Randye Kaye: No Meds No Bed And Other Reality Checks

About this episode

Send us Fan Mail Your child is still in there, but the signal keeps getting buried under noise. That’s the reality we sit with alongside Randye Kaye, broadcaster, author of Ben Behind His Voices, and co-host of Schizophrenia, Three Moms in the Trenches, as we talk about what it really looks like when severe mental illness hits a family and never fully lets go. We get specific about the early “maybe it’s just teen stuff” phase, the long road to a schizophrenia diagnosis, and why education like NAMI Family-to-Family can flip confusion into clarity. Randy and I also dig into a topic caregivers wrestle with every day: the growing evidence connecting cannabis use and psychosis risk, and how substance use can rapidly destabilize someone who was functioning yesterday. Then we face the hardest part: anosognosia, homelessness, and the legal and clinical thresholds that leave families stuck watching the slow-motion emergency. We unpack HIPAA misconceptions, why conservatorship often doesn’t mean you can “make” treatment happen, and the ethical boundary-setting that protects spouses, siblings, and grandkids when the person you love won’t accept help. To close, Randye shares her BREATHE fr