(The names of the people in this story have been changed to protect their privacy.)
When 'Mike' was young, he wasn't like other children. He wouldn't cry or walk, and we had to put him in the pram and push him everywhere. He was also very shy. At school, he didn't do very well and we thought he might have been dyslexic. He'd sometimes run out of the classroom. One school he went to even bought a pinball machine to keep him occupied. We knew that Mike was different from other kids because he couldn't really relate to others. At one stage he had a fascination for a young girl at school, but she didn't want much to do with him, so he tried to burn down her mother's house.
It was when Mike first got into trouble [with the law] that we got his mental health assessed. He had to be assessed before the court case and then they started him on a low dose of medication. He was assessed again when he was in jail and then they increased the amount he was on. Because of his condition, he wasn't safe in a regular jail, so they sent him to a prison hospital in Sydney. That was the only way he could survive. It's heart-breaking when they send him away. I used to go all the way down to see him, but no sooner had I got there than he'd say "you'd better get going now".
Mike has been diagnosed as schizophrenic. I think it's severe. He has suicidal tendencies and has tried to kill himself twice. Once, when he tried to hang himself, my wife found him and cut him down. It was pretty horrifying for her. Mike also tries to cut himself with a knife. He often threatens to do things to himself, so I have to keep the medication locked up. He also gets aggressive and he's assaulted one person.
Even now, Mike won't talk to anyone. He's very shy and can't communicate with people. He tends to think that people are looking at him or picking on him. He also gets romantic ideas about young girls because he thinks he's still young. Mike can't read or write very well, either. He also has an alcohol problem and smokes marijuana, problems which have come on since he's been diagnosed. We kicked him out of home once, but he came back.
Mike's on probation now, so if he does anything wrong he'll go back to jail. I have to give him his medication morning and night and keep a very close eye on him and I also have to remind him of his social responsibilities. I have to bribe him to get his hair cut and things like that, otherwise he'd just live in filth and squalor. He also tends to be very aggressive towards his mother, but not with me, so I need to be around to keep him in check. At the moment I take Mike fortnightly to get his injection because he's under an order to be given his medication. We also have to tell him to clean his room, but if he won't do it then we do and we buy things for Mike. For example, he gets agitated if he doesn't have cigarettes and he probably drinks too much coffee.
My daughter, Lisa, has schizophrenia too. We had to take her to a psychiatrist when she was young because she would jump into the middle of the road, she'd wash her sheets every night with a flower in the water and she'd walk around with a Bible and strange things like that. She also went missing when she was about 16. She was diagnosed when she was about 24. We used to find her doing odd things, like standing and shouting in the middle of an intersection. The police can intervene if a person is in danger, but not if they're doing silly things.
Lisa doesn't do anything these days, although she should be able to work. She used to do volunteer work. Both she and Mike have links with our extended family. The Aboriginal community recognises mental illness and has been accepting of my kids' illnesses, but it can be hard on the rest of the family. One of my other sons gets frightened of Lisa.
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page updated
14 September, 2007
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