Tony Mantor: Why Not Me ?
From Diagnosis to Detention: How Schizophrenia Changed Two Lives Forever
04 May 2025
Send us a text Carly, a licensed clinical social worker and mother, shares her 30-year journey navigating her son's schizophrenia diagnosis and the healthcare system's failures that led to his year-long incarceration. • Son diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 17, now 47 years old • Early signs included not wanting to get out of bed, not going to school, and "odd" behavior • Initially had periods of stability while on medication but struggled with consistent treatment • COVID isolation marked a turning point with medication non-compliance and rapid deterioration • Multiple hospitalizations where he was repeatedly released before being stabilized • Baker Act attempts failed, requiring court intervention for involuntary commitment • Currently in jail after physically attacking neighbors, with limited treatment options • Courts cannot order medication or appropriate treatment due to misdemeanor charges • Carly's advice: "We didn't cause it, we can't cure it, we can't control it" • Self-care is crucial for family members – "The best thing we can do for our loved ones is to take care of ourselves" Tell everyone everywhere about Why Not Me The World, the conversations we're having and the inspiration our guests give to everyone everywhere that you are not alone in this world. 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)
Full Episode
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 Mantor. Welcome to Why Not Meet the World? Humanity Over Handcuffs, the Silent Crisis special event. Today, we are joined by Carly, a clinical social worker who is stepping away from her professional role to speak to us as a mother. Carly's child lives with a serious mental illness.
She brings a wealth of personal experience and insight that she will share with us. We really appreciate her taking the time. Thanks for coming on.
I'm happy to be here and I'm glad you're here too. Really important topic and conversation that needs recognition.
If you could, give us a little background on what you do and your journey in what you've been trying to accomplish.
I'm a licensed clinical social worker. I'm retired. My son was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 17. He's now 47 years old. We've had periods of instability and periods of stability. And he's been in jail for over a year now for incidences he caused due to his lack of taking his medication.
When did you first notice something was off with him? I'm curious about the very first moment you realized he was dealing with some personal issues that just needed attention.
When he was in his last year of high school, he had a lot of those symptoms where he didn't want to get out of bed. He didn't want to do anything and or go anywhere and stop going to school. And there was also the other extreme where he was acting a little like silly and goofy and odd, just odd. So I did bring him to a psychiatrist. And they did evaluate him.
And he was originally put in the hospital. And that's when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Somewhere along there was schizoaffective disorder. So that's where he had. He kind of ranges between being depressed and having some of that mania along with symptoms of schizophrenia where he did the paranoia and the delusions and things like that. Hearing voices.
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