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My life has been awful as of yet. For the past 6 months I've lived in a nursing home. I hear voices more often than before and I am having strange thoughts.
- I have no friends.
- My brother and sister rarely talk to me.
- I have a very tough time socializing.
- I have thoughts of hell and death and have become convinced going to hell is potentially a good thing.
- I've become convinced I don't have a true freewill.
- God is going to erase me from existence after Some point in my coffin.
- I'm 30 pounds overweight because of the medication and my nursing home only let's me out 2 hours a day to exercise.
- I'm going to need to stay in the nursing home for at least another 2 years.
I am sorry to hear of your struggles. I trust you are communicating these struggles with your doctors and staff at the home. You say they only let you out for two hours a day. Do you mean outside? Is there an exercise room inside the facility? Do you have a physical therapist? I had to go to a home earlier this year for rehab and they worked me out pretty good, but I know every case is different as is every nursing home.
I am sorry to hear of your struggles. I trust you are communicating these struggles with your doctors and staff at the home. You say they only let you out for two hours a day. Do you mean outside? Is there an exercise room inside the facility? Do you have a physical therapist? I had to go to a home earlier this year for rehab and they worked me out pretty good, but I know every case is different as is every nursing home.
Hey, no we don't have a weight room. They only allow us to be out two hours a day. Unless we are out with family.
Sorry to hear of your issues and current predicament. Can your family or friends take you out more often??
I'm sure you know having too much free time might lead to negative thinking...
do you participate in activities at the home??
Why are you saying you must stay 2 more years??
I know some psych meds do cause weight gain but some of us, like me, must have them. NOT taking them is not an option.
Do you have a counselor at the home? Or a psychiatrist who makes calls there??
I have a counselor that doesn't seem very qualified. I have nowhere to go. I'm trying to get on a wait list for public housing or a group home. I've been told it takes years. I want to leave but cant, there are thieves and violent people here in a somewhat rough town, its Joliet in the Chicagoland area.
I live in a nursing home. I've been on the Section 8 housing list but my family doesn't think I can live on my own. I've looked into group homes but, I've heard they can become potentially an even worse housing situation than I am currently living in at the nursing home. Do I have anymore options? Is there something more independent than a nursing home, but not completely independent like Section 8? A middle ground so to speak outside of a group home?
I hear voices, and I have some degree of cognitive impairment. I come from a Middle/Upper-Middle Class family. But, they think I'm to impaired to live with them. If not, I will have to live the rest of my live in a Psychiatric Nursing Facility. I am only 28 years old. I am scared.
Start with a call to the Illinois Dept. of Human Services 1800-843-6154. They offer a program called Permanent Supportive Housing. They offer housing and case management to people with Axis 1 diagnoses of which schizophrenia is one.
They require a case (or care) manager to make the referral so you might use the person who got you into the nursing home. If not, the DHS should be able to connect you to a case manager.
You can look at the web site for this program, they provide individual and roommate housing opportunities and charge 30% of your income for rent (similar to section 8).
There is also a program called Thresholds in the Chicago area but it gives little detail on their site. 773-572-5500.
My sister has what you have and her disability started when she was around 28 and she is now 61. She stays at a housing complex for the mentally challenged and she is pretty much free to do as she likes. She shares the house with three other disabled residents. She has to go down to the office to take her medications daily but there really is no supervision at the house she is in unless there is a problem. She has been in this same very old run down house for 16 years and prior to that she was in Western State hospital. I have been trying to get her to request an assessment from the state so that we can find another facility that would be willing to accept her but she becomes defiant and and then still complains about where she lives. I think jerseyj gave you some really great advice. Please update and let us know how things turned out for you.
This unfortunate housing situation began in the late '60's early '70's when politicians realized that much money could be saved by discharging psychiatric patients. The meds at the time to control severe symptoms were "major tranquilizers" and considered to be effective in controlling symptoms so patients were discharged in great numbers.
The problem was that there were no plans for discharge placement. It resulted in a large number of homeless mentally ill people.
Boarding homes started cropping up in poorer communities and the owners took advantage of this with little to no oversight from anyone.
The housing situation has made some progress over the years but much more needs to be done as evidenced by OP who is 28 and living in a nursing home and RV's sister.
RVFullTimer, your sister has lived in the same place for 33 years, she is comfortable with her "dysfunctional" environment and has likely experienced far worse. She would be terrified to try something new, it could be worse than her current situation.
I would encourage you to contact The National Alliance on Mental Illness for advocacy and information.
OP your local NAMI number is 312-563-0445.
Good luck, Always By Chance. I can't offer any wisdom or advice, just good wishes for you.
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I have Schizophrenia what are my housing options?
