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Psychological Intervention

slobake

slobake

resident ... something
Aug 6, 2011
1,904
25,886
Somewhere to the left of "Whoopie"
smowles01.wordpress.com
#1
I have a family member who worries me a lot. He is in his mid 20's and for the last two years he has been getting worse and worse.
He used to be very funny and active, a life of the party kind of guy. Now he sits and stares. If you talk to him he may or may not respond. He talks slowly, has trouble making decisions and just seems out of it. He loses track of where he is. I am almost certain his problem is not drug abuse (trust me I know about these things :bag:) He has had some serious trauma in his life in the last 5 years and I believe it all stems from that. But, I am not an expert.
There is more but I am not looking for an online evaluation from all of us psychological experts. :thumbsup:
He says he is okay, he has had some treatment but doesn't like the meds he has been given. He won't continue with follow up, says he just needs a vacation. Nope.
Some family members want to have an intervention to try and convince him to seek and continue treatment. I am not really sure that is a good idea. My wife wants to have a professional there when we do it. I think that is a great idea. Like any family we have some real opinionated "experts" and they worry me. I want to do what is best for him, he is a good kid and I would like to see him pull out of this.
I know about interventions for addicts but this is a new one on me. Anyone ever do something like this?
 
#3
Wow, good luck with this. I have a lot of people around me that have changed at some part of their life and it was for most of them bipolarity issues. I have a friend who was the most productive composer I have ever come across and he has stopped playing and composing since he was diagnosed with bipolar syndrome. He doesn't take the medication that has been prescribed to him because of the side effects and he's trying natural options that are not working for him as well. Do you think this might sounds like what your relative is going through?

I mean, I cannot bring anything to the table but I agree with you that having a professional at the meeting would give you a better sense of what might be the issue and maybe he can clarify a lot of the questioning you guys are having about this.

Good luck...
 
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#4
Gorn said:
Are you sure? The kids are taking all kinds of pills these days.
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I can never be 100% sure and there is a chance I am wrong. I do have experience with drugs, addiction and recovery. I'm not a pro in that area but I know a lot and a have helped others with recovery.
Hopefully, if we have a professional present they could catch that.
 
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#8
Anyone can speculate on what the cure and/or cause is. Personally I think the person that best knows what's wrong with him is him.

However it's going to take someone that really knows what they're doing to find out. People have a way of protecting their inner selves.

They often want help but won't risk vulnerability and pain.
 
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#10
I think you're on the right track. Family involvement with a pro in the room. Of course, you could just ask the pro what they think about the idea. They might not be willing to get in the middle of everything rather than just serve one person. There are all kinds of HIPAA rules and whatnot that may even prevent them from engaging in a conversation in a professional capacity with others in the room.

So there are a few things to work out, but I think you're on the right track.

You could give him @Joe Nerve 's book too. :D (On gotta finish reading that thing so I can review it.)

But be sure to let him old uncle slo cares about him and would do just about anything for him.
 
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#11
two fingers said:
I think you're on the right track. Family involvement with a pro in the room.

But be sure to let him old uncle slo cares about him and would do just about anything for him.
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Both of these are really important. This situation sounds like something well beyond amateurs, but yet it's important to let him know that you're not 'abandoning' him to the pros.
 
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#13
Tom Lane said:
IMO, Steve, this is a complicated question that neither you, nor we, are able to meaningfully respond to. I very much appreciate your concern. If I were you, I would contact and discuss at length with 2 or 3 professionals to become better educated before I took action.
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We have are working on discussing this with several Pros. Good suggestion.
 
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#14
That's a tough spot to be in. I have two people in my life right now in similar situations. I'm 99.9% certain that drugs and alcohol aren't their problem. Well, with one of them at least...

As I know you already know, there sadly isn't any one size fits all cookie cutter solution. And as much as I hate to say it, I'm not sure there IS a solution. At least not one that can be spelled out on paper. One of the toughest things in the world to do is help someone who doesn't want to be helped. And medical help isn't going to necessarily deliver the needed fix - as clearly it hasn't (he has been medicated, and doesn't want to be).

A few things I'd consider:

First, if he could be convinced to get a complete physical - I think that's of the utmost importance. What you describe happened to my father a several years back. He underwent an extreme personality change that we believed was brought on by life events. He went, as your relative did, from being the smiling life of the party - to an almost completely comatose person, who sat staring blankly, without uttering a word at family functions. It was painful to watch. After several visits with different doctors (he was willing), he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. He got treatment for that, and had a pretty rapid recovery in many ways. His disease hasn't progressed much, either. There are other physical illnesses that can cause the same symptoms, but there's no way to tell unless a thorough physical is done.

All I've got aside from that is to do your best to get him to a good therapist or social worker, and let him know you're right there in his corner should he ever decide to reach out. Beyond that, if it's really troubling you - I hear Al-anon works wonders for people with that sort of thing. They have a lot of answers there for dealing with others who are suffering with addictions and other illnesses. But you know that already, too :).

The rest I'd suggest I'm sure you're already doing.

@two fingers , thanks. I put everything I've got into that book, and I believe it can be helpful to many. They'd have to want to read it though (and do what it says), and the people I know who need it most don't seem the least bit willing. I gave a copy to one of the above mentioned people I'm talking about, and he told me (nicely) I was wasting the copy. He didn't like reading, didn't have the time for it, and wasn't into self help books.
 
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#16
I'm biased but say screw interventions. Honestly. Also, say he was prescribed something like Seroquel. It's given out for a number of reasons. When you start on something like that you are foggy all day for weeks. So, maybe he got prescribed something, and a lot of the affects are related? Can't be sure. But I would say no to interventions.
 

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