This story hits close to home for me because the mentally ill man went missing from the same hospital my son was in last year. He ran away from the hospital about 18 months ago. His mother has been tirelessly looking for him ever since.
I’m glad the NYT is covering it. There was no pay wall when I clicked on the article.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/us/maine-mother-missing-son.html
Although I can’t access the article, I understand the fear that this mother is experiencing. My brother, who lived alone several states away from family, disappeared as an adult. We were unbelievably fortunate to stumble on a police officer who went over & above the call of duty to help us find him. It was so scary, and it took a long time to find him (we were lucky that it turned out well in our case). My brothers and I did all the legwork, though, never telling our parents what was going on (he often stopped communicating for months at a time, so they didn’t suspect anything unusual). My brother was living in his car, on the other side of the state he lived in. He had an apartment, a job and some savings, but he just left it all and was living in his car. We ended up helping him retire early & he moved in with another brother. That brother passed away a couple years later, so we helped this brother move back near the three remaining siblings. We had numerous scares over subsequent years, because he often would not communicate … more than a couple welfare checks by the police. He is gone now, after suffering two hemorrhagic strokes in a short period of time (our parents were deceased by then). There are no words to express the sadness we have for the struggles he faced in life. My heart goes out to you, @MaineLonghorn, and to the mother in the story … we love our children so much, and mental illness robs so much from them and from their families.
Oh, wow, that’s really tough!
My husband’s sister probably has schizophrenia, but she would never get help. She was staying with her daughter in Texas, but suddenly left and flew to Madison, Wisconsin, her home town. She’s been on the streets or in homeless shelters for months. Mutual friends have been emailing us, demanding that the family do something. Sigh. We’ve tried everything, I won’t even go into all the details. She won’t get help, and won’t stay in any housing situation more than a few months, because she gets paranoid.
She stopped answering her phone a few weeks ago. Her sweet son-in-law flew to Madison and searched for her. He found her, and apparently she had some stuff (?) she wouldn’t leave, so he rented a van and drove her all the way back to the far southern tip of Texas. This just happened a few days ago, so I’m not sure what the next step is. She must not be doing well if she agreed to go with him. The family lives in a small house and has three teenagers living at home. We’ve told her she can stay with us if she agrees to see a counselor (not even a doctor), but she refuses.
I’m in several Facebook groups for families who have ill loved ones, and the number of sad stories is staggering and heartbreaking. 
I read this on Boston.com yesterday, and you actually came to mind @MaineLonghorn My heart truly aches for this mother.
I feel truly blessed that my son is in an excellent housing situation and is happy. Thursday night, he and I are going to drive around to look at Christmas lights, then he wants to take me to dinner. 
The new six-month injectable med he’s on is a life changer for him.
My friend’s brother disappeared a few years ago, but she knew he was still around, sometimes his old friends would see or hear from him, but he didn’t contact his sisters (bi=polar). Then, on july 2 (before covid so probably 2019) she ran into him in a parking lot less than a mile from her home. He was staying in a motel along the street (basically a business area surrounded by neighborhoods). He promised to come to her house on July 4. I was talking to her on July 4 and she said “Gotta go. He’s going to be here at 6.” No show. She was crushed. At about 7 she called the motel and they told her he’d been taken to ‘the hospital’ in an ambulance that day. She went crazy calling the nearby hospitals (she’s an old reporter so IMO did it the hard way). The hospital claims they tried to contact her but had a bad number.
Anyway, her brother was in very bad shape and lived for about 2 weeks, never regaining consciousness. we were all very relieved to know what had happened to him (I’d known him for 20 years).
I wish everyone could have a tracker implanted so we’d know what happened if they go missing.
Oh, my, that’s so sad. I can’t even imagine.
Working as a therapist for a community mental health clinic in Brooklyn, with several clients that had/have significant mental health diagnoses including delusions, I have seen long-lasting injectable meds as a great solution. I had a client who knew he needed the injectable since he had skipped oral versions of the same med during a flare of his symptoms. The monthly injection lets him be the stay-at-home parent for his and partner’s 6-year-old son, who he walks to and from school every day, overcoming his paranoid feelings to do so.
@MaineLonghorn I recall how hard you’ve fought for your son. It’s certainly not easy, and not everyone has someone to advocate for them, nor lives somewhere where decent care is available. 
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