The National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI) defines schizophrenia as a serious mental illness that interferes with a person's ability "to think, manage emotions, make decisions and relate to others." According to its website, schizophrenia affects about 1 percent of Americans.
NAMI said a person must be experiencing hallucinations, delusion, negative symptoms, cognitive issues and disorganized thinking to be diagnosed with the personality disorder.
The organization said that a person must be monitored for over six months with the disorder, but in Venzor's case, he was diagnosed in a short amount of time.
Dr. William T. Carpenter said that psychiatrists will usually know of a patient's history before the diagnosis. Those who are diagnosed with the illness "have been psychotic for almost three years before their diagnosis, said the professor of psychiatry at the University of Maryland's School of Medical Science.
"When the psychiatrist sees a troubled person and thinks they may have schizophrenia. You already have a lot of background history," said Carpenter.
It is not clear whether or not Venzor had previous history with the Del Amo Behavioral Health System.
Schizophrenia can be found in other mental illnesses, such as bipolar, depression and Alzheimer's disease. People living withschizophrenia report an average delay of 8.5 years between onset symptoms and the beginning of their treatment. It lies dormant until men and women are in their teens and 20s.
In addition to what she believes was a misdiagnosis, Morrison said her son was overmedicated while at Del Amo and that his mood went back to normal once he was at home.
"The minute he stopped the medications is when he got better," Morrison said. "He went back to being my fun, JoJo."
She also states that her son was given a cocktail drug to calm him down after he repeatedly stared down a few people at the center.
The family has not followed up with a health care professional to see if their assumptions are valid.
Del Amo's Negative Reviews
This is not the first time that someone has accused Del Amo Hospital of overmedicating their patients. In 2013, Cheryl Einhorn alleges she was misdiagnosed and over-prescribed medications. She pressed charges for medical malpractice. The request was dismissed Jan. 8, 2014.
After a short online investigation, it appeared that Yelp, a website used to review local restaurants and businesses, was filled with negative reviews from former patients and their family members.
Yelp user, GlamCam, said they would not recommend the Del Amo Hospital's adolescent division. She claimed that the staff falsified medical records and did not follow state regulations, while her daughter was at their facility. She continued to write that the doctor would only spend a couple of minutes with her daughter and never truly evaluated her.
Other users, like, Miryam M. and Areli P., wrote, "The place is a prison that gives children Benadryl at 5 p.m. so that the staff doesn't have to deal with them and that doctors and social workers are never around." Areli said that when she spoke to her son, he said he had only been seen by a nurse and that she had "zero luck in locating the licensed professionals."
Another user pleads with Yelp readers to "not send their kids here" in all capital letters.
"0ne time the staff was telling one of the girls that was there with me that she loves working with adults in mental hospitals because they get to restrain them & they get to watch them "scratch their eyes out," she wrote.
"Not all reviews on the hospital are negative, Shelley L. said she loved it there.
"I see all the rude comments about how horrible it is to be there, and I'm so confused... I'd consider this place so much better than prison," said the user.
Del Amo Behavioral Health System is a part of Del Amo Hospital. Their adult psychiatric program is designed to help patients "acquire the tools they need to navigate any mental health issues they may be exploring."
The hospital is run by chief executive officer, Lisa K Montes and medical director, Peter B Hirsch. Both have been members of staff since the 90s and specialize in mental health assistance. Hirsch is a UCLA graduate and served a psychiatric residency. Their online biographies state that they seek to offer "a professional and caring environment.”
The accusations of misdiagnosis and overmedication do not end with Efroin or Venzor. Jaden Prendeau is another individual speaking out against Del Amo's psychiatric practices. The transgender male was transported to Del Amo from the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles after a severe anxiety attack.
In a 2016 Medium article, Prendeu wrote, "I had a five-minute conversation with the doctor. In that five minutes, he was on his cell phone. [He was] texting and scrolling through Facebook. He asked me questions, and then interrupted me as I tried to answer," he continues. "From that five-minute conversation, he was able to diagnose me with borderline personality disorder, depression and anxiety. He was able to prescribe me medications that he "knew" would cure my problems."
Today, Prendaeu is a mental health advocate who is speaking out against psychiatric hospital abuse. In his article, he said that he filed a complaint with the hospital for mistreatment, but his complaint was dismissed.
“A patient advocate called me back dismissing my complaint because I was hospitalized for a reason," said Prendaeu.
Prendeau said he is now seeking help from LGBT legal aids and is determined to take this place down for their transphobic policies that go against basic civil rights."
