Schizophrenia, my boyfriends mom has it.?!
Question: Him and I have been together 5 years. His mom has this illness. She obsesses over one son and treats my boyfriend like crap. She used to beat him and burn him with cigarettes. But catered to the other son. What about schizophrenia makes this happen? I know that she belives that the older son's spirit is in jeopardy of being taken by the devil and that my bf that is 11 mos younger is fine. But do you feel that having mental illness is an excuse to treat someone that way?
Answers: Him and I have been together 5 years. His mom has this illness. She obsesses over one son and treats my boyfriend like crap. She used to beat him and burn him with cigarettes. But catered to the other son. What about schizophrenia makes this happen? I know that she belives that the older son's spirit is in jeopardy of being taken by the devil and that my bf that is 11 mos younger is fine. But do you feel that having mental illness is an excuse to treat someone that way?
Schizophrenic people develop strange beliefs in their mind which they do genuinely beleive is true. It may seem bizarre to everyone else... but they absolutely 100% beleive in it.
In the case of your boyfriend's mum, she firmly beleived that her older son's spirit may be taken by the devil... i understand that and the need to treat him good and keep him 'pure'... but the younger son? If she felt that he was safe and not in jeopardy... why did that mean she had to abuse him? I dont understand that really. Unless she beleives that it was too late for him and he'd already been taken by the devil but he still deserved to be hurt... hmm...
But, to be honest... its not exactly her fault. She cant help haveing schizophrenia and she cant help that she beleives these silly things. Im sure if she was in a correct state of mind she would never have done it.
Its the fault of the government and their organisations for failing to see this problem and that she was a threat to others. Those children should have been taken away from her. Sad... but true.
Well done to your boyfriend for being ok. Not being able to talk about it though is understandable. It takes a lot of strength to get over something like that especially during childhood. Good luck to you both. x x
its not an excuse to treat someone that way. its a real disease, she really believes these things. those kids should of been taken away from her a long time ago.
people with these disorders can raise a child but someone in her situation is being abusive and scary. social workers should be keeping close tabs on parents with these disorders.
shame on the people who are responsible for your boyfriends mother. they didnt do their job of protecting her and the kids from herself.
No, it's no excuse at all. It's child abuse! Your boyfriend and his older brother were raised under very unusual circumstances, and both of them are going to need professional help dealing with their experiences.
What about schizophrenia makes this happen? It sounds like your boyfriend's mother is having paranoia, delusions and hallucinations. She has a distorted view of reality and is probably hearing voices or seeing things. She may have had a voice, or voices, yelling at her, telling her to do what she did to her sons. She probably believed that she was protecting them in a twisted sort of way. She is living in a very scary world right now... it will be impossible to reason with her.
She needs to be institutionalized ASAP for her own safety and the safety of her sons. It's possible she's already received treatment and was unresponsive, so the system just spit her out. That happens a lot.
If she's never received medical attention, medication could help her. If she was treated before the 1980s, she may never have had access to atypical antipsychotics such as clozapine.
If your boyfriend is still living at home, he needs to leave. It sounds like he's moved out already... which is good. But he should still seek counseling.
The disease is poorly understood and his a wide range of symptoms. One common theory is that schizophrenia is related to disturbed and hyperactive transmission of dopamine in the brain. Schizophrenia is also associated with some structural and functional abnormalities of the brain, but its hard to determine cause and effect.
The origins are partly genetic, so your boyfriend should watch out for early symptoms, but he is just as likely fine. He probably knows that, and it probably scares him.
Good for you, for supporting your boyfriend during this difficult time. I'm sure it means a lot to him that you care so much.
Heres' what I'm guessing, although I know nothing about schizophrenia:
She probably thought your boyfriend was bad. Maybe she thought he had broken stuff, said bad things, or misbehaved, while her other child was a perfect angel and did everything right. With her mental illness, I doubt she realized that what she's doing is wrong. She was trying to make him behave, make him a better child, even if she went about it wrong and he didn't even do anything in the first place.
Your bf needs to deal with this. It is tearing him up on the inside. I am a physic empathic healer. He is hiding the hurt child within himself. Because his mother really is sick but not in the way they think. Schizophrenia shows no partiality or ability to reason. She has latched onto this as an excuse available by the doctors and has convinced herself it is true. But deep down inside she knows she is wrong.
DO NOT force him to discuss it though. But let him know that issues are only buried not resolved unless he chooses to search for that hero within himself and defeat the pain of his past it will have a lasting and overwhelming effect on him. Whether he wants to admit it or not.
Remember just because you ignore or won't admit to something doesn't mean that it is not true or real.