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Schizophrenia, Homelessness, & Disability
Anon-Alabaster
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
One of my problems is htat my concentrations is very bad, so I hope that this all makes sense. I have good times during the day when I can think more clearly, and I tried to write this and edit reread it during those times.
I have been diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder. Since I was young, I would sometimes here voices that weren't there. It has continued always, but it was manageable before and I just thought I had an active imagination like Ally McBeal or JD from Scrubs. It's also always caused me to have concentration problems, but I learned to cover them by picking up on context of what people are saying and by checking to see what I've done or haven't done by checking and rechecking.
But over the past two years due to my doing so poorly after cancer and because I can't hold a job due to this condition, I've been getting worse. I started to see visual hallucinations that try to convince me to kill myself and I have bizarre thoughts that I understand to be bizarre after the fact, but during them, I absolutely believe them. The scariest of these was when I thought that my hands weren't my hands and I was trying to find a way to get rid of them.
The person I'm staying with (and old friend) is giving me two weeks to stay and then I have to get out. His reason for this is that he is manic-depressive and he says that he can't deal with seeing me like this anymore, but I think his real problem is that he has a porn addiction and he isn't able to indulge it without guilt while I am here. In any case, I've stayed on his couch 5 months now, while he has been dealing with both of his problems, and I am thankful to him for his support.
The psychiatrist says that I am a difficult case because the main problems I have are social anxiety, psychosis, suicidal ideation (less without hallucinations telling me to), and my concentration is terrible. The psychosis is being treated, but the drugs that treat poor concentration and anxiety are known to exacerbate schizophrenia. My case worker at MHMR says that there is a program that houses addicts who have been homeless for 3-4 months, so if I can survive that long, I might be able to get in as an exception (not an addict). Also, I have applied for Social Security Disability as my doctor said I should back at the beginning of March, but the earliest that could come back is near the end of June, and most of them get denied during the first round. So I have some possible life lines if I can keep myself together.
Does anyone have any experience being homeless? I am a college graduate that was careful with money until I got cancer, but I'm not able to function well enough to get or keep a job right now and I don't have family or friends who would be willing to take care of me.
I have been diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder. Since I was young, I would sometimes here voices that weren't there. It has continued always, but it was manageable before and I just thought I had an active imagination like Ally McBeal or JD from Scrubs. It's also always caused me to have concentration problems, but I learned to cover them by picking up on context of what people are saying and by checking to see what I've done or haven't done by checking and rechecking.
But over the past two years due to my doing so poorly after cancer and because I can't hold a job due to this condition, I've been getting worse. I started to see visual hallucinations that try to convince me to kill myself and I have bizarre thoughts that I understand to be bizarre after the fact, but during them, I absolutely believe them. The scariest of these was when I thought that my hands weren't my hands and I was trying to find a way to get rid of them.
The person I'm staying with (and old friend) is giving me two weeks to stay and then I have to get out. His reason for this is that he is manic-depressive and he says that he can't deal with seeing me like this anymore, but I think his real problem is that he has a porn addiction and he isn't able to indulge it without guilt while I am here. In any case, I've stayed on his couch 5 months now, while he has been dealing with both of his problems, and I am thankful to him for his support.
The psychiatrist says that I am a difficult case because the main problems I have are social anxiety, psychosis, suicidal ideation (less without hallucinations telling me to), and my concentration is terrible. The psychosis is being treated, but the drugs that treat poor concentration and anxiety are known to exacerbate schizophrenia. My case worker at MHMR says that there is a program that houses addicts who have been homeless for 3-4 months, so if I can survive that long, I might be able to get in as an exception (not an addict). Also, I have applied for Social Security Disability as my doctor said I should back at the beginning of March, but the earliest that could come back is near the end of June, and most of them get denied during the first round. So I have some possible life lines if I can keep myself together.
Does anyone have any experience being homeless? I am a college graduate that was careful with money until I got cancer, but I'm not able to function well enough to get or keep a job right now and I don't have family or friends who would be willing to take care of me.
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I think she gets some medical benefits through the government for her medication, but not really enough. She's getting some help from her parents and staying with them. She tries so hard to hold down part-time jobs... but it's hard for her. She also has severe social anxiety disorder, and appreciates her friends' understanding because even though she needs them she has a lot of trouble seeing them sometimes. I think this has only gotten harder for her as she gets older. She actually spent a good bit of time in a ward in high school, and every so often she still has to go back, but it's rare as long as she takes her medication.
I don't have any direct experience with homelessness, so I can't really answer that. I just wanted to say that I know someone who is going through something similar and has been her whole life, and I know how completely fucking impossible it can seem to get through. It sounds like you're doing everything you can, and are handling things well under the circumstances. Push for every benefit you can because you need them in order to be safe.
You should also be looking at other care options like section 8 housing. Your case worker should be doing these things with you.
So while I'd recommend researching a local homeless shelter and finding out what it takes to get into one, just in case, the goal here should be complete avoidance of homelessness.
To that end, you need to be able to do some research and make some phone calls. Poking around on the net has brought me to http://www.samhsa.gov/ and from there I found the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Treatment Referral Helpline [http://www.samhsa.gov/treatment/natHelpFAQs.aspX] - 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and 1-800-487-4889 (TDD)
Assuming that the FAQ they provided is accurate, these are the people to call. They should get you either connected to or a number for your state mental health facilities. Inform them that you're going to be losing your housing and are currently seeking SS Disability. What you're looking for from them is hopefully access to a Residential Treatment Facility for mental health. What's available most likely depends on where you live and how many budget cuts the state has taken from mental health programs over the past few years.
