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meraki
Casual Contributor

Seeking advice on how to access appropriate support

Hi all,

I'm very new here; I'm reaching out because I have been struggling due to my partners sudden deterioration in his mental health. We are only a few months into what has been an extreme and unexpected change in behavior. He has been experiencing psychosis for about 6 weeks now, along with paranoia,  delusions and thought disorder. He has been on antipsychotics for only 3 days, which is when the Mental Health team gave a working diagnosis of schizophrenia. Obviously it is still early days and I understand this diagnosis could change many times, or it may stay the same. 

Regardless, I feel lost... I feel totally overwhelmed by this situation...my partner is getting the support he needs, but I feel frustrated that none of his doctors have given me advice on what I can do for myself. I would love if anyone could be please give me some advice on navigating the changes in our relationship, and also if anyone knows of any support groups or any other helpful resources I can access in the Brisbane area as I have been unable to find any on my own. Thank you! 

 

 

12 REPLIES 12

Re: Seeking advice on how to access appropriate support

Hi meraki,

Welcome to Sane. It must be be worrying and overwhelming for you at the moment. It is the early morning and many members will not be on the forums at the moment. I am sure that once the forums get busier today you will get some wise advice and support.

Take care,

Marchhare

Forum moderator

Re: Seeking advice on how to access appropriate support

Hi @meraki 

 

Hello and welcome to the forums.

 

The govt changed the way they fund carer support services recently.

 

Wellways is one of the Qld providers that received funding not sure who the other is.

 

https://www.wellways.org/our-services/support-families-friends-and-carers

 

Carers Qld missed out on this funding - not sure what services they provide now 

 

https://carersqld.com.au/support-services/mental-health/

 

This is a helpful resource

 

http://mhr4c.com.au/

 

The carer gateway is the new portal for carers

 

https://www.carergateway.gov.au/

 

Hope these help.

Re: Seeking advice on how to access appropriate support

Thank you so much for taking the time, I will look into all of these ☺️

Re: Seeking advice on how to access appropriate support

How are things going @meraki 

Re: Seeking advice on how to access appropriate support

Thank you for checking in! Honestly, I feel like we just keep repeating the same cycle; drs throw meds at us, promise to provide ongoing support or refer us to people who can... Then weeks go by and we find out there's no space for new clients or our paperwork has been lost etc and we go back to square one. 

My partner has also refused to be anywhere near me for a week now (we're still living together) as he believes that I can control his thoughts and am making him confused as a way of keeping him mentally subdued in order to manipulate and control him. 

This is obviously making things very difficult, trying to convince him otherwise just made him angry and scared, so I'm giving him alot of space, hoping somehow we'll just come through this, but it means that I'm unable to track if he is taking his medication or encourage him to access support. 

Re: Seeking advice on how to access appropriate support

@meraki 

Active phase of Sz = ☹️

When you are the subject of the delusional beliefs = ☹️☹️

This makes it very difficult and asking if he has taken his meds might be seen as further conspiracy.  .

 

Does he have a case worker you can call?

 

Are his parents involved in his care /helpful? 

 

 

 

Re: Seeking advice on how to access appropriate support

We live with his parents, though they don't believe in mental illness or scientific Western medicine. They declined for him to take meds during our last MH admission and took him home against the advice of the hospital as soon as the MH act expired.

 

Our GP also prescribed antipsychotics later and he filled the prescription himself and was willingly taking them without their knowledge (He's 31 yrs).

So I do understand why he is now suspicious of me, as I am the one always there, always taking him to appointments etc and he is receiving opposing information from his family

 

At this point, he has no case worker, only sees psychologists etc when we present to ED as waiting on response from referrals... I could call our GP again? How do you go about accessing a case worker? 

Re: Seeking advice on how to access appropriate support

@meraki 

A case worker is usually allocated by the public health system if a patient is under their care as an outpatient. They are the patient /carer contact person. 

Re: Seeking advice on how to access appropriate support

Hello @meraki ,

 

I am so sorry that you are going through such a hard situation. My husband is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic , so I can understand your troubles. 

I am so angry that your partner's parents are not supportive of both of you! We live with my in laws and they have always been 100% supportive of my husband's condition and have offered us so much help. I really hope your partner's parents are able to educate themselves better about mental illnesses. 

Also, make sure you go to your GP and get a Mental Health plan for yourself. This will give you 10 free sessions with a pyschologist which will really provide you better support in terms of your own mental health. 

My husband has a case worker, which was provided to him since he got discharged in November (however he got readmitted in December, but he still had a caseworker). He is still with the case worker now and its been a HUGE help. The case worker helped me with readmitting my husband the second time and we get weekly appointments with his psychiatrist, case worker and a junior psychiatrist. The case worker will also assist me when she comes back from her leave in Feb to apply for my husband's disability. My husband is still HUGELY struggling, but atleast for now I know that I can ring up the Interim case worker (as Hubby's usual case worker is on leave) in case anything happens.

I dont know why your partner did not get assigned a case worker as it should be part of the discharge plan I believe? Our discharge plan was the Continuing care team (Caseworker), CATT team home visits and referral to PARC (which we ultimately did not do). 

My husband (in his acute phrases) was distrustful of me, accusing me of wanting to harm him and many many other things. I know how hard it is to see the person you love suffer and treat you this way. Let me know if you need someone to talk to, anytime! Lots of hugs and kisses ❤️

 

 

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