I am a 16 year old who spent a year in different mental institutions because of a false diagnosis. AMA

I wonder if they would prosecute her for fraud, perjury, false imprisonment.

She was prosecuted for perjury and domestic abuse, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and and a $25,000 fine. My dad bailed her and now I have a restraining order.

How was the diagnosis found to have been falsified? Is there going to be a court trial? Does your father support her story/version of events? How are your relations with him?Who do you live with now?

The diagnosis was falsified when I proved to the court that she had abused me. I videotaped her one night when she was going off on me, and I used the evidence against her. My father refuses to acknowledge that any of it ever happened. He and my mother are still married. I live with my godfather and his family, and they have ceased to contact my real family.

Will there be a court trial of her? (You mentioned she was bailed.)

She's out free for now. I have a restraining order, but that's it. Nothing else has happened since the restraining order was filed.

Oh something almost identical happened to me. I didn't spend a much time in institutions but I spent years heavily medicated. It is a terrible place to be and I have great sympathy for you.

I have great sympathy for you as well. Thank you for the support!

Was there anybody along the way that believed and supported you?

I had a few kids at my high school who would see the cuts and bruises when I would show up at school. They actually came to testify in court for me.

I am sorry that you got dealt a shitty hand parentally. I sincerely mean this. Do you have any contact with your parents now?

I haven't talked to my mom for a while now. Last time I talked to my dad was Christmas. Thanks for the support! It's always nice to know that people like you exist in this world.

Did you punch her in the face?

Edit: I'm not advocating here, just feeling emotional and angry about OP's abuse.

The only time I ever returned any violence was when she threw a bottle at me. It missed me and landed on the couch behind me so it didn't break. I picked it up and threw it back. It scraped her up pretty bad.

Well, on the brighter side of things, did you at least meet anyone cool or do you have any interesting stories?

Actually, yeah. There were a lot of really interesting people in all of the different places. I met one kid who was dealing drugs, some people tried to rob him so he stabbed and killed them. He was 14. The really interesting thing was that he was going to be in prison for most of his life after he left the clinic, but he was one of the most happy-go-lucky kids I've ever met.

When I was 13 I was placed in a hospital. I was there for 3 weeks. The last week one of the counselors told me that the staff has came to an agreement that its my parents who belong in a hospital. When I turn 18 I should consider moving out as fast as possible.

One of the most frustrating things in my life. I had a brother that was in on the abuse also. When I was 16 he put a gun to my head and threatened to kill me. My parents felt I did something to deserve it and punished him by having him keep his gun in his car instead of the house. I contacted my psychologist from when I was younger. He told my parents in front of me that they kick my brother out (he was 19) or he goes to the police.

My abuse wasn't as bad as yours OP, but I know the feeling. My mother and brother believe they have food allergies and tried to make me believe I had them also when I was younger. Just weird shit.

Sound's horrifying. I'm glad you could share your experience. I'm sorry that happened to you.

Why did they just believe her when she said 'no.' I would hope there was a more thorough investigation.

Because my dad also denied that she did. It went to court, and it wasn't until I was living at home again and set up a camera to record it that the court actually believed me.

Seriouslly fucked up shit.

Physical, mental or emotional abuse? Physical would have been easy to prove I hope.

Mainly physical and emotional. It's been a while, but I do have scars. I didn't think this thread would have been interested in that though.

Do you think you ever be able to forgive her?

Actually, one of the positive's of one institution was that it helped me a lot with forgiving and forgetting. It's hard to forget, but I have forgiven her for some of the things she has done.

As a therapist, first I am so sorry you had to go through all of this, it's awful. Second, I'm curious why it took so long to convince the professionals that you weren't schizophrenic. How many assessments were done? Did you see a licensed psychologist? I feel appalled-- if the proper assessments and testing were done it shouldn't have taken so long to prove your mental status. Maybe I'm missing part of the story-- but either way I'm glad everything turned out as good as it could be for you now.