Neither Montes or Hirsch have been contacted for a statement regarding the negative Yelp reviews, Jaden's experience or Morrison's claim of misdiagnosis.
Cultural Divide
Venzor is still reluctant to take his medication and culturally his response is expected.
"A lot of people with schizophrenia don't like taking medicine because when they have it, they feel a sense of euphoria," said Darrell Wilkins. Wilkins is a physician assistant at the Los Angeles Veteran Affairs Hospital. He said that because the medication tends to dull an individuals' "euphoria" it discourages them from remaining on medication on a consistent basis.
According to NAMI, 83 percent of Hispanics are misdiagnosed with the personality disorder. If Venzor has been misdiagnosed, then he would fall under this statistic.
Venzor is of Mexican-American descent, but his mother was adopted and is only slightly sure that her heritage originated from Mexico. His father Pedro Venzor has roots in Mexico and identifies as Mexican-American.
Between Sessions podcast hosts and licensed therapists, Eliza Borquin and Eboni Harris say that misdiagnosis is common in African-American and Latino communities. The licensed family therapists are the founders of Melanin and Mental Health -an online community that directs African-Americans and Latinos to therapists from the same ethnic background. Their podcast discusses difficult subjects, such as, "Why Don't Black and Brown Families Go to Therapy?"
"Everyone is trained under the same general system. It is not set up with communities in mind," said Boquin and Harris.
A 2014 study in theWorld Journal of Psychiatryreports that clinicians need to be well-versed in cultural sensitivity.
"African-American and Hispanic patients are...more likely to be diagnosed as having schizophrenia, even when measures of psychopathology do not indicate that a diagnosis of schizophrenia is justified," reads the study.
In Venzor's case, he showed signs of schizophrenia, but his mother said it was only due to the heavy amounts of stress he was dealing with at the time. Morrison said that Venzor was a full-time student and living with his father in a high-stress environment --a recipe for disaster.
"As human beings, when we're trying to cope, we can only cope so well so long, and eventually the symptoms start to pop up. These dysfunctional patterns start to be seen in our ability to handle it," said Dr. MarySue Heilemann.
Heilemann is an associate professor at the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA). She is a leading researcher in the use of transmedia in health interventions to mental health.
Morrison said that Venzor does not like to talk about his diagnosis. He is one of the many Latinos who struggles to talk about mental health in their households, or even seek care. This is regardless of whether or not they receive help or depending on their type of insurance.
The Los Angeles Department of Mental Health reports that in the 2015-2016 year, out of the 1,027,199 adults who were certified and Medi-Cal eligible, only 20,980 attended five or more special mental health services in Los Angeles County.
NAMI's multicultural fact sheet shows that 5.5 percent of Hispanic males and 9.2 percent of Hispanic females sought out mental health care between the years 2008-2012.
Cypress Community College professor Dragana Filip said that a lack of consistency or even negative feelings of therapy stems from a much more significant issue.
"They don't seek or find somebody that has the same culture and usually will not seek treatment. It's unfortunate," said the psychiatrist technician instructor and former psychiatric nurse.
Filip said the only solution is for more licensed psychiatrists. "There are a lot of therapists and counselors out there, but there's not a lot of psychiatrists. A psychologist cannot write prescriptions. So, that's why a lot of people are not getting the proper treatment because they have to see a psychiatrist," said the instructor.
A lack of these mental health professionals creates another barrier of long wait times for those of Medi-CAL, Affordable Care (ACA), Medicaid and HMO insurance plans.
For those on Medi-Cal and Medicaid, "It usually takes about a month to get seen by the psychiatrist," said Filip.
She continues and tell me that others on ACA or HMO are seen in two weeks, but need a referral from their primary doctor.
"Our healthcare system is so lousy in general than it's terrible for people with mental illness on average," said Dr. Carpenter.
For those who do seek care, the lack of consistency still exists. "People want a quick fix, and it doesn't happen, so they stop coming," said Boquin. In her opinion, this is due to patients seeking an in and out solution to their illness.
"We need more providers, more resources, more outreach," said Filip.
Venzor did not have the option to leave Del Amo whenever he sought necessary. He was inside of Del Amo for about 4 months. The 21-year-old now lives at home with his mother. She said he is still not on his medications. Dr. Carpenter said that while Venzor might feel better, he could be making his personality disorder worse in the long run
“If he doesn’t take his medication, he's more likely to have a relapse,” said Carpenter.
This investigation is still in progress. Statements from Del Amo were inquired only a few hours before publishing and could change the updated outcome of this story.