Living in the Community with Schizophrenia?

My brother was diagnosed with paranoid Schizophrenia a few years ago and has been living in a flat independantly. i believe this is because he was taking his medication and obviously had a support worker living across the road. My brother has now stopped taking his medication and is refusing to cooperate with the mental health team. He has also been arrested and has to attend court in a few weeks for minor offences. This to me suggests he is now a danger to himself and others and is not suitable for community living anymore. I feel he should be in residential care or somekind of hospital now. My mum went to see his pyschiatrist etc and they said that he may well be going to prison. they cant put someone with his illness in a normal prison can they?? he needs mental health care. why are they just leaving him to rot? shouldnt someone be attending court to certify that he is mentally ill? and shouldnt he now be taken into care now that he is not taking his medication?

What an awful situation. I have no answers to your question other than to say that I too don't think someone with Schizophrenia should be in a prison cell. I am aware though that mental illness is an all too common reason for ending up in prison and for ending up homeless. One of my best friends worked in the mental health profession and she is very damning of the legal system and its inability to cope with people outside the mainstream of society.

My only suggestion is that you seek a private medical consultation and pay someone to be an advocate for your brother. Sometimes the health service is too over stretched to see the plight of individual cases.

i wish you luck.

sadly theres alot of people with mental health conditions in prison.if hes a serious danger to himself he could be commited.

Get him a lawyer.

The fact that your brother stopped taking his meds is a good indication he is a danger to himself and others. In some states you can get a person committed to a mental health facility through a court order and 3 family signatures. They can put people like your brother in prison. To avoid this, his family and doctor should attend his court hearing and inform the judge of his illness'. Chances are he'll be sent to a mental health facility instead of jail or prison.

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. There are estimates that 50% of the prison population in the US has serious mental illness. It is a considerable black mark against a society that offers prison rather than treatment for people who are ill and require support. If it doesn't touch a note of compassion in others it should at least appeal to their pocketbook. IT is very costly to keep somebody in prison versus supporting them in a residential facility. Unfortunately, there is simply not enough health care and individuals with serious mental illness are rarely able to advocate for themselves. Your brother, who has had some success in the community sounds like a perfect candidate for a residential placement offering some supervision but encouraging as much autonomy as possible. With the opportunity to develop some level of trust with a health care provider, it is likely that your brother could be encouraged to take his medication (a common problem) which will, not always, but often dramatically reduce symptoms. His psychiatrist should make a strong effort to get him placed. His expert testimony can influence the judge who usually has the flexibility to sentence him to alternative placements (if there is one available). Unfortunately with limited resources the concept of "danger to self or others" has taken on a excessivley strict interpretation. Many people who should be placed in mental health care for their own protection can be found homeless and wandering the streets. I wish you the best of luck. I know it is not much help, but you are not alone.