If at all possible, have someone help you take notes and keep the information straight, as dealing with mental health services can be trying even on a good day.
Also if you have a medical history of this do not despair and think that your SSI/SSD will be rejected the first time, I have two members of my family who got SSD on their first attempt; one for an ankle injury and one for early onset dementia, and that does generally include some kind of back payment to proof of onset which will be a huge help to you.
Becoming homeless is very much not a good idea. It will make your schizophrenia worse and will make it much harder to right this ship once you do get on disability. The good new is that there are a lot of state resources for those in your position.
You seemed to suggest that your symptoms have become more pronounced lately. I am going to assume that this is despite any medication your are taking and that they are preventing you from having basic functionality in your every day life. The normal course of action for a person who is this acutely symptomatic is some form of inpatient therapy.
Large life changing illnesses like cancer can cause a great deal of stress (which which tends to aggravate metal illness) and substantial changes to a persons brain chemistry (meaning they may need to reevaluate their medication). It is not uncommon for people with severe mental illness to have extended psychiatric treatment after finishing their cancer treatment.
The best way to handle this situation that you seem to be in is to go down to the local ER explain your conditions and that you are experiencing suicidal ideation. Then tell the attending physician that you have no ability to function in your current state and that you believe that you need time in a mental hospital to get well.
Once you get into the mental health system in this manner you get kind of a streamlined path through treatment of symptoms and then into a living situation that gets you more help than you would otherwise have if you just tried to get on disability. Hospitals don't really commit people for very long since the 60's when outpatienting was found to be vastly more effective, so don't think that needing inpatient treatment is going to be some kind of life sentence.
That might sound like a scary thing to do. People's impressions of mental health hospitals have little to do with their reality. They are safe places to get help! Not prisons. The goal is to aggressively treat your disorder and then set you up with the right resources and help to start living a full life again. You say that you finished college and have a degree? Then look at this route as a way to get well enough to take advantage of those things.
I understand that where you are right now feels hopeless and that you may not see a clear path out; but if you go and ask for the type of help you need there is process in place to ensure that you get it!
Please post again if you have any questions I really don't want to see someone on the street who could be so much better off.
Man I cannot believe I didn't think of this, but YES DO THIS if you can't find housing, seriously it's a safe place, they will help you, and they will aggressively help you find housing before they release you. Average stay is somewhere between four days and two weeks so again it's not like you're going to be all Girl, Interrupted and not get out for years. Make sure you take some books with you when you go because there probably won't be a ton of entertainment options on the ward, though.
I am told it is also a different experience if you go in voluntarily; I'm not sure how much truth there is to that.
Basically by voluntary stay I mean he went to the ER, told the triaging nurse he had been seriously taking steps toward killing himself and was very concerned that he might harm himself, and they triaged him as a self-admit for a 72 hour hold because he had a plan and had taken steps toward fulfilling that plan.
Before hitting an ER, I would recommend seeing if there is an emergency psych help line or center in your city. They'll be plugged in to the status of any inpatient psych facilities as well as an ER, but you'll be in a position to get the information a little bit more easily through them. Psychiatric Emergency Services is Austin's version of this, and they do function as a crisis line as well. I don't know what part of the country you're in, but if you're in the states and can't find any sort of similar service (which should exist in pretty much any major city), you could probably give them a call as a last resort and at least talk to someone.
One thing to keep in mind is that a crisis line will nine out of ten times advise urgent or immediate care for someone contemplating suicide. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts IN ADDITION to other psychiatric symptoms particularly those that create an altered perception of reality then 911 is probably the best course of action.
You are very much right about the lack of beds in many mental health hospitals. Texas is one of the worst in this regard. But even if the opening poster is only placed on a 72 hour hold the hospital will not discharge him if he is still at risk of self harm, so it takes care of the immediate danger of suicide. Then taking up your advise of a hotline call would be a great next step!
Most people who come to the ER for mental care are not taking medication, so when they do get medicated at the ER their symptoms remit to the point where they can be discharged and at least in theory continue with outpatient treatment. The poster appears, at least the way I read the post, to be in treatment and on medication. When someone like that comes in experiencing a mental crisis there are fewer initial options available for the doctor, as the obvious ones (Antipsychotics) are normally already in use. It is as you said not a guarantee but it does tend to put them at the top of the list.
I think that the big point that I forgot to make in my first post was the benefit of Supported Employment over Disability.
A disability check comes out to about 13,000 a year. If you are looking at disability as a long term solution to financial problems you have to be ready to accept a life of poverty. Getting on disability gives you some additional housing resources, mostly in the form of be able to get into a senior assisted living home without having to meet an age requirement. Mental illness however can prove to be a big hurdle to getting into that type of place, they tend not to take on symptomatic residents.
Supported employment is a way for people who have disabilities to move toward competitive full time employment. For those with mental disabilities or illness it can also function as a way to get assistance in keeping a part time or entry level position. Given that in some states minimum wage is enough that a person can make more than they would on disability it is a better financial setup.
Supported Employment programs also give help finding jobs and then working with employers to ensure that they are adequately able to accommodate any special needs. Being in such a program doesn't remove the ability to get state aid for healthcare or subsidized housing in most cases. The big thing for the poster is in his case is if over time his schizophrenia becomes better managed then there is a real chance at a good life ahead of him.
I'm not sure why in my first post i thought there was something about a college degree, I got kind of in a rush to responded after I read the opening post, but most Supported Employment programs have job training available.
Mental health is still very underfunded and too many people fall through the cracks but there is still a lot of help out there it just takes some work to find it.