My intention in writing these posts is to share the experiences that I went through with my son, starting with the first manifestation of his illness and our journey through numerous subsequent episodes. It's also to provide commentary as a parent and psychiatrist on issues that these experiences bring up, such as how the diagnostic process works in mental health, and how to work with treatment providers and medication issues. My hope is that reading this may be helpful for people with mental health issues and also their families and friends.

During the spring term my son started his courses but was very concerned about doing his daily meditation and martial arts exercises, believing that these would eventually bring him perfect health and longevity. Every morning he demanded complete silence while he went through his morning routine. He woke up at a specific time followed by water and tea followed by the beginning of meditation. Breakfast was eaten later, after a specific time interval had elapsed. He became frustrated if there was any noise or other interruption. He attempted to attend classes; however, he was vague about what time he went and how long he stayed. I called a professor I knew, whose course Bill was taking, to check on him:

“How’s he doing in class?”

“When he attends it’s only for the first 10 minutes but often he’s not in class at all.”

“I’m really sorry," I said. "I’ll see what I can do.”

I was embarrassed that my son wasn’t putting in the effort, but in retrospect he was probably doing the best he could. Without the ability to focus his attention it didn’t matter how intelligent or inherently motivated he was; he was left floating in a shallow pond of........

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