I'm just gonna get right to the point - I (m17) have schizophrenia. I am not diagnosed, but I have fit the criteria for a diagnosis for several years now. I have developed the symptoms of sz in an almost textbook manner, and my family has a history of psychotic disorders. 

I have suffered so much from psychosis, and the negative symptoms have made it extremely difficult to maintain my physical health and hygiene. I sleep all day and feel absolutely miserable all the time. I've lost almost all of my friends, and the thought of trying to go back to school or get a job sounds basically impossible.

But my mother just thinks I'm lazy, and isn't letting me see a psychiatrist.



I saw a psychologist for a couple of years for milder mental health issues (depression, anxiety, gender dysphoria, etc) , but then when I started describing my psychotic symptoms to her she said she wasn't qualified to handle that sort of thing, and encouraged me to see a psychiatrist instead. 

So I got her (psychologist) to write me a referral for a psychiatrist, and she even gave me a list of local ones I could see. But when I tried to get my mother to help me get an appointment with one of them, she just kept giving excuses and putting it off. That was almost two years ago.

The problem is that I can't do anything by myself, because I rely on my mother for everything to do with appointments for doctors and everything else like that because she handles all the paperwork and bills, and she has to drive me everywhere because of where we live, and I don't have my license. She's humoured me by taking me to our General Practitioner to talk to him and get a referral to a psychiatrist (which we already had), but still hasn't done anything actually helpful.



I think maybe because I hide my symptoms so well, she doesn't understand how much I'm struggling. I thought maybe if I make sure she sees me when I'm having an episode, or even stage one, she'll get the message and start putting in effort to help me. I told my friend about this plan and she said it sounded manipulative, but I think it's ok because of how important this issue is.

But now I'm not sure if I should just wait until I'm 18 so I can move out, get government financial help, and just fix the problem by myself. I know doing that will be extremely difficult, but at least I know it'll get done. I just don't know if I can wait that long.



So would I be in the wrong for playing up my psychosis symptoms to get medical / psychiatric attention? Or is my mother in the wrong for not helping sooner?