Psychiatrist recommendations for 25-year-old son with…
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Psychiatrist recommendations for 25-year-old son with "Asperger's" having 6 months of paranoid delusion
I desperately need help finding a good psychiatrist for my 25 year old son. He was diagnosed as "Asperger's" (when that was still a thing) at the age of 12. He was very difficult to deal with due to extreme stubbornness. However he was making straight A's and functioning well enough that the doctor at the time suggested we not tell the school or pursue further therapy. We accepted that, almost welcomed it to do the stigma that autism had at the time (the opposite is true now and it seems almost fashionable LOL). I thought he would just grow up as a brilliant but quirky guy.
He did very well in high school, graduating third in his class of 700 (he probably would have been first but the abstract thinking in English classes was difficult for him, tho he still got A's). He was honored with a full ride academic scholarship to UTD, where he majored in computer science. He got a dorm with one of his one friend. That friendship really only involved playing Minecraft together.
Unbeknownst to us at the time and only revealed in recent months, is that he came to the conclusion during his freshman year that he wasn't like other people and would never fit into the world to do his social inadequacies. He is very socially awkward and has a lot of social anxiety. Covid hit and he moved back home. We didn't notice any problems but he's always kept to himself and liked to spend a lot of time in his room coding as his hobby. He's very private ,would never share his feelings or what was really going on in his life other than academically.
Also unbeknownst to us sometime during sophomore year I guess, internships were available but he didn't apply to any again due to the fact that he thought he would never fit in the world ...he was planning to kill himself.
He graduated with a 4.0. We were bugging him about getting a job after he graduated, not knowing what he was going through mentally. He kept saying he was looking but couldn't find anything. Around December after he graduated he started acting strange and paranoid. He had also started drinking nightly a month or so prior, but no more than five drinks per night. He always had been opposed to any alcohol or drugs. Unfortunately we had encouraged him to try a drink a couple times just to loosen up on social outings, and I guess he realized it made him feel better.
. In March he became frankly psychotic and superficially cut his wrist and neck and was admitted to the psychiatric floor, diagnosed with bipolar one with psychotic episode. He's never appeared manic to me but what do I know. During the hospital stay we were unable to speak to any doctor.
He seemed to be doing well after discharge, however he did not like his medications or his doctor. and he discontinued them. He said they were making him feel "bleh", gaining weight, and he didn't like what he saw online about antipsychotics causing brain atrophy
. A few months later I became terribly ill and was admitted and all attention moved to me. We didn't want to push him into getting a job so we just let him do his own thing, which wasn't more than hiding in his room all the time, on the computer.
I know I'm a mother and I'm biased but, he is extremely intelligent. He is a next level thinker. His passion was coding, however he would dive into other topics and self educate himself on topics such as quantum physics, political science and economics (all outside of school). However, casual social conversations and small talk were out of the picture. He seems to have very little common sense at times. He has a lot of social anxiety and is very awkward
He has always been very stubborn and difficult at times, but he is ethical and moral to a flaw, and fiercely defends and supports those he thinks are being treated unjustly.He has a child like innocence about him likely due to the autism. He couldn't hurt a fly and wouldn't know how to lie if he had to.
Well 6 months ago, he started talking about an elaborate story that was born during his psychosis the year prior. We've spent the last 6 months battling with him about this detailed paranoid delusion he had that involved classmates hacking into his computer and gathering information that they would use against him one day to ruin his life should he ever get a job. He was convinced we had a bug in the house and that they were spying on us, and he would find things that could "prove" his delusion, and sometimes his findings were very convincing. During this time he had also started back drinking again, no more than five drinks tonight but he is sensitive to alcohol.
During this time, he was otherwise extremely rational and coherent. He had no bizarre thinking or hallucinations, and his delusion was very well thought out with evidence online that at times was very convincing.
We tried to encourage him to go back to his psychiatrist, but he would just get mad at us because we wouldn't believe him, stating that this wasn't a psychiatric problem. To him it was very real. He wasn't suicidal or homicidal so we couldn't have him involuntarily admitted.
