Yesterday my son tried to end his life. He's not a teenager, he's 27 years old. He's been mentally ill since he was young. He was in the psyche ward for 4 months with psychosis when he was 17 and his life has been difficult since. He's struggled off and on, he was on medication and then weaned himself off because he thought it was causing him to loose too much weight and it was affecting his memory.
He's bipolar and he's been off his meds for about two years now. He got a job and was doing really well even though he has no high school diploma, he was going to work to be a truck driver. Then slowly his life fell apart. He quit his job, he got another one that barely paid him. He had an apartment and had bought a car.
The past three or four months I've seen his life spiral down. His hydro was cut off twice, until we paid for it. He's behind on his rent. His car has been turned off because he can't make the payments. His phones been shut off. Then he gets pulled over and find out that his license has been suspended because he didn't pay a parking ticket 6 months ago and his court date isn't for another month, which means he can't work.
Yesterday he messages me and tells me that his internet has been shut off. He goes to McDonalds for their free Wifi and we were making arrangements for him to get his internet paid so he could have access to a phone so he could call and get put on social assistance, but then he had to leave.
He tells me a month ago that he was feeling suicidal and called the police, who took him to the hospital, but he refused treatment because he wants to go into the military and they won't let him if he's mentally ill.
So yesterday he's at Tim Hortons using their Wifi to message me and he tells me that he's going to end his life, he asks me to find a good home for his pet and tells me he loves me. I told him I was on my way, that I was coming to him and he said "ok". That's the last I hear of him.
I drive to where he lives, it's 2 hours away, in a blind panic but I thought he would wait for me to get there and I'd take him back to where I live. I thought he'd wait for me. He knew I was coming......he didn't wait for me.
I get a message about an hour later saying that he was at his local hospital because he tried to end his life and failed. He called the police before he could think of another way. They put him on a 72 hour old. He waited for 2 hours and they admitted him. I told the hospital that I was there when I arrived and he said that they told him I was there and asked him if he wanted to see me. He said "yes".
After sitting in the waiting room for two hours i finally get up and ask about my son. Would they have let me sit there all night?? They say that i can't see him but they'd give me his keys so I could take care of his pet. I drove for two hours, waited two hours and they wouldn't let me even give him a hug.
On the way home he calls me. I never heard him sound so low. Sounded like he was speaking to me through clenched teeth. He said that the nurses wanted to speak with him but he told them he was too upset. He was upset because they told him he could see me and then they didn't let him. I told him I loved him and that I was proud of him. I told him all the things a parent should say to their child and when he got off the phone from sounding so small and quiet and clenched, I cried the entire two hour drive home.
I got up this morning and I still can't stop crying. He didn't wait for me.
