CONTRIBUTIONS
It all started about 3 years ago. Our Frank, then 17 years old, went to Spain with 3 friends on holiday. When he got back, he started to change. His whole doings. It was a wreck that came back. Before that it was a "healthy" Dutch boy, school, work, football, friends and going out, as every 17-year-old boy actually does. He called in sick after that holiday, he spent days and nights with his head in his hands. When I asked him what was going on, he said to me "I can't explain, you won't understand". It then went downhill with Frank. Actually it all started then, all the misery around his person. I got him to seek help from RIAGG, but after a few times he gave up again. At a certain point it got so out of hand, in terms of threats and vandalism that the police came into the picture. Last year in April (2001) there followed a forced admission to a psychiatry with a Legal Authorization (RM), had to be treated in a psychiatrist until August 2001. Clinic. First the Brinkgreven, because in the Western in Almelo there was no place. He was then transferred to the Western in Almelo. In June already, we got him home again with the message from the treating psych., that boy is okay "nature of the beast". I was right about something like this, something is not right here, Frank is really wrong, but what, we knew a lot. We immediately called in RIAGG Almelo, something is going wrong here, but no, there is no answer anywhere. We had Frank back home, with all the consequences that entailed. All the trouble just started all over again. It's too sad for words that they just let Frank run again, because in October 2001 it went completely wrong again. Threats of death to us, vandalism, rebuilding the whole lot and you name it, while he also had his good moments, I often didn't understand it, sometimes sweet and nice, and then suddenly turning into a "beast" ". On the evening of October 17, we got into a disagreement about money. Frank thought he was getting too little money, while he had enough to get through the day. But we got into a fight over then another "tender", he threw us into the windows, destroyed everything, Frank turned into a monster. Immediately actually called the police, because we were at the end of our "Latin", crisis team v/h RIAGG was also involved. We filed a report on their recommendation. And then the famous ball starts rolling. Frank then disappeared in the night, didn't come home all night. In the morning (October 18) he came back, we all (my husband, his brother 22 years and his sister of 16 years) had decided to go back to the RIAGG and to call the police. They came to our house and heard the story from us and less than an hour later they arrested Frank nearby. Then the Judicial Ball starts rolling again, Frank was locked up for 2 weeks at the police station in Almelo pending the investigation into him. Then, actually without our knowledge, he was taken to a PI-Ter Apel, because they didn't know where to take him. Through constant nagging at various authorities, we heard that he had been transferred from Ter Apel to PI-Arnhem-zuid (Blue-Band) in November. In the meantime, you're sitting pretty with your hands in your hair, because Frank had been 18, and being older, you don't have a leg to stand on, but a proverb says "perseverance wins". I found out the name of Frank's psychiatrist that he had been assigned by the court in Almelo, and who Frank's lawyer was. I then contacted them. Miraculously I got a hearing. This way we got a picture of how our Frank was doing, after 2 months that we had not seen or heard him. Frank was therefore in prison since November 2001 (IBA individual counseling - dept.) Arnhem-zuid to wait for the investigation into him. Because Frank was really wrong, but what, that still had to be investigated. We are those people from the [[ [IBA- Arnhem still very grateful for the way in which they took care of our Frank At first he didn't want to see us, but we still had telephone contact with the dept. of Frank went. In December, just before Christmas, we received a phone number, so take a chance and travel from Almelo to Arnhem. Did we do it then...........my husband and I............you have to visit your 19-year-old son in jail,............. it gave me shivers ...........I saw my son again...........a pathetic bunch of people............. Frank was not approachable then, but we were already very happy that you could see him again. Christmas and New Year's Eve 2001, KLOTEN.............for everyone.............but keep smiling, keep the courage in it. At the end of January you will hear very carefully through the psych. from Frank that he might be suffering from "schizophrenia". A subsequent examination of a second psychiatrist. We had to wait, and yes, we heard through the judge in Almelo on April 24, 2002, that Frank really had "schizophrenia" and that he had to be admitted to a hospital for at least a year. Clinic. That was in April 2002, but yes there are waiting lists everywhere, so Frank had to wait another 4 months, until September 9, 2002, for his transfer from a prison to a "clinic-Brinkgreven -Deventer". Not to forget, in January 2002 someone who had a hold on Frank in PI-Arnhem more or less forced him to take a “Risperdal ". On their advice we did not visit Frank at the time, but we did have daily telephone contact with the IBA department, how things were going with Frank. It was said, give him a moment, and let it all sink in for a while. In February just before my birthday, our Frank called home herself.............from "mom" "come to see me now" "we went flying" "to Arnhem" it was a night and day difference, frank in October 2001 and then in February 2002. It has been an agony of 11 months. But again on September 9, Frank was transferred to Deventer. To the open ward where all kinds of "schizophrenic" people are treated. But after 11 months of "humming", Frank still couldn't handle freedom. Went wrong in terms of drugs and drinking on the weekend. So it became the closed department, with certain freedoms. For the first few weekends, Frank only came home on Saturdays. And that's going to get better, for him and for us. Frank will have to learn to deal with his "illness". With the help of others, we hope that Frank will do better in the future. In any case, we continue to have hope, and you will find out about it via the internet -reading books -watching movies "a beautiful mind" -via you etc. At the moment Frank is doing quite well, it's starting to get through to him a bit that something is "really" wrong with him. He even admits now that he hears "voices", and that's a lot for him to admit. For me, but also for him I have "printed" "internet sites" that might be useful for him and for us, and hopefully he will find the peace to read through them one day, because he doesn't have the patience for this yet.