He has always been an atheist but my husband is Christian and started taking him to church to see if he would find some answers there. He's always been extremely logical and has never been religious, but he started going and actually enjoyed the sermons. He decided to quit drinking for Lent.
After about 8 days of not drinking, I started noticing a change. He wasn't obsessing over his delusion and seem to be processing something. He kept going on walks and twirling his hair, deep in thought. He was different.
I saw that he was waking up, and I found his old bottle of risperidone, an antipsychotic, and started getting it to him, telling him that it was Zyrtec. Within a few days it's like he woke up. He came to me and said "you were right". The delusion was just gone. It reminded me of the movie "A Beautiful Mind"
He wouldn't let me set up a psychiatrist appointment. I then started wondering if it was just the alcohol the whole time and if he had alcohol-induced psychosis which I guess can cause One singular persistent paranoid delusion if the alcohol persists. Of note he never got drunk, really just tipsy. So I stopped the risperidone.
However about a week later, he appeared agitated and I asked him what he was thinking and he reported he was having some sort of weird thoughts involving religion, but he couldn't put it into words. So I started him back on the risperdal and 3 Days later those thoughts are gone. Now he's just dealing with the stress of what to do with his life in processing everything he's been through.
I desperately need a psychiatrist because he did not like the one he had before at all and doesn't want to go back to him, and we only have nine more days left of the risperidone which is making him feel bad. I'm willing to spend anything so if anybody has some good recommendations. I don't mind if they're concierge and don't take insurance. I just need somebody who is good.
I think what happened is that he got depressed because he didn't feel like he could make it in the world or get a job due to his social problems due to the autism. The entire delusion rested on the fact that it if it was true he would never be able to get a job because they would destroy him if he did. I think the fear of getting a job is what created this entire delusion. The depression along with nightly alcohol use induced a psychosis... Both times.
He is now willing to get help. So if anybody has recommendations for psychiatrists, therapist, especially those who can help us address the root of this whole issue which was his social inadequacies and anxiety due to the autism. But again he's absolutely brilliant and it breaks my heart thinking that this amazing mind will be wasted.
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I desperately need help finding a good psychiatrist for my 25 year old son. He was diagnosed as "Asperger's" (when that was still a thing) at the age of 12. He was very difficult to deal with due to extreme stubbornness. However he was making straight A's and functioning well enough that the doctor at the time suggested we not tell the school or pursue further therapy. We accepted that, almost welcomed it to do the stigma that autism had at the time (the opposite is true now and it seems almost fashionable LOL). I thought he would just grow up as a brilliant but quirky guy.
He did very well in high school, graduating third in his class of 700 (he probably would have been first but the abstract thinking in English classes was difficult for him, tho he still got A's). He was honored with a full ride academic scholarship to UTD, where he majored in computer science. He got a dorm with one of his one friend. That friendship really only involved playing Minecraft together.
Unbeknownst to us at the time and only revealed in recent months, is that he came to the conclusion during his freshman year that he wasn't like other people and would never fit into the world to do his social inadequacies. He is very socially awkward and has a lot of social anxiety. Covid hit and he moved back home. We didn't notice any problems but he's always kept to himself and liked to spend a lot of time in his room coding as his hobby. He's very private ,would never share his feelings or what was really going on in his life other than academically.
Also unbeknownst to us sometime during sophomore year I guess, internships were available but he didn't apply to any again due to the fact that he thought he would never fit in the world ...he was planning to kill himself.
He graduated with a 4.0. We were bugging him about getting a job after he graduated, not knowing what he was going through mentally. He kept saying he was looking but couldn't find anything. Around December after he graduated he started acting strange and paranoid. He had also started drinking nightly a month or so prior, but no more than five drinks per night. He always had been opposed to any alcohol or drugs. Unfortunately we had encouraged him to try a drink a couple times just to loosen up on social outings, and I guess he realized it made him feel better.
. In March he became frankly psychotic and superficially cut his wrist and neck and was admitted to the psychiatric floor, diagnosed with bipolar one with psychotic episode. He's never appeared manic to me but what do I know. During the hospital stay we were unable to speak to any doctor.
