Maria and Tom Donnelly- Chaplains to the Forgotten

Two years ago today my son was arrested during a schizophrenic episode. He was never before in trouble, never before arrested. He was a kind person whom everyone loved. He was a kind soul who was a tremendous athlete, good friend, hard-worker, and a respectful, loving, son. The disease of Schizophrenia destroyed his ability to reason, study, have relationships, make decisions, and control his mind and senses. Now, two years later after the height of a schizophrenic episode, not only has he been through psychosis, but he has also been arrested, incarcerated, placed in solitary confinement and suicide watch, endured endless court dates delays, and conferences, interview after interview, examinations, doctors, medications and more medications, life away from home and loved ones, fear, sadness, loneliness, regret, sickness, pain, and shame. 

Whose fault is this? The disease. Schizophrenia is a disease monster. The people that have it: victims. This is what I- the mom of a son with schizophrenia- have learned during this entire experience with schizophrenia so far. 

1. Schizophrenia has definite symptoms that the general public (especially parents) should be more aware of so that it is addressed for the health of the victim. One out of every 100 people suffer from schizophrenia, and most professionals believe this number is under-represented. These symptoms are often visible only to the victim, but when they report and talk about them, they must not be ignored. Early treatment will help stop this disease from escalating and stop the victim’s brain from becoming progressively worse . The symptoms of schizophrenia are bizarre thoughts, delusions- thinking things that are not true, and hallucinations- seeing things that are not there. These symptoms were reported by my son when he was a child, but even professionals did not recognize it as schizophrenia. How can that be? The symptoms of schizophrenia in children- bizarre thoughts, delusions, and hallucinations- can’t be ignored just because you cannot measure them, or because at the time they are harmless. These are real symptoms of a real disease.
2. This disease is not the victim’s fault. It’s not the family’s fault. Do not assign blame to yourself. This is the typical response to schizophrenia because the disease is so scary. When a person has another type of disease such as cancer, parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis, the first response is not to blame the person. Schizophrenia is so heinous people also think it is demonic and think it is evil in the person. Schizophrenia is a physical disease even though it cannot be seen by the naked eye. It is a disease of the connections in the brain. The brain cannot be opened up and examined so it is much harder to examine, diagnose, and successfully manage.
3. If you or a family member has schizophrenia, do not hide it. Get the support that you need. This disease cannot be combatted alone. The victim needs support. You need support. Once schizophrenia progresses in an adult, the patient becomes more difficult to control because they begin believing the delusions and hallucinations. It is then the disease becomes dangerous to the victim and to the people around them. This person needs desperate medical help, but most of the time, the person is just arrested. Early treatment saves the victim from incarceration.

Twenty-six months before my son’s schizophrenic and psychotic episode that resulted in arrest and incarceration, he had a suicide attempt. The thoughts were so scary to him he was afraid he was going to act on those thoughts. So he found a handgun and tried to end his own life by shooting himself. He told the physicians and psychiatrists that he thought his parents were out to get him and that he had thoughts of hurting them, so he decided to end his life. His life was a constant torment of ugly and scary thoughts. I saw the torment he experienced. I saw him do odd things to scare away his thoughts. He was in desperate condition and could not find relief even though we tried to get him medical help. Our son has been in battle for a very long time. 

Our son survived that suicide attempt miraculously, and here we are now, two years after he was arrested and incarcerated during a schizophrenic episode. He currently lives in a forensic hospital waiting until officials believe his medications and treatment are effective enough to help him live a safe life in freedom. The system is slow. We look forward to the day he can even have a visit home. Even more, we look forward and pray for the day he can live a full life. God has literally rescued his life from death twice now. If you don’t believe in God, then maybe sometime I can tell you the details of how my son’s life was saved. It is miraculous. However, the difficulties and pain he has experienced from the disease of schizophrenia are very real although the symptoms are invisible to everyone but its victims. 

I have one photo to show today. It is a photo of me, my husband, and my son’s lawyer- the public defender from Cecil County, Maryland. His name is Jason Ricke. He defended our son, so that now he is not criminally responsible for his behavior during that awful psychotic episode two years ago. Because of Jason, our son will have the freedom to return home as long as his health allows. It will not be soon, but it will happen one day. We thank God for Jason. We thank God for our son’s doctors who understand schizophrenia and treat him compassionately and with understanding. 

Thank you for reading. Thank you for your support.