[cottagegirl]

Hello,
I have a 20 yr old son recently diagnosed with schizophrenia after his first psycosis. He finally agreed to injections and other than seeing his therapist once a month, he refuses to particpate in any group or recreational activities. He sleeps 12-18 hrs a day and doesnt go anywhere or do anything. Help!!! Im exhausted trying to get him just to care for himself...

[Victoria'smom]

Can he see the therapist more often? Let the meds kick in before trying to work on taking care of himself. A lot of the meds make you sleepy. I wont do group or recreational activities either. What about taking 1 college course? or volunteering? or a part time job? what about vocational rehab?

[Travelinglady]

Hello, cottagegirl and welcome to Psych Central! I agree that lots of antipsychotic drugs cause sleepiness. In fact I was prescribed Seroquel at night to knock me out. (I am bipolar.) Perhaps things will get better as his meds are adjusted. I hope he'll tell his doctor about the sleeping.

Is he depressed about the psychotic episode and the diagnosis? Depression can lead somebody to sleep a lot and be unmotivated, too.

Here's a social group you can join after you have five posts printed. I am getting it underway. https://forums.psychcentral.com/grou...ll-adults.html

Have you heard of NAMI? They provide support groups as well for parents of mentally-ill adult children.

Again, welcome. You definitely are not alone in your situation.

[Erebos]

I agree with the previous posts, meds take take a couple of months to begin to settle.
If he is sleeping that much he also isn't eating properly, which can have big impact on energy levels and production of the right chemicals in the brain.
If you can encourage him to wake up in the morning to at least eat that would be a start.go easy on the carbs as they will just encourage him to sleep more.

Ideally getting him out for a walk at some point would also be helpful, to prevent his muscles becoming weakened , as this will just fatigue him more when he does finally try and do anything.

The rest is down to his doctors and himself.
Wish there was more help I could offer, all the best.

[cottagegirl]

Thank you for all your advise. He's getting better slowly. Does not initiate conversation nor keep one going. Goes to the store but looks out windows first. Denies this when we are at his therapists office, paces alot and hovers around me constantly, like over my shoulder hovering, Ive even had to close my bedroom door so I could have 5 minutes to myself. He eats well, Im not a junk food fan but he eats alot . Sleeping is about 12 hrs now and sometimes afternoon naps. Hoping he can be more productive soon. Has difficulty following simple instruction, but has worked off and on, tho its been comented on that it appears hes forgotten what hes supposed to do and how to do it,@ days ago he couldnt figure how to get a hamburger out of the oven for his bun, oven was off, just keeping them warm. He will cook a frozen pizza no problem tho. Im confused.