Help a person with mental illness?

[SCSIfreek]

I was wondering if anyone had knowledge of helping a person with mental illness. One of my friend's sister(33 years old) has mental problems and it is driving their entire family crazy. At times, she acts all normal, but often she'll go all crazy(abusive). I was told that couple times his mom was abused by her sister. She pulled her mom's hair and trys to slam her head into the wall and kicked her in the back while she was trying to get up from the floor. I was like WTF!!! Can't you call the cops on her? well they didnt and let it go. The sister has been admitted to the hospital numerous times but was discharged shortly after. doctors said they can't lock her up and she seems normal to them.

Recently, he told me that his sister threatens to purchase a gun and kill their entire family. :Q They did try to get help from state agencies but none of the social workers care much for the case and left them hanging. I was wondering if there is anything else he could do to ease this problem or get help from other agencies. Appreicate any experience or help.


--Scsi

 

[squirrel dog]

Sounds manic . There are drugs that can make her stable,but only a Dr. can evaluate and perscribe. Sorry to hear it and good luck to you .

 

[Platypus]

Listen to her.

 

[Mill]

They need to call the police when she is doing something crazy. After several trips to court an order can be issued that requires her to get help or face time in a mental hospital.

 

[SCSIfreek]

According to my friend, she's not willing to take those drugs.


--Scsi

 

[Shade4ever]

Hmm...if she's making threats to the family, but acting normal when she's in the hospital, and thus they can't keep her, I'd say someone needs to collect proof that she is in fact nuts to present to the doctors/judge (if it's been to court yet), etc.... I hear they sell little tape recorders...and little tapes to put in them. That's my suggestion, right there.

 

[SCSIfreek]

Originally posted by: Millennium
They need to call the police when she is doing something crazy. After several trips to court an order can be issued that requires her to get help or face time in a mental hospital.

They did call the police couple times but once the police arrive she'll act all normal. My friend currently lives out of state and couldn't do anything about it. In addition, their parents could hardly speak any english but the mental sister speaks english fluently. Wish I could do something to help him out but I'm in California and his family lives in Hawaii.


--Scsi

 

[Anubis]

commit her

 

[Azraele]

If she's threatening them, they can get a restraining order against her.

 

[Platypus]

People are so quick to just 'lock up that nutcase.' Just try listening to her, asking her what's wrong. Her rage is not normal and needs treatment, but you need to know what the problem is before you can treat her.

 

[SCSIfreek]

Originally posted by: Azraele
If she's threatening them, they can get a restraining order against her.

She happens to live under the same roof with their parents. she does not work but the parents works more than 8 hours a day.


--Scsi

 

[rudeguy]

she's bi polar...my kids mom is too...I deal with it every day...there are meds that will help her, but she has to take them....if it get really bad her family can have her comitted for up to 72 hours for a psycho evalution...they will determine if she is a threat to herself/anyone else...beyond that all you can do is distance yourself from that person

 

[Azraele]

Originally posted by: SCSIfreek

Originally posted by: Azraele
If she's threatening them, they can get a restraining order against her.

She happens to live under the same roof with their parents. she does not work but the parents works more than 8 hours a day.


--Scsi

Perhaps that needs to change. How old is she?

 

[SCSIfreek]

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation
People are so quick to just 'lock up that nutcase.' Just try listening to her, asking her what's wrong. Her rage is not normal and needs treatment, but you need to know what the problem is before you can treat her.

She gets frustrate over same things and does not listen to anyone else other than herself. if both parents are working full time, I dont think there could be anyone to take care of her. come to think of it this is sad. I mean you'll have to be a full time caretaker just to take care of her.

 

[SCSIfreek]

shes 33 years old <---- jobless Damn!!!!!

 

[BatmanNate]

Asking a mental illness question on this board? Talk about the blind leading the blind...

 

[ggavinmoss]

My uncle is has, well, issues. When he is medicated, he's mostly fine. She sounds like she needs to get into some counseling, get on some medication, and maybe live away from the family (group home, etc.) If she can turn her lunacy on and off at a whim (when the police are there), then maybe she's just a bitch...

-geoff

 

[SCSIfreek]

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
Asking a mental illness question on this board? Talk about the blind leading the blind...

thats is why we have a Offtopic forum? i'm just trying to get input from others on this board. Since we have over 10,000 members I'm sure someone might shed some important information? Thank you for your input.

