I work with Aboriginal youth and sometimes their lives can be rather difficult. One of the boys I work with was swarmed and severily injured, after a CT scan the doctor told him he had a "mild" concussion. My psychopharmacolgy professor had told us there is no such thing and I'm inclined to believe him.

Today I had to assist this boy's parents in getting their son into a psychiatric hospital because he had a psychotic episode complete with paranoid delusions and hallucinations. This had been building over the last 3 days but he was able to hold it together when speaking to professionals. Last night he barricaded himself in the family home and set glass. Bottles at every point of entry, so that he would have a warning when the zombies attacked. It sounds funny but thgere's nothing amusing about what he's going through. His father was afraid for his family's safety so he stayed up all night to make sure his son didn't injure himself or anyone else. They had already tried twice to get him admitted to hospital but he would run away and the ambulance and police would leave without him.

This morning he ran away again, his brother called me and we started looking for him, this time we were able to catch him and he is under observation for 72 hours, sedated and safe for now. I've been working with him for 6 years while he was on probation, it's been very hard for him but he was finally turning his life around, I was very much afraid for him and prayed that his life would not end this way. It's so hard to warn teens about the dangers they expose themselves to, sometimes they seem to go out of their way to do dangerous and stupid things but some of us are stiil out there pitching. Hopefully between the assault and the psychosis he will be scared enough to make changes in his life. To all our young peoiple, no matter how dark things seem there is always someone out there who cares about you, worries about you and loves you. Sometimes it's a parent, or a friend's parent, sometimes it's a sibling or a professional but there is always someone who will take the time to help. We minimise the impact of drugs especially pot and alcohol but they are destructive forces.

There are genetic factors that can impoact brain chemistry and cause you to react in unpredictable ways. I'm studying psychopharmacology so that oi can better assist thge kids I work with, and I am learning a lot about how different ethnic groups react to drugs. So please understand that there is no such thing as harmless drugs and that people who care are a far better way to cope with your stress. Before going completely of the deep end, this young man said he would always love me no matter what and he was concerned that he was causing me too much stress and was afraid that something woukd "happen to me" but in his psychotic state, his fears became real to him and he thought I was in hospital, it didn't help his mental state to think I was near death. I was really grateful to see all the posts from people who had concussions and telling how drug use caused them harm. I'll be showing these to him when he's released and hopefully this will help him turn around.