When Travis came to Covenant House Vancouver, he was struggling with some mental health concerns. He often talked to people who were not there, and was very hard to communicate with, as he would often wait a while to respond or not respond at all. When I did his intake into the Crisis Program we talked about his mental health. Travis told me that he started talking to himself to kill the time a few months ago and he never stopped. He also disclosed that a doctor had diagnosed him with Schizophrenia, but that he did not agree that he had an illness, he believed that he was just more open to the world than other people.
Two months later he had an important appointment about his mental health, and it seemed to me that not much had improved. Travis still often talked to people who were not there and danced to music no one else could hear. I planned to accompany him to his appointment, since he often had trouble remembering things and completing tasks.
Half an hour before the appointment I went to check on him, and his face was filled with fear.
“I definitely can’t leave the building right now” he said.
I asked him why, and his only response was “I just can’t”
I told him that the appointment was very important, and I really hoped he would go, but I would give him a couple minutes to think about it. Right as a returned to his room and reached for my key, the door opened, and Travis walked out, fully clothed with headphones in, and simply said “Let’s go.” I didn’t ask any questions and followed Travis to the appointment.
At the appointment, the doctor asked Travis if he wanted to take an anti-psychotic medication. After a pause, Travis said “Sure.”
The doctor asked Travis if he noticed any positive effects of the medicine the last time he was on it.
He replied, “I can’t really remember,” He paused and furrowed his brow, looked at me, then looked back at the doctor, “But I have people who care about me, who think that I should try it, so I will.”
Shared by Nathan, Youth Worker at our Crisis Program