Why Buy This Book?

The proposal for my book, tentatively titled Lucid on Demand: Recognizing Diogenes Syndrome continues to evolve, now that I've begun collecting stories from others. Those stories (and my own, of course) form the backbone of the book, interwoven with the clinical information and interviews with various people involved with the care of Diogenes sufferers -- doctors, caregivers, and crisis workers. The book will focus on ways to recognize the syndrome so that help and/or intervention can happen before the situation becomes critical. The book will also tackle the central conundrum of Diogenes -- how to help someone who refuses help, when self-neglect becomes life-threatening and social services are powerless to step in. It's clear that Diogenes Syndrome is not at all rare, and so many lives are touched by it.

Shared Experience

I've been browsing the Net for more information for the book. I came across a couple of websites with articles on Diogenes Syndrome -- but also a wealth of posts by people in situations very similar to mine: they're living with, related to or acquainted with someone who exhibits Diogenes symptoms. In nearly all the posts, the frustration comes through very clearly. One writer asked, "is there any help out there?" I couldn't resist posting back, "not much." Some posters advised helping the sufferer clean up the house. The only problem is, it's a temporary fix.

I also found a painting called The Diogenes Syndrome by George Adamson, a British painter who captured very clearly the look of Diogenes Syndrome. Makes me feel inclined to post up my pix of Carole's room.

The Price We Pay

Recent events in my situation remind me that Diogenes Syndrome costs a lot. A person who's discovered in a state of self-neglect may have health problems ranging from the minor to the severe. They end up either in the mental health or the medical system, where they're evaluated, treated (often at taxpayer expense) and, because they're lucid and considered competent, sent back home where the cycle begins again. And again. Social services are helpless when an individual presents as competent -- even if their behavior says otherwise.
I had a conversation the other day with the social worker at the rehab center where my ex-sister-in-law is recovering from her third bout with MRSA. She told me frankly that in cases like this, where an individual appears competent and able to make their own decisions (even bad ones), the only option is to "allow her to fail" -- to come to crisis as a result of her own actions or lack thereof: the only scenario in which anybody can intervene.
We tend to believe (maybe because we want to believe) that individuals will act in their own best interest. If you get hungry enough, you'll eat your peas, as it were. But what's so hard to understand about Diogenes Syndrome is that this is not always the case. These individuals will ignore basic needs, let severe health problems go untreated, all the while insisting that everything is fine and demanding to be left alone. And so, leaving someone to the consequences of their own (bad) decisions is a tricky proposition that ultimately puts them back into the care of a system that is powerless to do anything more than treat the presenting symptom and release them to the same situation. It's this cycle that sets up the sufferer for more suffering and the community for more expenses from repeated care.