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On Being a Parent of a Child With Mental Illness

Last night when everything went sideways for David, we had law enforcement here. Some fairly insightful comments from them. Now, you should know, it is my belief that law enforcement are not mental health professionals. That isn’t the role they signed up for. So please, keep that in mind. When David was yelling about how illegal everything I do as his father is, the police officer asked him for examples. Take away technology such as cell phone, x-box, television, computer. Not let food in the bedroom. Control what he eats. Ground him to his bedroom. Take away his dance attendance privileges. To each of these points that David made, one of the officers said “that’s called being a parent.” Interesting enough, this morning I had a meeting with the school, and his staff their said the same thing. So maybe I am not crazy. On a side note, I hate

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Beyond the Abyss – The gradual decline of David’s mental health.

It seems that David’s mental health has been declining since before the Christmas holiday. Today was just another example of how far it has gone. David had school, and there were no negative reports that I am aware of. After he finished school he went with his staff. Around 7 pm, I went into my office for a conference call. Mom got ready for bed, though she doesn’t actually go to bed until later. This is all done to show David that it is time to get settled for the night. Only, David didn’t settle. He ramped up. By the time I finished my call at 9:15, he was rapidly declining. I had asked him a question about a substance that was on his laptop in the kitchen, then went over a few things for him. Reminders about what is allowed and what is not allowed. He needs daily and

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