Schizophrenia and BPD - impact
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Hello everyone,
I've been reading through the forum a lot in the last months and it seems many offenders had mental health issues prior to the offending so it looks like this is a risk factor. I saw reports of depression, trauma, autism, ADHD and how this might play a role.
My person aswell has severe mental haelth issues but I didn t really find related posts here this is why I wanted to share our story and also ask if anyone has experience.
My person had several episodes of psychosis and depression with a first onset at the age of 17 (is now 35). He was free of psychotic symptoms for a few years after medication for schizophrenia and lifestyle changes while he has never really seen full recovery from the depression/ mood disorder. He relapsed with psychotic symptoms a few months before the offence. He was living in different countries throughout his adult life and has seen various doctors there. The diagnoses given varied from paranoid Schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder to an assessment for BPD with his current psych.
My person has been arrested last year for communication (vigilantes) and sentenced in the meantime. I have full disclosure and was present at all hearings so I'm rather certain I know the full picture. The offending pattern seems somehow different to what I read here from other users experience.
The week before the offending, he had a change in medication as he claimed that the antipsichotics weren't working still and he was hearing voices. His mood however seemed ok so the antidepressants he also takes weren't changed. He went for a trip and left our home on a Sunday, he seemed pretty ok to me then.
When away he apparently bought marijuana and smoked (which he had not done for several years) - stupid of him...
On the Thursday after he left from home he was contacted by a girl on facebook that didn t have her age stated in her profile but let him know at some point that she was underage (15) . Shortly after, he was contacted by 2 more "girls" and one was suggested to him as a friend through facebook (! imagine!). All these were members of vigilante groups. He was having sexual communications with these 4 vigilantes and escalated this to suggest a meeting on the next day, when they arranged a sting.
His devices were taken and searched, there was no searches for child abuse material, no material found on the devices and no other communication than the one he was charged for. So it looks like he started and escalated sexual offending within around 48 hours.
Now I haven t been with him the days ahead of the offending so I have no good idea about his mental state but he seemed in a pretty good mood - so good I even asked him what is happening. After arrest he was remanded so I only talked to him once on the phone when he was in custody 2 days after the arrest and saw him for maybe 15 minutes in court 3 days after the arrest. On the phone he seemed very positive (irritatingly), in court aswell he seemed out of place and was twitching his head. First time I talked to him after was 15 days on when he called from prison and then he was pretty depressed and suicidal.
Does anybody else have an offending family member with similar mental health issues? What was your experience and how did you proceed with life after?
I've been reading through the forum a lot in the last months and it seems many offenders had mental health issues prior to the offending so it looks like this is a risk factor. I saw reports of depression, trauma, autism, ADHD and how this might play a role.
My person aswell has severe mental haelth issues but I didn t really find related posts here this is why I wanted to share our story and also ask if anyone has experience.
My person had several episodes of psychosis and depression with a first onset at the age of 17 (is now 35). He was free of psychotic symptoms for a few years after medication for schizophrenia and lifestyle changes while he has never really seen full recovery from the depression/ mood disorder. He relapsed with psychotic symptoms a few months before the offence. He was living in different countries throughout his adult life and has seen various doctors there. The diagnoses given varied from paranoid Schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder to an assessment for BPD with his current psych.
My person has been arrested last year for communication (vigilantes) and sentenced in the meantime. I have full disclosure and was present at all hearings so I'm rather certain I know the full picture. The offending pattern seems somehow different to what I read here from other users experience.
The week before the offending, he had a change in medication as he claimed that the antipsichotics weren't working still and he was hearing voices. His mood however seemed ok so the antidepressants he also takes weren't changed. He went for a trip and left our home on a Sunday, he seemed pretty ok to me then.
When away he apparently bought marijuana and smoked (which he had not done for several years) - stupid of him...
On the Thursday after he left from home he was contacted by a girl on facebook that didn t have her age stated in her profile but let him know at some point that she was underage (15) . Shortly after, he was contacted by 2 more "girls" and one was suggested to him as a friend through facebook (! imagine!). All these were members of vigilante groups. He was having sexual communications with these 4 vigilantes and escalated this to suggest a meeting on the next day, when they arranged a sting.
His devices were taken and searched, there was no searches for child abuse material, no material found on the devices and no other communication than the one he was charged for. So it looks like he started and escalated sexual offending within around 48 hours.
Now I haven t been with him the days ahead of the offending so I have no good idea about his mental state but he seemed in a pretty good mood - so good I even asked him what is happening. After arrest he was remanded so I only talked to him once on the phone when he was in custody 2 days after the arrest and saw him for maybe 15 minutes in court 3 days after the arrest. On the phone he seemed very positive (irritatingly), in court aswell he seemed out of place and was twitching his head. First time I talked to him after was 15 days on when he called from prison and then he was pretty depressed and suicidal.
Does anybody else have an offending family member with similar mental health issues? What was your experience and how did you proceed with life after?
