I can totally sympathize with the brother and sister that appeard on the show today. My wife was diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder in the 1989. He first psychotic episode happened on December 4 1989 after I had done the groceries. I bought a ham and she thought it was a human heart. Later that month, she began to say that I was not her husband, that I was an imposter. This led to a diagnosis of Capgrass syndrome. She was put on medication by a psychiatrist and her illness was controlled for many years. She led a normal life, we had a child and she held a regular job as a teacher. I could see in the late 90's that symptoms began to reappear, again she did not believe that I was her husband and she started to hear voices. Since she was still on the same medications, her psychiatrist decided to try the newer atypical ones. They did not work. Her life began to turn for the worse. She was in and out of the hospital for years, her psychiatrist could do nothing for her. He then suggested that a stay in psychiatric insitution would be appropriate as she could no longer function at home. It was with a heavy heart that I consented to this. My wife Maryse, then spent the next 18 months in a closed psychiatric hospital that was an hour away from our residence. I will never forget this time.
At the hospital, they stopped all of her meds in order to properly diagnose her, they then started to reintroduce meds to no avail. There was one last ditch medication that they could try, clozapine. She began to respond to this medication and slowly, I could she an improvement. I visited Maryse two, three times a week. We began to have weekends together, but I could see that she was not the same person that I married, IQ tests suggested that she was mentally deficient. In the 25 years that the chief psychiatrist of this institution has been practising, he had never seen a case like hers. Sadly, in June of 2003, Maryse took her life leaving behind a 12 year old son.
I know how the brother and sister feel, I was there. I tried for years to get her the best medical help possible. It was not easy. It is so very sad to see Maryse live with this inhuman mental disease, it took away her dignity. I hope that they find the help that their mother needs but they must also get support from others, be it from family members or from community organizations. This disease affects more that the person that has it, it affects all they are close to the individual. I wish them the very best and may God help them throught this journey.
Imagine hearing voices that don’t really exist, thinking lasers are shooting through your walls or believing that people are coming into your home through electrical outlets. For people with schizophrenia, these types of delusions and paranoia are part of daily life. Mary sees angels and demons and has even believed her husband was a demon in disguise. Then, Ann Marie and Tim would give anything to help their mother. She talks emphatically to people who aren’t there and speaks nonsense to her own children. Watch her erratic behavior captured on camera and find out whether her case is beyond treatment. Plus, two sisters, Melanie and Rachel, want to know if their minds could be ticking time bombs. Talk about the show here.
