This blog is my place to vent and share resources with other parents of children of trauma. I try to be open and honest about my feelings in order to help others know they are not alone. Therapeutic parenting of adopted teenagers with RAD and other severe mental illnesses and issues (plus "neurotypical" teens) , is not easy, and there are time when I say what I feel... at the moment. We're all human!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Getting Meds in Jail


So I finally convinced my incarcerated son that he needs to get back on his meds.  I called the jail to find out what needs to be done to make that happen.  Turns out that because he hasn't seen his Texas psychiatrist since May, stopped taking his meds almost 6 months ago, and was in denial about his issues and need for meds so never got an Oklahoma pdoc,  he can't get anyone to prescribe meds now.

There are only 15,000 people in the entire county, and almost half of them live in the county seat where the jail is located.  The jail has only 120 beds and the nurse is in only once a week for an hour.  No pdoc in this tiny town will take on a new patient who is incarcerated and uninsured.  His lawyer could request a psych eval, but he doesn't even have a public defender assigned to him yet.

My son was on 2 mood stabilizers, an anti-psychotic and an anti-depressant - most of which were black box with potentially fatal consequences if he doesn't titrate on them slowly, so he can't just "pick up where he left off."  His old psychiatrist is unwilling to prescribe medications.  Even if he does, my son would have to pay for these meds out of pocket when he gets out of jail ($1500-2000/month).  Not sure what to do next.

I guess I'll call their local MHMR equivalent tomorrow, but I don't know how they would access him in jail to treat him.

3 comments:

r. said...

If you're affiliated with a religion, you might also want to try getting in touch with a jail chaplain (not instead of county mental health, but in addition to it). Best of luck.

Miz Kizzle said...

Psych meds are routinely given out in jails, as are life-sustaining meds like insulin. Basically, the county wants to avoid lawsuits resulting from inmates dying or becoming seriously ill while in custody. Bear's lawyer can help get the ball rolling.

marythemom said...

Miz Kizzle - they would give him his meds (although he has to pay for them), IF he had a current prescription. The problem is he came into jail claiming he had no issues and needed no medications. We'll have to wait for him to finally get a lawyer assigned.