Annie…
I normally don’t reply on exclusively dope threads, but your post touched me.

The reason mental illness has such a stigma is because it profoundly affects who we are at our core. Nothing is more us than our personality, our conscious contact with each other. And diseases of the mind steal that from us.

If your sister had her eyes stolen from her, she would still be her. If her legs were stolen she would still be your little sister. But when her personality was stolen, someone else filled that void. Maybe someone not so nice.

Just try to remember she slipped into the shadows long ago, and that someone else, pretending to be her was all that was left behind.

Also, you might want to think that her daughter, now free of that someone else, is in your life now to offer a way for you to reconnect with the old Susan using herself as the conduit.

Just a thought,
Richard