Schizophrenia, bipolar, depression all have impacted my family throughout my lifetime.  My older brother had Schizophrenia, my sister and I  suffer with depression and my older son, who is currently in hospital getting treatment, has bipolar with psychosis.  

It’s becoming increasingly apparent that in order to function properly, treatment and care are absolutely necessary on a regular basis.  The last several years have been the worse for me as my son continues his struggle with mental Illness.  Watching him go from jail to psychiatric units has been very difficult for me to witness as his life has grown considerably less stable.  I’m forever grateful to those police officers who bring him to hospital instead of jail.  He needs treatment and it’s taken him more than ten years to accept  the fact that he is in fact,  bipolar.  He doesn’t keep up with meds when he’s released, unfortunately.  He self medicates with alcohol because he was sexually molested by his football coach when he was a young boy in middle school all throughout high school.  Somehow, he doesn’t feel the same side effects with alcohol as with anti psychotic drugs.  I am very supportive of him and only wish he could find a way to live the life he so deserves and hope I live long enough to see him be released from all his struggle and demons.