I Am Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help! How to Help Someone Accept Treatment
Show Notes
If you care for someone with a diagnosed serious mental illness (SMI) , you know that it isn’t easy to help them begin, or continue, treatment.
You hear “I’m not sick! I don’t need help!”
That phrase inspired our guest to find a way, write a book, and create a movement.
Dr. Xavier Amador is a world-renowned clinical psychologist & forensic expert, and a Family caregiver of relatives with schizophrenia and bipolar. He founded NAMI’s Scientific Council, helped to launch Family-to-Family, Peer-to-Peer & In Our Own Voices, and wrote the book I AM NOT SICK I Don’t Need Help!
We talk about:
Dr. Amador’s family story: his brother Henry, and his son, with Schizophrenia
What do we do when our loved one says I am not sick, I don't need help?
Listening: without judgment, and with respect.
Anosognosia, and how to approach someone who has it
The Henry Amador Center on Anosognosia
The power of your relationship
Changes - and changes needed - in the mental health system
Takeaways from the input from families and also people with mental illness?
Diffusing Anger
3 A’s: Apologize, Acknowledge, Agree (to disagree)
Crisis Communication v. long-term communication
The LEAP method (listen, Empathise, Agree, Partner) and how families - and law enforcement - can be trained
Role-play: Addressing Covid Vaccine reluctance with relative with SMI
LAI (long-acting injectables) vs. pills every day
Quotes:
“You’re not going to make a delusion worse by listening to it and letting your loved one know that you’ve heard him and that you understand his anger, you understand his fear.” - Dr. Amador
My brother never believed he was mentally ill...but he stayed in treatment for the rest of his life” - Dr. Amador
Links:
Henry Amador Center on Anosognosia: https://hacenter.org/home
Book: I Am Not Sick! I Don’t Need Help: 20th Anniversary Edition: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0985206705/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0
Who Are the 3 Moms?
Randye Kaye -Broadcaster, Actress, Voice Talent, Speaker, and Author (“Ben Behind his Voices”)
Miriam Feldman – Artist, Mom, Author “He Came in With It”
Mindy Greiling – member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for twenty years. Activist, Legislator, Author (“Fix What You Can“)
https://schizophrenia3momsinthetrenches.buzzsprout.com/1604296/9415415