--Scsi

 

[brxndxn]

I was wondering if anyone had knowledge of helping a person with mental illness. One of my friend's sister(33 years old) has mental problems and it is driving their entire family crazy. At times, she acts all normal, but often she'll go all crazy(abusive). I was told that couple times his mom was abused by her sister. She pulled her mom's hair and trys to slam her head into the wall and kicked her in the back while she was trying to get up from the floor. I was like WTF!!! Can't you call the cops on her? well they didnt and let it go. The sister has been admitted to the hospital numerous times but was discharged shortly after. doctors said they can't lock her up and she seems normal to them.

Recently, he told me that his sister threatens to purchase a gun and kill their entire family. They did try to get help from state agencies but none of the social workers care much for the case and left them hanging. I was wondering if there is anything else he could do to ease this problem or get help from other agencies. Appreicate any experience or help.


--Scsi

Don't let it go untreated!!! My mom has a mental illness, though not near as bad as that girl's, and it's crazy sometimes. Like, it will be totally impossible not to make her extremely pissed off for no special reason.

Find out if there's a "Baker Act" in your state.. You might be able to send her for psychiatric evaluation for 3 days. BTW, I totally know how that is. Once, when my mom was really bad, my dad called the police on her.. Then, she acted completely normal and it made my dad look like an ass - even though my dad was completely justified in calling the police.

Get one of those 'gun threats' on tape, and there will be no problem getting her admitted for a long time. Seriously, throwing her in an institution for a month will be a lot better than dealing with your dead family.

 

[LH]

She needs to be on medication. If she refuses to take it there really nothing anyone can do. It sounds as if she is bi-polar. She probably doesnt have a job because she cant hold one down. People with severe bi-polar cant function enough to hold down a job, or hold any resposibilities. Like I said theres nothing anyone can do if she refuses to take medication.

The only thing the family can do is get a restraining order, but that would likely cause more problems and might actually push her over the edge of doing something to herself or her family. Going to jail would likely have the same result.

Shes a ticking timebomb, and theres nothing anyone can do.

 

[bleeb]

run!!

 

[LH]

Get one of those 'gun threats' on tape, and there will be no problem getting her admitted for a long time.

Only a court order can put someone in a treatment facility for more than 3 days. Just a threat wont get her put in there.

She would have to be found mentally incompetent, and thats not likely to happen.

 

[SCSIfreek]

Shes a ticking timebomb, and theres nothing anyone can do.

That is what I'm afraid of. My friend will go crazy if anything ever happens to his parents. they're old and helpless

--Scsi

 

[DumbRedGuy]

Originally posted by: SCSIfreek

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
Asking a mental illness question on this board? Talk about the blind leading the blind...

thats is why we have a Offtopic forum? i'm just trying to get input from others on this board. Since we have over 10,000 members I'm sure someone might shed some important information? Thank you for your input.

--Scsi

Yeah, don't listen to what any of us say. None of us are doctors who have met the person.

With that said, I'll throw in my two cents (as a lowly psych major). She may be manic, but true mania (or even hypomania) is something that lasts for a while--the DSM IV says a manic episode has to last 2 weeks to count for bipolar I. It entails MORE than just being violent. Does she spend money too freely, have delusions of grandeur, hardly sleep at all? She sounds like she has psychotic symptoms. She's being violent or crazy. Also, if she was bipolar she would have a depressive state, too. Having only mania is very, very rare.

She does need to see a psychiatrist. Only they can diagnose her.

 

[Toasthead]

Originally posted by: SCSIfreek
According to my friend, she's not willing to take those drugs.


--Scsi

If they can establish a behavior background and get a court order, people can be forced to take their medications. They will need to be placed on conservatorship, and most likely addmitted to a pshyciatric facility( i used to work at a locked psych facility). The county has conservators, or a family member can be one also, all it is is someone who is there to look out for the best intrests of the person and has the legal authority to force medication on someone.

edit: One thing you can do is when she is acting up, call the police and have them do a 5150 on her which gives them 72 hours to evaluate. It seems as if the medical professionals are not being very helpful though, so I dont know if this would help. Just make sure you keep calling the cops when she is acting up, They will get fed up and kind of force the issue with the doctors.