Psychosis and how it effects people in the family
I am writing this because I have been deeply effected by a very tragic incident involving my parents where my mother had psychosis and severe depression for many years. Records have shown from the review from what is called "The Domestic Homicide Review" printed by "Safer Cornwall" who work in partnership with Devon and Cornwall Police and Cornwall County Council. In this review it showed that my mother had a range of different problems dating back 20 years, though only got worse when she was forced to retire convinced my mother had a minor stroke in 2011. She was a General Practitioner for about 30 years in Helston, Cornwall where she had a role of Senior Partner at the Meanage Surgery.
On the night of the 15th of November 2013 at 7.30 am in the crack of the morning she woke out of bed and murdered her husband.
She was arrested on that day, treated for some of her injuries before she was interviewed at the police station. She was subsequently charged with murder and remanded in custody before appearing in court in June 2014 where she plead not guilty to murder but manslaughter with diminished responsibility at Truro Crown Court. She was convicted and was detained under Sections 37-41 of the Mental Health Act 1983 at St Andrews Hospital in Northampton. Writing this I still don't think it's really enough for her since she was wholly responsible for something that is very wrong indeed, to take the life of a close family member and leave behind siblings.
Psychosis is an impaired relationship with the real world where thoughts and beliefs become dramatically inconsistent with the real world. An example of this is if you had hundreds of thousands of pounds/dollars/euros (whichever currency you use) in savings and you're firmly convinced you're going bankrupt people hallucinate into believing they are going to go homeless. They might unsubscribe to certain services, and stop regular independent contractors such as a gardener and cleaner coming over because they believe that they're losing money. Other things can be seeing people that don't exist and feeling people are against them and their problems are much more severe than reality.
In summary, people with psychosis hallucinate (senses something non existent) and is delusional (a strong belief inconsistent with reality).
In my case, when I was very grown up she didn't understand the issues of unwanted and unappreciated attention she gave in my 20's. She would constantly trying to email and phone me when I would like to come and see the family for Christmas and draw me closely into whats going on with her excessively. She was an avid attention seeker, diagnosed with narcissism recently by a forensic psychiatrist, as she tried to often demand a conversation with me that wasn't at an appropriate time while living with her, during a moment where I couldn't afford to move out of the house.
For a parent, and a son of someone with psychosis this has been extremely challenging since sometimes you know something is wrong but the lover of that person without being too brutal, didn't take my claim very seriously. So when you have a couple who love each-other but firmly believe that you're not taken very seriously, this is a major problem that unfortunately went into a downward spiral. From 2012 my mother had regular suicide attempts where she was admitted into hospital but discharged very soon from hospital by her idealistic way to convince them she was alright. Sometimes she declined medication because of her lack of realisation that the problem was severe.
From this, my struggles have started from teenager, through school, with autism, through to adulthood facing the rough acrimonious relationships with my mother being the centre of attention, to now facing the loss of a family member. I can't stress enough that my father known by his siblings as "Tiger" will always be missed for his love of Jeremy Clarkson's former TV series Top Gear, now Grand Tour on amazon and his love of sports cars.
If you know anyone in your family especially immediate family who is psychotic I do have some very useful advice;
Take then to the nearest Hospital
Call the out-of-hours hospital
If life threatening or serious call 999 (911 or 112 for viewers outside the UK)
Make sure its treated early and as a parents always listen to your children if they claim something is wrong. DO NOT IGNORE IT!
Links
Psychosis Overview
https://www.healthline.com/health/psychosis
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/psychosis/
News Articles
On the day - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-24953638
Verdict - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-27740921
Questions over my mothers mental health - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-27821685
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