Tenancy in common with paranoid schizophrenic

Smodlet

OP, are you just looking for a reason to force a sale? Something about this just does not feel right but, if your assessment of the situation is correct, I sincerely hope your flatmate has some real friends.

Feral_Moon

Syh wrote: »

He is 33 and this is his first attack. I was the one who persuaded hi to visit the gp and was there when they spoke. The GP went through his record and stated their was no prior illness. He has been medicated for about a week and has made improvements. My dealings with him have been limited as I have slept elsewhere and been at work. I will spend more time with him on the weekend to get a feel. Hopefully it is too early but I need to have an exit plan just in case.

I'm sorry but there's absolutely no way of diagnosing someone as a paranoid schizophrenic purely from one psychotic episode. And nor can it be done by a GP. He would only get this type of diagnosis, assuming it was even applicable, from a psychiatrist and usually having spent considerable time under observation in a psychiatric unit.

Anything can trigger a psychotic episode in an otherwise mentally healthy person such as stress, anxiety, lack of sleep, recreational drugs etc. It doesn't make them a schizophrenic. And if he's in his 30s and has been mentally well all his life then I'd go as far to say it's extremely unlikely he has suddenly developed schizophrenia, paranoid or otherwise.

sniggings

Smodlet wrote: »

OP, are you just looking for a reason to force a sale? Something about this just does not feel right but, if your assessment of the situation is correct, I sincerely hope your flatmate has some real friends.

It's a very serious condition, the OP should not be made to feel bad about doing what is best for themselves, they are friends not partners.

I knew someone with this condition and it can be very scary to live with, for the person themselves and others around them, this person took their own life, had very bad episodes on a near weekly basis and even when not having an episode was unable to function very well.

The op did not sign up for this, yes they are friends, and can still be friends, but living with this condition is not something the OP has do to still support the friendship.

Looking at this only from a money point of view, the OP is correct is looking at their options as the friend might one day be unable to work/support themselves.

Feral_Moon

I actually feel very sorry for your friend, not that you can actually call yourself a friend judging by your reactions to an isolated episode of being mentally unwell. I hope it never happens to you one day. But statistics say you have a 25% chance of becoming unwell too.

He needs your support and some stability right now, not to be abandoned and have his life thrown into turmoil. Are you seriously trying to get him hospitalised?

Feral_Moon

sniggings wrote: »

It's a very serious condition, the OP should not be made to feel bad about doing what is best for themselves, they are friends not partners.

I knew someone with this condition and it can be very scary to live with, for the person themselves and others around them, this person took their own life, had very bad episodes on a near weekly basis and even when not having an episode was unable to function very well.

The op did not sign up for this, yes they are friends, and can still be friends, but living with this condition is not something the OP has do to still support the friendship.

Looking at this only from a money point of view, the OP is correct is looking at their options as the friend might one day be unable to work/support themselves.

And on the flip side, my son was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his teens. He's now in his 30s and has been stable for more than 10 years whilst holding down a good job, has a great social life and enjoys his hobbies. He leads a normal life.

He is of no danger to anyone whatsoever, even if he were to become ill again, he's never posed a threat to anyone. Schizophrenia is highly misunderstood and wrongly stigmatised due to sensationalist media headlines and ignorance amongst the general population.

sniggings

Feral_Moon wrote: »

And on the flip side, my son was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his teens. He's now in his 30s and has been stable for more than 10 years whilst holding down a good job, has a great social life and enjoys his hobbies. He leads a normal life.

He is of no danger to anyone whatsoever, even if he were to become ill again, he's never posed a threat to anyone. Schizophrenia is highly misunderstood and wrongly stigmatised due to sensationalist media headlines and ignorance amongst the general population.

That's not the flip side as I wasn't suggesting the OP should leave, or that the condition will get worse or dangerous, only consider their options depending on how the condition developed, if it even does.

Asking a question on a forum should not be meet with judgment, as we do not know the people involved.