I don't know if you're the kind of therapist that works inside of a facility or not, but if you are you may know that the doctors see the patients about once a week. And because I continued to accuse my mother of abuse, they continued to think there was something wrong with me. So I never saw them enough to really have a good conversation about what happened.

None of the doctors or other mental health professionals in the different institutions you were in were able to realize that you were not schizophrenic?

The doctors thought I was because they didn't really see us that much. We would go in and talk with real professionals about once a week. We mainly saw the nurses and night guards, and most of them actually didn't believe I was schizophrenic after a few weeks, but then I would be sent to another clinic and it would start all over again.

What type of schizofrenia did they diagnose you with and what arguments did they have for their diagnosis?

Undifferentiated. I was really paranoid about my mom, so schizophrenic paranoia was justification. They also assumed that I really believed my mom abused me when she said she didn't. I mean I did believe it because it's true, but they didn't think it was true.

Have you put in requests for your hospitalization records? This is very easy to do. Just contact the hospitals records office. You pay have to pay a small copying fee.

I'm very confused about how they could think it was schizophrenia when it was not. Were you otherwise in a lot of distress? Is is possible they thought you were a danger to yourself and that that the primary reason for hospitalization rather than schizophrenia? Even if you did have schizophrenia that wouldn't justify a years worth of hospitalization without being a danger to yourself or others. There's a shortage fo hospital beds and more often than not people are forced to leave before they're ready so I'm finding this confusing. OP not doubting you, but can you clarify things?

So I was pretty terrified of my mom. I would freak out when I saw her. It made me pretty paranoid, actually. The problem was that people viewed her as a harmless person so the paranoia wasn't justified. Sorry, I probably should've clarified that. Also, I don't really want my hospital records. I have no interest in seeing them.

What if the twist at the end of this AMA is that you actually are schizophrenic, and your mom was a ghost the entire time?

http://i.imgur.com/ZlFv4tO.jpg

I mean I know this a serious thread and I'm trying to be serious, but that was funny.

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I'm sorry that happened to you too! Hugs right back at you! I hope you're ok too.

I had to stay in a similar institution, on account of being in the hospital for attempted suicide for a third time. I was only there for a month, but I remember at night, every 15 minutes a nurse would open my door to check on me. Did they do that for you as well? Maybe it was just because I was on suicide watch haha I actually had a great time during the day. We played a lot of games, I flirted with nurses, and the snacks were awesome. Is that the same situation you had? Or was it more like the cliché movie mental wards with cells? (Sorry for the horrid formatting, I'm on my phone)

I'm sorry that happened! But answering your question, there was one padded cell where people were put if they behaved poorly. The other patients were really the most horrifying part.

I don't really have a question, but I want to give a small part of my story, just in the hope it makes you feel less alone if anything.

I was in a very similar situation with my mum, she was more emotionally abusive than physically as she was scared of me being able to prove her neglect, but I really don't think the type of abuse matters. Having a parent, your parent do so wrong by you is awful on any level.

I'm mid twenties now and I'm still recovering from the years of abuse, I still can't open new packets of food, and have only recently stopped asking if I can use the toilet. At my worst I was suicidal and house bound due to her abuse, but of course she denies all the abuse.

I'm so happy for you that you had god parents to take you in, and I hope you continue on the up and up in your life.

I suppose I have a question after all that, what are you going to do with your life now? What's ahead for you now you're more free?

Keep that chin up.

I'm glad you could share your story. I'm sorry that all of that happened. You should keep your chin up too! As for your question, I want to be an author. I would like to write stories based on the many experiences I've had.

Didnt it take more than a mothers deranged accusations to put such a serious diagnosis as schizophrenia?

Well who does society like more, adults or adolescents? Who do you think you are more likely to believe?

Remember that you are in Texas. Texas is fucked.

You sir are a funny person.

What person did you tell that you where being abused at home? Going through something like this must be tough as hell and im just guessing but i assume you told someone that you felt that you could trust? Did that person stick with you through out this ordeal or did that person bail on you once you got instutionalised?

I told one of my best friends, and they told their parents. Their parents called the police on her. My friend stuck with me because he had seen the scratches and bruises at school.