When Holly accompanied Ron to appointments, he did not always have accurate perceptions of his physical symptoms or behavior.
I would sit there and gently remind him, hey, is it okay if I talk? This is what I’m seeing. I’m not sure if I am right, but this is what I’m seeing. That was very helpful for the doctors and it was very helpful for psychiatrists. Unfortunately, they won’t talk to you if the person says I don’t want them to talk to you.
Holly recognized that Ron was an adult and health providers needed to comply with the law on privacy of healthcare information. She noted, “It is what it is with doctors. They can’t not follow the law and talk to you. You can’t do anything about it. It was harder when my child would do that.”
One time after Ron moved out, he told Holly he was suicidal. She called the crisis line and asked for someone to check on him. However, they refused to send someone out. She was told, “You are separated and you could be doing this to bother him and we will not go check on him.” Although Ron was an adult, Holly believed they should have checked on him since he was in crisis.