Yes we can give our opinions based on what we do know, from the OP but to get told he is no friend because he asks questions and is considering his options is unfair and unhelpful.

ArabellaLondon

Feral_Moon wrote: »

And on the flip side, my son was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his teens. He's now in his 30s and has been stable for more than 10 years whilst holding down a good job, has a great social life and enjoys his hobbies. He leads a normal life.

He is of no danger to anyone whatsoever, even if he were to become ill again, he's never posed a threat to anyone. Schizophrenia is highly misunderstood and wrongly stigmatised due to sensationalist media headlines and ignorance amongst the general population.

Indeed.

I feel incredibly sorry for the friend and this is of course the downside of having GP's diagnose mental illness. If this man hasn't been to a psychiatrist, this GP has now started him on a whole course of medications which he perhaps may not even need and will likely now be on for a very long time or have awful withdrawals stopping.

While GP's do very well to diagnose depression and anxiety I am petrified to think a 15 minute appointment may lead to a diagnosis when it could be anything else. How many people had short term stress induced psychosis and have now been on medications for schizophrenia ? The thought of this scares me. All from a 15 minute appointment ? Scary.

I really do hope this friend in question ends up well, I can't think of much worse than long term treatment and it's many side effects for a possible misdiagnosis.

Ptolemyspuzzle

Perhaps rather than dwelling on the negative stories of schizophrenia, you should look to the more positive ones.

I recommend the book "The Centre Cannot Hold: My journey through madness" by Elyn Saks, a paranoid schizophrenic who is now a professor of Law and Psychiatry. You can also google the name for various articles.

Having said all of that, this all sounds incredibly wrong. Being given such an intense label after no hospitalization and by a GP is just ridiculous. Even a psychiatrist can't do that from one "episode". Did they do any other tests? Epilepsy? Blood sugar levels? blood tests for substances (legal or not)?

I think you need to calm down, wait for an outcome and educate yourself. Would you be running to leave if he'd had his legs amputated?

Feral_Moon

ArabellaLondon wrote: »

Indeed.

I feel incredibly sorry for the friend and this is of course the downside of having GP's diagnose mental illness. If this man hasn't been to a psychiatrist, this GP has now started him on a whole course of medications which he perhaps may not even need and will likely now be on for a very long time or have awful withdrawals stopping.

While GP's do very well to diagnose depression and anxiety I am petrified to think a 15 minute appointment may lead to a diagnosis when it could be anything else. How many people had short term stress induced psychosis and have now been on medications for schizophrenia ? The thought of this scares me. All from a 15 minute appointment ? Scary.

I really do hope this friend in question ends up well, I can't think of much worse than long term treatment and it's many side effects for a possible misdiagnosis.

Reading the OP posts further down the thread I don't think the GP has actually diagnosed schizophrenia at all, they simply wouldn't do that. They can't do that. But they are in fact treating this specific episode based upon the symptoms presented with. That's par for the course until or unless further assessments are required.

It appears it's the OP which has suddenly decided that an isolated psychotic episode is grounds for jumping to the wild conclusion the poor guy has "paranoid schizophrenia" which, by the way, is not a term doctors generally use, only the media and ignorant people.

easilydistracted

Sadly loads of people in my family have these kind of illnesses. Most are doing well on medication and have limited relapses. One I am virtually estranged from as they take no responsibility for addressing their issues and underneath the illness they're very hard work anyway.

Can I ask why you are panicking so desperately about the situation? Was the person's attack particularly persistent or severe? Is there anything that makes you think that you will need to resort to forcing a sale when there is nothing to suggest your friend would not be ok about selling? You need to get the dialogue back on track, including that if their behaviour was so scary you are worried about coming home?

You were obviously ok helping them to see the GP so I'm guessing you were still communicating at that point, so what went wrong? The most likely outcome of this scenario is that you'll have many years of living with them feeling well if you give it a chance. You could start my going for a coffee and also trying to be calm yourself.