My grandmother has mental illness. I love her so much, all the same. Fast forward, my mother raised me by herself single, Christian, and when I was 14 decided it was time for me to see her drinking/using and since than I have been in foster care, etc but I am now an adult and living with her again, to my dismay.
Anyway, she has had several doctors give her all kinds of psych drugs, for everything from manic episodes to depression to anxiety, you name it she probably has a pill for it. Oh wait, she dealt those away and still managed to walk away without a profit! AGH! If you're gonna risk prison time (shes on probation) than at least do something worthwhile! Anyway, she has episodes. It just basically looks like she's talking to herself, moaning, whimpering, crying hysterically, screaming,shouting random words like "connected" and repeating it like an Autistic person, accusing me of bizarre intentions (example: I meant to hurt her by putting her laundry on a chair to put mine in), basically looks like the crazy lady on Sweeney Todd "Mischief! Mischief! Sign of the devil!" etc. Oh, and everything is connected to her and a "set up" and "murder" and the phone lines are tapped(that reminds me of my grandmother's schizophrenia). I thought she was slipping into mental illness...until I just right now found a small ziploc bag with white residue inside! I am HEATED! I was starting to take care of her and cater to her (cook her dinner without her asking, agree to her "plans") because I thought she couldn't help herself, than I discover that she's purposely blowing her mind up like a condemned building! This is realistically, probably about the 20th or so time that this has happened, about every few months she gets caught by me, and those are only the times when I catch her. Anyway, I think the similarities between psychosis and, I guess, meth(she was arrested for it before so I am just assuming) are so strong that it's easy to confuse if you have a history of mental illness in the family. (or am I so far in denial, I am making an excuse yet again?) Thoughts on this?
wow treevenge you got your hands full hun. now it could be both mental illness and drug use. until she is checked out by a doctor you can't really know for sure. i can suggest if you can get her to a doc that would be great, but in the mean time i do know of several options you can check into. there is na meetings of course. you can go to open meetings and learn. there is also nami.org check out the website it is on mental illness and has info, resources and support. there may be a chapter near you. i'm so sorry hun. dealing with some one with paranoia is diffiicult, my mom in her older years and daddy to went the dementia route. please let us know what else we can do for you and how we can support you hun.
Hi Treevenge, this is so tough and I understand your predicament, you want to be there for your mother. Is she willing to seek treatment? I think that would be the first step for her. She needs to be admitted to a treatment center and taken care of by professionals at this stage. I am really so sorry for what you are going through, please know that we are here for you.