After regular Baker Act committals, program helps teen
News-JournalMay 19, 2019
The 19-year-old from
"He was being very violent. And he did put his hands on me," said his mother,
But given the troubles of Caleb's life, the fact this lapse was not worse is something of a victory.
Caleb, an otherwise soft-spoken young man who finally landed a paying job and hopes to work in sports medicine, spent most of his early and mid-adolescence in and out of mental health crisis units.
It was before his condition had been fully diagnosed, and his prescribed medication was wanting.
He was bullied. He had violent outbursts at home and at school. He regularly threatened suicide. And at one point, he was getting committed under the Baker Act nearly every other week.
The boy's troubling behavior, his later mood swings and propensity to violence -- seemingly without remorse -- even prompted one psychiatrist to tell the
So much happened, and so much of it seems like a blur to Caleb.
"A lot of this has been going on for so long that I don't remember a lot," Caleb said.
Then, when he was 16, after one of his threats to kill himself and another Baker Act evaluation at the David Lawrence Center in
It turns out that Caleb, now 19, was on the autism spectrum, something multiple mental health professionals he encountered failed to notice, according to his family. He got different medications and found a mental health counselor who is helping him control his impulses.
He soon got an internship with the
Before his last behavioral lapse -- the first serious one in years -- Caleb said he hoped those days were behind him.
"There are times when I have some issues, but it doesn't get to that point anymore," he said.
But the family knows there will never be a treatment silver bullet. Caleb's problems will never just go away.
They consider themselves lucky because of the help from the David Lawrence Center and that they have the means to aggressively work to find him treatment. But they worry about Caleb's future.
He is transitioning into the working world. He still lives with his parents, but if he is committed under the Baker Act again, now as an adult, law enforcement officers would not be required to contact them.
"I feel like there are times that I need it," he said. "But I think there are times when I need my own space and think I'm fine on my own. But I do think there are times -- like when I get Baker Acted - what would I have done if she wasn't there?"
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