My name is Susie Dunham and this is my blog about being a mom and caring for an adult child with schizophrenia. My new book is entitled Beyond Schizophrenia: Michael’s Journey (from Modern History Press) and I hope this site encourages you to check it out. I would love to hear stories of your family’s losses and triumphs over this difficult disease.
Thanks
–Susie Dunham
Thank you, Susan, for a beautifully written book. I am a mother and an RN who appreciates so much the honest, forthright way you wrote this book. The way the mental health community approaches families and the way our privacy legislation limits us is irresponsible and tragic. I was shocked and horrified with our first and last hospital experience. I am vice President of our local NAMI and do book reviews for our affiliate and teach the Family to Family course. Your book will go to the top of my list for families with schizophrenia. Unfortunately, many of us have had to fight for years–13 so far for us–to get respectable, effective care for our family members.
You are immensely lucky indeed that the medications and therapy worked so fast, and that the hospitalizations were voluntary. That has not been our good fortune.
We will never desert our family member, and hope must spring eternal. It is an exhausting climb!
Dear Marcy Rose, Thank you so much for your kind letter which accurately described in one paragraph the challenges parents face who have adult children suffering from severe mental illnesses. I am so pleased that a registered nurse and NAMI member found my work to be of value and helpful to others. I’m also brokenhearted to hear your struggle has gone on for so long, and understand that our family was “lucky” to have a positive outcome so quickly. I thank you for serving as a teacher of the Family to Family course. You already know the difficulties parents experience as they try to understand our dysfunctional mental healthcare system. Sadly, we know that there will be more parents, and that they will be just as helpless as we were at one time. Perhaps our work will make it just a little easier on the next generation of parents who have to fight the same battle. I too serve as a board member of our local affiliate, as treasurer. It’s been my honor to serve NAMI. Thank you once again for your kind response. Sincerely, Susie Dunham
Thank you for your heartfelt commitment and work. I have a question:
Did you son ever have any pathology regarding his teeth browning shortly after a professional cleaning? Do you have resources for labs that do this kind of analysis? Did that get better, worse, or stay the same?