Mental illness is not a fun thing. My son, age 23, also suffers from mental illness. He’s had depression for many years. Also a few years ago he was diagnosed as being bipolar. He’s been told he is unstable for work by a psychologist. He easily gets overwhelmed. He also has been suicidal in the past. He goes to counseling every week. He still lives at home with me his mother. He doesn’t have any friends. It was very hard for him to keep friends. He does have a few online. He likes to play computer games. I’ve also been a good support system for him. It isn’t always easy. I have learned to take it each day one day at a time.
When I was your son’s age I was hospitalized in Philadelphia for a year and a half. The dr finally decided I needed Shock treatments, but it did not help, nor did the medications. I also had no friends. The people I had known in school had all moved on and away. I had so much trouble with anxiety and panic attacks that I did not want to go anywhere or do anything. I slept as much as possible and when I woke up I would feel like “Damn I’m awake again” I was so afraid of people that I wondered why solitary confinement was punishment. At the same time I was Extremely lonely. A day hospital program was my savior. At the time insurance was much better, and I attended for 3 years. I began to meet friends and gain hope. I still have a lot of bad days. But I have to stay alive for my 2 daughters and my grandaughter. Raising my girls was what started me on the way to recovery. I was forced to interact with their doctors, friends, friends’ parents, play dates, teachers. In a way raising my girls saved my life.