Five Years Here, So Sad to Still Be Here
Guest
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 379
So very very very true, hopeful.
Well, this year's Christmas sure has been rough, again. I don't think I have fully enjoyed the holiday season since 2010. It was 2011, at age 21, when B started to go downhill. I was with my family but didn't ask about him or bring him up until I saw Dad the day before Christmas Eve. I asked where B was and found out that he was again in the psych hospital.
Apparently, for some reason (I didn't ask and wasn't informed) B did not get discharged from the hospital that he was in earlier in the month to an outpatient 28 day residential program. Instead, he went back to where he had been beforehand to live on the streets. There is a municipal building where all the homeless congregate and "sleep" in that area.
He likely did not sleep at all and succumbed to sleep-deprived and stress-induced psychosis. That is how he wound up involuntarily committed to the local psych hospital.
Dad told me that there were two options for his next steps. One would be to move in with some 52 year old woman B met in the hospital. The other was his probation officer would [finally] request a hearing for the judge to order him into long term treatment. It has only been 2.5 years of an endless cycle of hospitalizations and itinerant living. Heh.
So, on Christmas Eve, I brought the subject up to my aunt, who is very close with Dad. Her son (our cousin), the one who went to five rehabs - the last one being Caron - is on his second or third year of complete sobriety and is doing amazingly well. B has admitted to our cousin that he has been doing synthetics (marijuana? bath salts?) this entire time. B thinks he has "beat the system." Great.
I think we have lost him forever.
Well, this year's Christmas sure has been rough, again. I don't think I have fully enjoyed the holiday season since 2010. It was 2011, at age 21, when B started to go downhill. I was with my family but didn't ask about him or bring him up until I saw Dad the day before Christmas Eve. I asked where B was and found out that he was again in the psych hospital.
Apparently, for some reason (I didn't ask and wasn't informed) B did not get discharged from the hospital that he was in earlier in the month to an outpatient 28 day residential program. Instead, he went back to where he had been beforehand to live on the streets. There is a municipal building where all the homeless congregate and "sleep" in that area.
He likely did not sleep at all and succumbed to sleep-deprived and stress-induced psychosis. That is how he wound up involuntarily committed to the local psych hospital.
Dad told me that there were two options for his next steps. One would be to move in with some 52 year old woman B met in the hospital. The other was his probation officer would [finally] request a hearing for the judge to order him into long term treatment. It has only been 2.5 years of an endless cycle of hospitalizations and itinerant living. Heh.
So, on Christmas Eve, I brought the subject up to my aunt, who is very close with Dad. Her son (our cousin), the one who went to five rehabs - the last one being Caron - is on his second or third year of complete sobriety and is doing amazingly well. B has admitted to our cousin that he has been doing synthetics (marijuana? bath salts?) this entire time. B thinks he has "beat the system." Great.
I think we have lost him forever.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 1,698
Dearest Alterity. I am so sorry to hear that B continues to struggle, but it does sound to me that he is not ready yet. There is really nothing you can do that you haven't already done as has your Father. sending you a giant hug and warm wishes for your peace and your Father's acceptance that he is not to blame and when and if B wants help, you are both there for him.
"O you must wear your rue with difference".
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 1,146
For me, synthetics are an end-game "solution" for an active addict, because synthetics are very damaging to the human body, and don't show up on drug tests. If you get a heroin addict into hospital, the doctors know what to give the addict to mitigate the effects of the heroin. If you get a person on synthetic drugs into hospital, the doctors don't have anything for him/her. No one knows exactly what's in the stuff... some synthetic marijuana contains traces of rat poison and the affects are more analogous to amphetamines than pot -- I like to call it "zombie ice", because it makes them "zombie-out" but their heart-rate goes up and they are sweaty and can't eat or sleep. It can also make psychosis worse.
I'm very sorry to hear this is happening for you. I have experience with an addict using synthetics, and it can be dangerous for both them and the people around them very quickly. I think that he needs to be ordered into long term treatment and I really hope that this is the option the judge chooses for him. In any case, he has to want to quit.
Stay strong.
I'm very sorry to hear this is happening for you. I have experience with an addict using synthetics, and it can be dangerous for both them and the people around them very quickly. I think that he needs to be ordered into long term treatment and I really hope that this is the option the judge chooses for him. In any case, he has to want to quit.
Stay strong.
Guest
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 379
OpheliaKatz,
The risks with synthetics are the highest that can be, for sure. B has been using them on and off for the past 2.5 years whenever he can gain access to them.
Indeed, the doctors don't have information necessary to adequately handle someone who is on them. B has been a perfect example of this kind of patient.
The ultimate problem -- besides B not wanting to change, of course -- has been that the court system he is in does not impose probation violations or other restrictions without hard evidence. If his drug screenings are negative, he continues to be a "free" man.
Our family has tried absolutely everything it could to prevent him from continuing to harm himself, but has hit road blocks at every single turn. Really is very tragic.
The risks with synthetics are the highest that can be, for sure. B has been using them on and off for the past 2.5 years whenever he can gain access to them.
Indeed, the doctors don't have information necessary to adequately handle someone who is on them. B has been a perfect example of this kind of patient.
The ultimate problem -- besides B not wanting to change, of course -- has been that the court system he is in does not impose probation violations or other restrictions without hard evidence. If his drug screenings are negative, he continues to be a "free" man.
Our family has tried absolutely everything it could to prevent him from continuing to harm himself, but has hit road blocks at every single turn. Really is very tragic.
Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 13,560
Oh Alterity. I am so very very very sorry. You are in my heart. PM me if you need a friend.
I cannot imagine your pain right now, but I do know that he is free. Free of the pain that he could never escape in this life.
Huge hugs and prayers my dear friend.
I cannot imagine your pain right now, but I do know that he is free. Free of the pain that he could never escape in this life.
Huge hugs and prayers my dear friend.
Alterity, I am so sorry for your loss. 
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
