Episode 22- From Schizophrenia and Pot Addiction, through Treatment, to Success: Carson's Story

Today we  talk with  Carson S. , who has an inspiring story to tell, from schizophrenia/addiction to sobriety/recovery success.  We talk about his life….what it used to be like, what his challenges have been (addiction/intrusive thoughts/SMI) , and how he is doing now…..and what advice he might give to others who need to have hope.

Mimi and I met Carson last week at a gathering at Rob Laitman’s home for his patients and families (see episode 18)  

• What happened when you were using marijuana?
• Did you realize that was an abnormal response?
• As your symptoms progressed, what did you think was happening?  Did you even suspect mental illness?
• Did your parents or family know what was going on?  What about teachers or friends?  Did they suspect anything?
• When was it that you finally realized you had a problem?
• Did you ever “hear voices”? If you did, could you tell they weren’t real?
• What other symptoms did you recognize?
• Were you afraid of the medication? Afraid of the doctors?
• Since we know you finally ended up on clozapine, you must have had a rough journey on previous medications?  Tell us about that.
• How was clozapine different?
• When did you notice improvement?  Were there specific things that changed or were different?
• You spent a year at Viewpoint Dual Recovery Center - what was that like?
• Have you had any challenges with wanting to use marijuana?
• What’s your life like today?
• It is very difficult to recover from the dual diagnosis of BOTH addiction and serious mental illness. 
• But as of today you seem to be managing this.  How did you do it? 
• What do you want other families to know?

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“)