Send us a text A mother shares her 18-year journey supporting a son with schizophrenia through mental health system failures, incarceration, and experimental brain surgery. • Colleen Scott's son started showing signs of schizophrenia at age 17, withdrawing socially and exhibiting erratic behavior • A prosecutor advised having her son arrested "to get him in the system" for mental health help, resulting in traumatic incarceration • Laws preventing family commitment, alongside HIPAA restrictions at age 18, create nearly insurmountable barriers for families seeking help • After years of struggle, Colleen secured disability benefits and eventually enrolled her son in an experimental Deep Brain Stimulation trial at Johns Hopkins • The mental health system's integration with the legal system often criminalizes mental illness rather than treating it • Current group home living with court-ordered treatment provides some stability, though interactions with police remain common • Colleen advocates for better training for law enforcement and restoration of family commitment options with proper safeguards • Organizations like the National Schizophrenia and Related Conditions Society (NSSC) offer hope through focused advocacy and lobbying efforts https://tonymantor.com https://Facebook.com/tonymantor https://instagram.com/tonymantor https://twitter.com/tonymantor https://youtube.com/tonymantormusic intro/outro music bed written by T. Wild Why Not Me the World music published by Mantor Music (BMI)
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Welcome to Why Not Me? The World Podcast, hosted by Tony Mantor. Broadcasting from Music City, USA, Nashville, Tennessee. Join us as our guests tell us their stories. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry. Real-life people who will inspire, and show that you are not alone in this world.
Hopefully, you gain more awareness, acceptance, and a better understanding for autism around the world. Hi, I'm Tony Mantua. Welcome to Why Not Me? The World, Humanity Over Handcuffs, The Silent Crisis Special Event.
Today, we're honored to be joined by Colleen Scott, a resilient mother whose son has endured a profoundly challenging journey with schizophrenia, marked by countless obstacles in the pioneering trial brain operation. She's here to offer an in-depth account of her experiences, bringing a wealth of knowledge and perspective that promises to enlighten us all.
We're truly privileged to have her share her story with us. Thanks for coming on. Yeah, well, thanks for having me. Oh, it's my pleasure. I believe you said your son is 35 now. Is that correct? 35, yes. How's he doing now? Is he holding up okay? And what does his daily routines look like?
Today, he's actually in the hospital right now. Suicidal ideation, which is not that common in the 18-year history that he's had with his schizophrenia, which is his diagnosis. His sister, Karen, who is actually a doctor in Michigan as well, has said that, Mom, I've noticed every year around the holidays, which is a pretty common thing, this does happen. But in general, he's...
I think he's considered to be a difficult case or a serious case of schizophrenia. Over the years, I've seen little adjectives hooked on in front of it by various doctors during various hospitalizations, sometimes paranoid schizophrenia, sometimes undifferentiated, things like that.
Okay. Do you see him getting this under control with the doctor's help? What's the overall outlook from the doctors on what his future can look like?
Well, schizophrenia, I think, as an illness, and as far as the public perception of it as an illness, has been damaged by SAMHSA and other federal health agencies by conflating it with this whole recovery paradigm goal that they have, which is nice for people. People who have minor depression or, you know, are going through menopause, perhaps, or who have minor drug addictions.
Not that they're minor, but you know what I mean. They're not about to pass away from overdose every night. But, you know, these things have been combined in these agencies. That is to say, alcoholism and drug addiction, a lot of mental illness, but the problem with schizophrenia, and I suppose some other serious mental illnesses, is... that they are not really curable.
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