Myzen:

I'm so sorry you have to endure all that. Unfortunately, I think its more common than people will sometimes admit...

My grandparents were alot like you describe your parents. Went so far as to tell my schizophrenic aunt she "didn't need those meds" and "if she were strong enough she could "fix" herself" and all sorts of idiotic ideas. I love my grandparents but at that time they were just Ignorant with a capital "I".

Mental Illness is prevalent in our family, it was denial for them. Even though my grandfather had been diagnosed in the early 70's with manic depression, they still acted like they had no clue and all was well. His old-time family doctor told him "He had the ability to control his mania" and maybe that's where all that stuff stemmed from. It's hard to gauge the mind of another.

I know all three of their children (my mother included) are mentally ill. Two of them severely so. My uncle is in a constant state of psychosis, and has a wife that keeps him from going over the edge. I fear the day when something happens though. And my mother is DID, and has major recurrent depression, drug addiction and a whole host of other problems. It's bad.

Sometimes I think it's just that parents feel they're to "blame" and they can't handle that. I think its silly to believe that way, but then again, I'm just rambling

My mother's condition was in part a result of the actions of the one in a constant state of psychosis. My grandparents saw the signs in him (they admit now) but didn't want to do anything about it. So the girls were left with him unsupervised while they worked and they both have issues regarding it. They don't talk about it. They don't want to shoulder some of the blame. And they should..if they knew something was wrong and turned a blind eye to it. They are partly responsible.

Perhaps, since it is being proven that things of this nature run in families, one or both of your parents could've suffered from the same thing and it was just too much to "admit" you had a "problem" because they would have to face the same things within themselves.

I wish I knew how the human mind worked. Then I could get off these meds and be rich. LOL. I have turned this into an "about me" post and I'm sorry. I didn't really know what to say but wanted to comment, to let you know that you're definitely not alone. I am mentally ill. My mother accepts it because she has no choice. Well, parts of her admit it but others pretend nothing is wrong. My dad gets uncomfortable and starts fidgeting so I just stopped talking to him about it.

I'm lucky like you. I have a wonderful husband who is always there to listen and share his love with me no matter what. I also have THREE beautiful rambunctious (sometimes annoying) children and they help keep me grounded. When I'm sad, they always do something goofy to make me laugh. Even when it hurts.

You are very lucky and someone else commented on it. Be proud of yourself, you have broken the cycle of dysfunction. If your child ever comes to you, you'll know what NOT to do and you'll be even more empathetic and have more compassion for her. That's the way I look at it. None of us is immune to these things, but when you've dealt with them most of your life, you are blessed with an undeniable and unbelievable gift called compassion.

Sorry for the rambling.
Please take care.

Kimberly.