobby. His mind is clearly wandering to much and a mind that's not busy can open the door for problems. Try getting him involved with people his age, hobbies, music, drawing, coloring, swimming, recreational activities, etc. Hope this helps & good luck with everything!

What is his diagnosis? How much Risperdal is he on?

He was diagnosed with mood disorder, and he's on .5 mg of Risperidal twice a day. He's still struggling with the same issue. We went to the movies last night to watch Spiderman 2, and halfway through we had to leave because he had an anxiety attack due to his delusions. He can't enjoy anything at the moment.

Not all medication affects people like that, it just sounds like he's having a bad reaction to that particular medication. Can you not get him to see a professional and have the medication reviewed? That's your best shot. I've tried 3 different anti-psychotics and this one suits me now but the first few gave me awful side effects. It's all trial and error with medication. When you find one that works it can really make a massive difference.

Also, not all inpatient stays are like that. I had a very positive experience and without a doubt it saved my life.

Hi,
I too am sorry to hear your son is having a hard time right now. I will say that when I'm symptomatic, external stimulus is horrible at feeding the delusions. I took the pages out of a woman's story in the New York Times where she said she is able to cope with her symptoms of psychosis by checking into a hotel and ordering room service for a week while the medication change kicks in. I think I read that article in 2010? She was diagnosed with schizophrenia I think. The article is the smartest advice I've heard.

When I first developed symptoms, navigating through the thoughts is a huge challenge. Everything was a trigger. I did best when I could rest and was surrounded by calm. Eventually, I found things that I liked, that didn't trigger me and made me feel good. (reading historical novels, and journaling) Writing about my experiences grounded me, and those books were just different enough (carriage rides, dirt roads, nature) that I could lose myself in the story and relax. But mostly I needed to rest my brain. It took years before I could watch a movie, not to mention action adventure. I was too sensitive to violence to stand it. I'm not saying your son won't enjoy going to the movie with you. I just didn't like it for a long time.

About the disillusionment of being medicated. Everyone responds differently. But I will say it stings the soul to return to reality, no matter how dark or bad the psychosis is, it is painful to realize what you though was real, is not real.

Your son is really lucky to have such a support network, and I encourage you to share with the mental health providers all the symptoms you are noting. It sounds like the psychosis is still very active. I'm not a doctor, but you want to share all the information with your provider so they can help adjust things accordingly. I can't imagine living a normal life without treatment with psychiatric medication, but not everyone responds well to the meds. There are different views on meds, and with children/teens, there is not as much research and information. These drugs can help or hurt. The pharmacogenetic properties of medications is not fully understood, and until we have more knowledge, providers are shooting in the dark at the symptoms. So telling them if the meds are working is imperative.

Sunny

Here is the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/healt ... ref=health

Hi Txstarmom. I would characterize your son's fears not as delusions but as obsessions. Has he been competently evaluated or treated for obsessive compulsive symptoms?

My diagnosis is dissociative identity disorder. I was diagnosed in my 40's, 3 years ago. A disturbing encounter with someone triggered flashbacks and sent me into a crisis. For about a year I had severe obsessive compulsive symptoms, in hindsight all reflecting the extreme anxiety I was experiencing. Treating the OC symptoms with cognitive therapy (talk therapy not drugs!) helped somewhat, but most of all what helped was getting a correct diagnosis. Having the correct diagnosis enabled me to get the information I needed to normalize and understand and cope with what I was experiencing, and that was what I needed to reduce my anxiety. I am now very nearly back to normal in terms of my functioning, and in some respects I am functioning far better than before. In psychotherapy I have learned many new skills that I put to good use in my interpersonal relations with other people.

Your son is on heavy medications, so he must have a psychiatrist. But does he also have a clinical psychologist helping him?

It must be horrible to know that your son is ill. I was, but I recovered, so there is hope.

He should keep seeing his psychiatrist and keep on his meds whilst his doctor says he should be on them. Get him to see a good clinical psychologist, too.

Slightly left of field is to try him on a good B-group vitamin supplement such as Blackmore's executive stress, subject to his doctor saying that is ok. I have a repeating pattern of recovery after a day or two on these supplements and relapse off them. I think there are multiple genetic defects behind at least a large minority of cases of psychosis. Some of these defects are vitamin responsive in the same way that some known metabolic disorders are vitamin responsive. It is worth a try, I think.

Another thing to consider is food intolerance. The only thing that has come close to working as well as the supplements for me was the elimination diet. He would need to see a good dietician and it should be with his doctor saying it is ok. Gluten, salicilates and amines are three of the many substances in what people regard as healthy foods that people can be food intolerant to e.g. salicilates are high in blueberries and tomatoes whilst amines are high in browned or aged meat and ripe bananas.

I would have written this off as not worth trying before I became ill and even when I was ill. But not now it has helped me so much. Don't right it off without giving it a go. What is the harm if it is run by his doctor first?