Jason still regrets leaving his job with Safeway. He worked there for 4 years and Randy, the manager told me that Jason was a hard worker and had a good attitude. Since leaving Safeway, he worked for 2 other grocery chains and experienced a deflating incident with a 3rd employer. Jason was offered a full time job with Canadian Tire, then on his 1st day on the job he was told that they made a mistake and were not able to keep him. This took place after he resigned from his former employer, now leaving him without a job. I met with the owner who admitted they made a mistake and gave Jason a couple weeks pay and a letter of apology. This helped a bit but he was crushed, especially after bouncing around a couple jobs already.
Jason told us he felt depressed and had little motivation. The setbacks with jobs, some lost relationships, and a couple of disappointments in not achieving other goals were some of the challenges he was facing. Our family doctor prescribed him with a low dosage of anti-depressants, but we didn't see any change in Jason. In fact, it was only a few weeks later when he told a friend that he wanted to commit suicide. His friend, concerned of what might happen, picked him up and drove him to the hospital. That's when Bev and I heard about it so we rushed over to the hospital to be with Jason. I'll never forget what Jason said to me while we waited for the psychiatrist to talk to him. He told me he wasn't sure why he was there, like this was an over-reaction. But, we assured him that it would be best to talk to the psychiatrist to be safe.
Finally, the psychiatrist arrived and took Jason to a private room. We were not permitted to be with him as Jason was 21 yrs old and it is the hospital's policy to respect the privacy of it's patients. Following his meeting, the psychiatrist informed us that they decided to admit Jason to the psych ward for further observations. Bev and I went home that evening a bit shaken but I felt sure we would be picking him up by noon the next day and he would be back to work in a couple days. This was on July 31st, 2007, the beginning of a hellish experience for Jason that lasted for 2 years.
We have since learned that it wasn't Jason's depression and suicide thoughts that landed him in the psychiatric ward. It was the mild dosage of anti-depressants which were prescribed only a few weeks prior to Jason being admitted by the psychiatrist. Looking back, and we have done a lot of "looking back" on this experience, some therapy for Jason to talk about the things that were bringing him down would have helped him come out of the state of mind he was in. Not drugs. Good counselling without a mind clouded by medication would have been the pill to take.
If I could go back and change only 1 thing, it would have been to arrange some professional therapy and keep him "the hell" out of the psychiatric ward. Being admitted to a psychiatric ward is really an easy thing to do, getting out is another matter! More to be shared in a few days. Please stay tuned and thank you for listening.
Jason told us he felt depressed and had little motivation. The setbacks with jobs, some lost relationships, and a couple of disappointments in not achieving other goals were some of the challenges he was facing. Our family doctor prescribed him with a low dosage of anti-depressants, but we didn't see any change in Jason. In fact, it was only a few weeks later when he told a friend that he wanted to commit suicide. His friend, concerned of what might happen, picked him up and drove him to the hospital. That's when Bev and I heard about it so we rushed over to the hospital to be with Jason. I'll never forget what Jason said to me while we waited for the psychiatrist to talk to him. He told me he wasn't sure why he was there, like this was an over-reaction. But, we assured him that it would be best to talk to the psychiatrist to be safe.
Finally, the psychiatrist arrived and took Jason to a private room. We were not permitted to be with him as Jason was 21 yrs old and it is the hospital's policy to respect the privacy of it's patients. Following his meeting, the psychiatrist informed us that they decided to admit Jason to the psych ward for further observations. Bev and I went home that evening a bit shaken but I felt sure we would be picking him up by noon the next day and he would be back to work in a couple days. This was on July 31st, 2007, the beginning of a hellish experience for Jason that lasted for 2 years.
We have since learned that it wasn't Jason's depression and suicide thoughts that landed him in the psychiatric ward. It was the mild dosage of anti-depressants which were prescribed only a few weeks prior to Jason being admitted by the psychiatrist. Looking back, and we have done a lot of "looking back" on this experience, some therapy for Jason to talk about the things that were bringing him down would have helped him come out of the state of mind he was in. Not drugs. Good counselling without a mind clouded by medication would have been the pill to take.
If I could go back and change only 1 thing, it would have been to arrange some professional therapy and keep him "the hell" out of the psychiatric ward. Being admitted to a psychiatric ward is really an easy thing to do, getting out is another matter! More to be shared in a few days. Please stay tuned and thank you for listening.
Thanks Dan. This is really help all of the family to understand what Jason and his family are going through.
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