Nicole
I too thought she was psychotic when I watched the episode. My brother has schizophrenia and he acted a lot like Cristy when he’s not taking his medication properly. The little drawings, the whole God thing, the numbers and codes, the diagrams, not to mention the filthy bedroom… I’ve seen it all. My brother makes the exact same types of drawings/writings as Cristy.
Like Cristy, he has a God complex. Even while medicated my brother insisted we call him Apollo (named after the Greek God of music) his “true spirit name.” He thinks he’s a God at playing the guitar but refuses to learn any songs because “that’s copycatting” and so what he plays has no rhythm, no rhyme or reason. It’s rather awful. But when a guy befriended him at the mall and asked if he wanted to play with his band he said he wasn’t really good, and refused the offer so idk if he’s in touch with reality about his skills or not.
He also rants to himself about various things,
(sometimes purposefully talking sh*t so the person will hear) about how he’s the star of the family and he’s been oppressed by the entire family from becoming a rock star like he’s supposed to be. While unmedicated, he thought everyone was out to get him and became violent at times. Once he hit my little sister who was 12 or so at the time (now she’s 18) over the head really hard in the middle of the night while she was asleep because “a spirit guided him to” and then 20 minutes later came back and said, “So Kim, do you ever think about sex?” After that Kim has been scared of being alone in the same room as him.
I also think my brother exhibits some antisocial behavior such as stealing, lying, manipulating, and just plain being an asshole to people for no reason. He also fits in the guidelines of the McDonald triad – bedwetting until a late age, cruelty to animals (he killed my sister’s rabbit, shut the cat in the freezer, swung kittens around by their tails) and had an interest in fire as a child. Growing up I could never trust anything he said because he was a pathological liar and manipulator.
I know this thread is about Cristy, so thank you all for letting me discuss my brother because a lot of people don’t understand what it’s like to deal with and unmedicated schizophrenic. Thankfully he’s medicated currently, however if he didn’t live with my parents and trying to take care of himself I doubt he’d be taking meds, which is where Cristy comes in…
In her case, I don’t know that the bottom lines her parents set were actually in her best interest. In her case I feel like her parents stepping in and taking the reigns would be the best option. She clearly can’t take care of herself. She needs to get off of meth obviously, but in order for her to do that I think she needs to be taking medication, go to an inpatient program that can handle psychosis rather than a traditional residential facility. After that, I think she would need a lot of support from family not just to stay clean but to manage her psychosis. If my brother weren’t living with my parents and was left to fend for himself, he’d probably be in the exact same situation as Cristy. My parents had to get him court ordered to take medication which wasn’t easy. They basically had to press charges on him when he hit my brother so they could get a judge to require him to take medication in order for the charge to be dropped which was kinda messed up but they had run out of options. Keeping their bottom lines isn’t working because her problem isn’t just drugs IMO. She needs help desperately. I have some severe mental health issues as well (PTSD, depression, anxiety, ADHD…) and wasn’t able to get clean and get out of survival mode without the help of medication, including methadone and my parents supporting me. I think the same might hold true for Cristy.
I feel sad that she isn’t doing well however I am not surprised given the circ*mstances. And I’m sure her parents have tried to help in the best way they know how. I really hope she gets better and heals. I am sure there is that same sweet Cristy inside but it’s being covered up by drugs and psychosis of some sort.
December 22, 2017
