I Am Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help! How to Help Someone Accept Treatment

If you care for someone with a diagnosed serious mental illness (SMI) , you know that it isn’t easy to help them begin, or continue, treatment.

You hear “I’m not sick! I don’t need help!”

That phrase inspired our guest to find a way, write a book, and create a movement.

Dr. Xavier Amador is a world-renowned clinical psychologist & forensic expert, and a Family caregiver of relatives with schizophrenia and bipolar. He founded NAMI’s Scientific Council, helped to launch Family-to-Family, Peer-to-Peer  & In Our Own Voices, and wrote the book I AM NOT SICK I Don’t Need Help! 

We talk about:

• Dr. Amador’s family story: his brother Henry, and his son, with Schizophrenia
• What do we do when our loved one says I am not sick, I don't need help?
• Listening: without judgment, and with respect.
• Anosognosia, and how to approach someone who has it
• The Henry Amador Center on Anosognosia  
• The power of your relationship
• Changes - and changes needed - in the mental health system
• Takeaways from the input from families and also people with mental illness?
• Diffusing Anger
• 3 A’s: Apologize, Acknowledge, Agree (to disagree)
• Crisis Communication v. long-term communication
• The LEAP method (listen, Empathise, Agree, Partner) and how families - and law enforcement - can be trained
• Role-play: Addressing Covid Vaccine reluctance with relative with SMI 
• LAI (long-acting injectables) vs. pills every day

Quotes:

“You’re not going to make a delusion worse by listening to it and letting your loved one know that you’ve heard him and that you understand his anger, you understand his fear.” - Dr. Amador

My brother never believed he was mentally ill...but he stayed in treatment for the rest of his life” - Dr. Amador

Links:

Henry Amador Center on Anosognosia: https://hacenter.org/home

Book: I Am Not Sick! I Don’t Need Help: 20th Anniversary Edition: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0985206705/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0

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“)

Power in Chaos
The Power in Chaos podcast dives deep into personal stories of overcoming adversity,...

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Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman

Chapters

• 17:08 [Ad] Power in Chaos
• 17:45 (Cont.) I Am Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help! How to Help Someone Accept Treatment