He seemed to be doing well after discharge, however he did not like his medications or his doctor. and he discontinued them. He said they were making him feel "bleh", gaining weight, and he didn't like what he saw online about antipsychotics causing brain atrophy
. A few months later I became terribly ill and was admitted and all attention moved to me. We didn't want to push him into getting a job so we just let him do his own thing, which wasn't more than hiding in his room all the time, on the computer.
I know I'm a mother and I'm biased but, he is extremely intelligent. He is a next level thinker. His passion was coding, however he would dive into other topics and self educate himself on topics such as quantum physics, political science and economics (all outside of school). However, casual social conversations and small talk were out of the picture. He seems to have very little common sense at times. He has a lot of social anxiety and is very awkward
He has always been very stubborn and difficult at times, but he is ethical and moral to a flaw, and fiercely defends and supports those he thinks are being treated unjustly.He has a child like innocence about him likely due to the autism. He couldn't hurt a fly and wouldn't know how to lie if he had to.
Well 6 months ago, he started talking about an elaborate story that was born during his psychosis the year prior. We've spent the last 6 months battling with him about this detailed paranoid delusion he had that involved classmates hacking into his computer and gathering information that they would use against him one day to ruin his life should he ever get a job. He was convinced we had a bug in the house and that they were spying on us, and he would find things that could "prove" his delusion, and sometimes his findings were very convincing. During this time he had also started back drinking again, no more than five drinks tonight but he is sensitive to alcohol.
During this time, he was otherwise extremely rational and coherent. He had no bizarre thinking or hallucinations, and his delusion was very well thought out with evidence online that at times was very convincing.
We tried to encourage him to go back to his psychiatrist, but he would just get mad at us because we wouldn't believe him, stating that this wasn't a psychiatric problem. To him it was very real. He wasn't suicidal or homicidal so we couldn't have him involuntarily admitted.
He has always been an atheist but my husband is Christian and started taking him to church to see if he would find some answers there. He's always been extremely logical and has never been religious, but he started going and actually enjoyed the sermons. He decided to quit drinking for Lent.
After about 8 days of not drinking, I started noticing a change. He wasn't obsessing over his delusion and seem to be processing something. He kept going on walks and twirling his hair, deep in thought. He was different.
I saw that he was waking up, and I found his old bottle of risperidone, an antipsychotic, and started getting it to him, telling him that it was Zyrtec. Within a few days it's like he woke up. He came to me and said "you were right". The delusion was just gone. It reminded me of the movie "A Beautiful Mind"
He wouldn't let me set up a psychiatrist appointment. I then started wondering if it was just the alcohol the whole time and if he had alcohol-induced psychosis which I guess can cause One singular persistent paranoid delusion if the alcohol persists. Of note he never got drunk, really just tipsy. So I stopped the risperidone.
However about a week later, he appeared agitated and I asked him what he was thinking and he reported he was having some sort of weird thoughts involving religion, but he couldn't put it into words. So I started him back on the risperdal and 3 Days later those thoughts are gone. Now he's just dealing with the stress of what to do with his life in processing everything he's been through.
I desperately need a psychiatrist because he did not like the one he had before at all and doesn't want to go back to him, and we only have nine more days left of the risperidone which is making him feel bad. I'm willing to spend anything so if anybody has some good recommendations. I don't mind if they're concierge and don't take insurance. I just need somebody who is good.
I think what happened is that he got depressed because he didn't feel like he could make it in the world or get a job due to his social problems due to the autism. The entire delusion rested on the fact that it if it was true he would never be able to get a job because they would destroy him if he did. I think the fear of getting a job is what created this entire delusion. The depression along with nightly alcohol use induced a psychosis... Both times.
He is now willing to get help. So if anybody has recommendations for psychiatrists, therapist, especially those who can help us address the root of this whole issue which was his social inadequacies and anxiety due to the autism. But again he's absolutely brilliant and it breaks my heart thinking that this amazing mind will be wasted.
#local
source
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comments
i don't think he need medication, or therapist.
he find obstacles in everything , so he won't fit in any job /social environment at all.
if he start something , travel to another place, launch litle project... he will get much much better over time...
he find obstacles in everything , so he won't fit in any job /social environment at all.
if he start something , travel to another place, launch litle project... he will get much much better over time...
