Thursday, 12/22/05 - 10:38 pm.
"It's good to go out and socialize", my dad said when I told him that Michelle had invited me to go shopping with her this evening. He's either becoming much more open with me, or I had the wrong impression. I lean toward the former, but it's still all good.
Tomorrow at noon, I'm having lunch with Joseph, his boss and his boss' girlfriend. She's the girl with bulimia I mentioned like a month ago. I'm excited, because that sounds very serious, and we're actually going to an expensive restaurant. I told my dad I'd been treated to lunch, and he said "ok". He didn't ask who, which I SERIOUSLY appreciated, but my mom did, and I mentioned the people I just mentioned, minus Joseph.
Now, onto sad news...
My sister in law is currently staying at a hotel. Because my nephew threatened to kill her with a knife. He has "episodes" in which he begins to harrass his mom -usually- and begins to look for knives. It's exactly the definition of the word "psychotic"; he loses touch with reality.
My mom told us (my dad, brother and I) in tears the whole story last night, as told by my brother in Houston. By all symptoms, it seems my nephew suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, but as far as I know, it's too early for that to be diagnosed, he's only 13. It could be precocious, though. I don't know, really.
My brother even thought it'd be best if my other nephew and I didn't go visit (we're leaving on the 28th), but it seems the meds are kicking in, and he's more calm now. No. I am going there, no matter what. Especially now. I want to be there.
It's hard, his parents are saying they're trying to accept the fact that he won't be a professional, and they just have to focus on making him "functional". I don't want to hear about it, I have faith in the kid.
My nephew is brilliant, you see: straight A's, amazing with the violin, a boy scout, having read the literature classics, from Dumas to Dostoievski. But he sort of suspected there was "something" with him, as he told his mom after he had a class of mental health at school. He was always very introverted, hiding behind books, and now it seems he did it as a way to cope with his agressiveness. He was always very passive, and I worried he might be bullied because of that.
So last night my world crumbled, when I realized it was indeed a psychiatric disorder, and not just a reaction to growing-up or whatever (his mom's brother and aunt suffer from schizophrenia, and one's more likely to develop a condition if there's a family history). But right now, I feel more hopeful. And I still want to go visit them, and help as much as I can.
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