Help for my Son

[BARNETT WEISS]

Dear People:
As difficult as this is to open this discussion publicly, I feel that I must as there is always the possibility that one of you who have seen and done so much may be of help.  
I am looking for a contact with anyone who has had significant success in treating multiply hospitalized psychotic and Bipolar persons. By that I mean someone who has worked with such individuals who have subsequently remained out of hospital for at least 5 years and pretty much have insight into what happened to them and are in control of their lives and living fully.

My Son had his first psychotic-manic break at age 17 December of 2001. He has been hospitalized 8 times over the past 5 years with 4 times in a year and a half beginning when he was 17, then a period of some stability remaining on Lamictal for 3 years gradully coming off it under psychiatric supervision using the Caligari method 10% per week decrease remaining off meds for 8 months and all suppliments for the last few months and then beginning to break down becoming more and more manic ending up being hospitalized again in November of 2006 and 3 more times over the past few months at first due to enormous good stress in terms of somethings that he had accomplished and recognition that he received as well as an enormous job offer from the leading person in his field. He has been hospitalized now four times over the past 4 months due primrily to the stupitdity and lack of competence of thoose in charge of these hospitals including St Vincents and Bellevue in New York City. 
 He is coming out this coming week and will be maintained on Abilify and Depakote. HIs diagnosis is Bi-Polar and he really thinks that basically there is nothing wrong with him.  THe perfect description of him is in the title to a book which everyone should get immediately by Xavier Amador, I'm not sick. I don't need help. This book will be required reading for everyone in the field within a few years. The research in it showing the efficacy of this approach for compliance and highly significant reduction of the revolving door cycle for psychotic and other seriously mentally ill persons is undeniably impressive. It is a short book as well. 
My Son is a genius of enormous proportions and his particular genius shows up in his music both compositions and keyboard artistry and improvisation.  We are looking at getting him into Windhorse which is one of the finest of the therapeutic Communities in the world started by Edward Podvoll, MD who was mentored by none other than Harold Searles.  The book describing the work at Windhorse and it's foundation and the background for this kind of therapeutic community coming out of a profound understanding of the psychotic process through the years is Recovering Sanity. With all the work i have done over the years dealing with psychotic patients both privately, publicly in sessions at the Theater in New York,  and in my role as the chief Social worker at a large municipal psychiatric elective admissions ward, I have never come across such clarity in written form and hope for real human down to earth encountering with deeply psychotic patients. It has lead me in a path of
 research toward deeper understanding that I simply didn't even know existed before.  Do you know who John Perceval was? or John Custance, or Henri Michaux or the township of  Geel in Belgium or Asoka of India? None of the over 50 persons I have spoken to in then field some of whom are scholars who have references to history in their work knew any of this though they had heard of some of the names. Mention Eugen Bleuler and Rhineau Switzerland and some ears perk up but they are not sure.  These people are all significant predicessors of Moreno's.  I would bet that he knew about them in depth and may have met Custance or Michaux. Anyway, the book and the journals that it points to of these persons are enormously important in my view and the view of people like Frieda Fromm-Reichman and Searles in whose tradition, Podvoll grew. 

Thanks for your consideration of my request.  I am ever hopeful that we may find a resource that will assist my son in being truly in charge of his life. He is so enormously talented and can have a wonderful life if he recovers himself. 
Blessings all, Bud



Barnett J. Weiss, MA, LCSW
7410 Ridge Blvd 2D
Brooklyn, NY 11209
PREFERRED Contact Budweiss at verizon.net or Cell (917)-751-3395
Home/office: 718-680-4919
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/list_grouptalkweb.org/attachments/20070315/fb097bc3/attachment.html