Against Medical Advice - Fighting for Answers

Against Medical Advice.

It’s been two years since this happened. Two years ago he was discharged against medical advice,

The only thing bad about mental health is the way we treat those who have mental illness.

David was discharged from the facility in another state because the insurance people who create the Certificate of Need decided that he wasn’t making any progress and needed to go home.

This week, he will be discharged from a different facility. Not because of the Certificate of Need. But because the facility says he doesn’t need support and should be sent home. How can David continue to see the successes he has seen in care if he comes home to no support? Even David recognizes that he needs support.

I don’t understand how so few can over power the recommendations of so many doctors.

Bad Parent

I am a bad parent. It’s a title my wife and I wear with honor.

What makes us bad parents? We are fighting for the 24/7 supports that 3/4 medical professionals say he needs. The people who provide said supports and the funding to pay for them have chosen to listen to the one psychologist who says he doesn’t need support. It’s not easy for us to fight to keep OUR SON in care. But we will fight for the care he needs.

So we are looking at a discharge against medical advice.

How we treat the mentally ill

Now, I am going to make a general statement. If David had cancer and I decided to pull him out against medical advice, I would be facing the fight of my life and his to make that happen. There would be no question about it. So. Why is mental illness treated differently? David doesn’t have cancer. He does have mental illness. I am not saying it’s worse than cancer. I am saying that like cancer, mental illness needs appropriate treatment by qualified personnel.

The future

In the end we are left with few options. David will come home. Things will be good for a week or two or six. Then his world will fall in on itself and we will be right back where he was two years ago. Violent. Stealing. Aggressive. Narcissistic. David will be 16 this summer. Some of the things he has tried and done in the past could land him in adult court. Prison is no place to get mental health care.