[spacegirl17]

Hi all. I’ve never written on an online forum before but I will do my best to explain my situation. It’s concerning my sister (she’s 18) and the reality that I think she’s losing her mind, but I don’t know how to get her help. To give a little background history, my mother was both physically and mentally abusive towards us as kids. She was violent, suffered from hallucinations in her most agitated state, made a number of suicide attempts, and was addicted to benzodiazepines (klonopin). We cut off all contact with her but a few years later, we came to find out that she has Bipolar Type I, although I still have my doubts about the diagnosis.

My sister didn’t handle what my mother did to us very well, which I believe took a toll on her over the years. She developed an eating disorder, severe anxiety issues, got into cutting, and became very isolated from everyone. She is a very angry person and almost anything anyone says to her can set her off. Things took an even bigger turn for the worst when we had to hospitalize her last summer because she completely lost it. She developed this strange fixation with the fact that she thought she was going deaf, but none of the doctors could figure out if it was true or apart of her imagination. In a matter of about two weeks, every day consisted of my sister crying, screaming and hitting us when we tried to approach her to calm her down. It got to the point that she stopped eating, and all she would do was sit there and stare into space with this lost look on her face for hours on end. She was so nervous and confused that she couldn’t speak correctly anymore; she was severely stuttering (although she never had a stuttering problem), was talking very slowly, and could barely put a sentence together. She eventually let her whole body go limp and stopped voluntarily moving, so we had no choice but to put her in a psychiatric ward. She left approximately 10 days later, but none of the doctors could tell us what was happening to her.

Things have gotten even worse now, because not only does she refuse to get any help (we’ve tried everything to convince her), but now she’s got a new fixation and she’s starting to lose it again. Now she’s obsessed with the fact that her skin is imperfect (its just mild acne) and she can’t live with herself because of it. She tells me that she sometimes feels things crawling under her skin. Just like last time, she won’t leave the house, she keeps fighting everyone around her, and every day consists of her having multiple panic attacks. But she’s gotten even more violent, and has left marks on the doors from kicking them and my dad and I have scratches on our arms. She has no will to live anymore; she wants to quit college, her job and always talks about killing herself. I don’t know what to do anymore. Everyday is a constant battle of trying to get her under control before she hurts us or herself. Every medication she’s tried, it either hasn’t worked or she won’t give it enough time to kick in before she stops taking them.

I know I shouldn’t be using forums to ask for a diagnosis, but does anyone here have a vague idea of what she is suffering from? I feel like if we AT LEAST have an idea of what her illness is, then at least we have a place to start. I am asking this because every doctor we have spoken to has been either passive and uncaring to our situation, or straight up has no idea what’s wrong with her. We don’t know who else to turn to. This is extremely frustrating and we desperately need answers. Thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far.

[Skeezyks]

Hello spacegirl: I noticed this is your first post here on PC. So... welcome to PsychCentral. We here on PC cannot offer psychiatric diagnoses. Our purpose here is to share experiences, exchange information, & provide one another with support. Perhaps some other members will have some thoughts they can share, though, based on their own experiences.

One other forum, here on PC, that may be of particular interest to you would be the partners of people & caregivers support forum. Here's a link:

https://forums.psychcentral.com/part...ivers-support/

And then here are links to 3 articles, from PsychCentral's archives, on helping someone who won't, or can't, help themselves the first by our host Dr. John Grohol, Psy.D. Next is 1 article on how to support a loved one who has a serious mental illness. And then there are links to 5 articles that take up the subject of dealing with someone who is delusional:

Denial is a Powerful Impediment to Treatment

11 Ways to Help a Loved One in Denial

How to Persuade Your Loved One to Seek Professional Help

15 Ways To Support a Loved One with Serious Mental Illness

https://blogs.psychcentral.com/careg...is-delusional/

https://blogs.psychcentral.com/careg...dium=popular17

https://blogs.psychcentral.com/careg...dium=popular17

https://blogs.psychcentral.com/careg...-to-delusions/

https://blogs.psychcentral.com/careg...dium=popular17

I wish there was something I could offer you here in the way of a path forward. You wrote that every doctor you've spoken to has been passive & uncaring or had no idea what was wrong. Your sister was even hospitalized for 10 days & the doctors there had no idea what was wrong. The only thing that occurs to me here is that perhaps you simply have yet to find the right psychiatrist. Unfortunately finding the right mental health professional can sometimes be a challenge. (Perhaps you might also consider having your sister see a mental health therapist if she's not already doing so.)

It may also be necessary, at some point, for either you, or your Dad, to seek guardianship of your sister if it gets to the point where she is unable to make decisions for herself. (You made brief mention of the fact she's still in college & apparently has a job though. So she presumably may not be at that point yet?)

Hopefully there will be some other members, here on PC, who will have some more useful suggestions to offer. In the meantime, here is a link to another article, from PsychCentral's archives, on the subject of psychotic depression. Perhaps this may be akin to what your sister is experiencing. I clearly don't know. Mental health diagnosis is a job for a mental health professional. But it's a thought:

https://psychcentral.com/lib/psychotic-depression/

My best wishes to you both.

[Wild Coyote]

Hi spacegirl,
Welcome to PC!

I hope you find the information and the support you may be seeking.
Please do jump in and make yourself at home.

I am sorry your sister is struggling.

It's tough to diagnose conditions. Many different conditions can look alike. It's safe to say something profound is going on with her. This must have a huge effect upon everyone in your family.

Thanks for being a caring sister!

I hope to see you around the forums.


WC

[Blueberrybook]

It is tough to say since none of us are psychiatrists. How many psychiatrists have seen your sister? Diagnosis with so many symptoms can be tough especially as it is not uncommon to have more than 1 psych disorder going on. And a lot of psych symptoms can manifest in different psych diagnoses. I agree, finding the correct mental health professionals to help is important. Also, seeing them consistently as a psychiatrist may change diagnoses or add to them if they see or hear about symptoms not mentioned earlier.
My guess is that she may have more than 1 thing going on, but it’s only a guess.

It may or may not have help, but has your sister had complete blood work done, checking hormones, vitamins, minerals? Something could be off there. Not saying that could be the whole problem since it sounds like she has a lot going on, but having things off on the blood work doesn’t help?

Could she be doing drugs as well? That could compound things.

Best of luck. It sounds like you are a very good sister. Don’t give up on finding answers though I agree with the previous poster suggesting with your dad or you retaining guardianship of her because her behavior sounds very erratic.

[*Laurie*]

^^^ I'm also wondering if your sister is substance using.

[Fuzzybear]

Welcome to pc

(((((((( hugs ))))))))