September 28, 2014


I am a mother of a child with Schizoid Affective Disorder.  For anyone wondering what's Schizoid Affective Disorder...well at least she didn't say schizophrenia....you're very wrong.  Schizoid Affective Disorder or SAD and trust me its very SAD going through it.  It is a combination of schizophrenia, Bipolar and Depression.  It's lovely.  You get all of the symptoms and behaviors associated with all three sometimes separately and sometimes you get a lovely combination of all three simultaneously exploding. 


My daughter was in a traffic accident when she was approximately 21 years old.  She was not wearing her seatbelt and she was taking her husband to work driving erratically down the frontage road arguing with her husband.  She had been out partying all night with her friend and of course this caused a fight to ensue.  I got a phone call to come to the emergency room to find my daughter with her head strapped down cut up from head to toe.  They were working on shipping her out since we live in a rural community with limited services.  She had been sucked through the back window of her car as it was rolling front to back repeatedly.  Her head went through the back window and her husband pulled her back in the car cutting her face on the shards of the window.  Of course he did not know this the vehicle was in movement at the time.  She was transferred out to Riverside, they did a very poor job was stitching up her face and let her go home.  It was horrible.  Her head was swollen and her face was cut up.  Thank God her general practitioner took the time to fix the stitching on her face and today she looks wonderful.  However, her head was swollen to almost twice it's size so for anyone who understands schizophrenia you know the trauma triggered what was already there.  And trigger it did in very big way. 


This blog will not only discuss the various episodes of my daughter's SAD and how as a mother I have learned to deal with it but I will discuss the aftereffects of a daughter's journey after 17 years of an abusive drug infested marriage, and my youngest daughter's journey through the penal system and the reasons for that. 


I know you would think my girls are hideous and yet they are all beautiful intelligent women.  Flawed, but beautiful and they have a praying mother and wonderful people who surround them.  However, there  is a history of mental disorders on their father's side (I like to say that, I really do, and it's true) however, there is mental illness on my side as well.  My grandfather would tell me stories of the female relative that they would send upstairs when company would come over because she didn't know how to act.  Come to think of it there is a large possibility that I should have a second story built and  send a couple of my relatives up there. I won't name names though. 


For anyone who identifies with my stories, wants to comment, wants to share I welcome you.  We all deal this, maybe not like I have had to but there are varying degrees in every family.  And I hope it encourages and helps at least one person in some small way, or at least makes you laugh.