[Rainbows & Sunshine]

My sister in-law suffers from what we all think is PPD. She, however, thinks everyone else is crazy and refuses to go for help. She has had delusional thoughts for as long as I've known her (35yrs), and I have been the brunt of it several times. She takes others benign words or actions, and twists them into Negative beliefs directed at her. Over the years, she has lost many friends, alienated family members, and she has taken her kids and left for months at a time. My brother went to extreme lengths to convince her he loved her and to come back. She has divorced him only to remarry him. And this week, she went off the deep end once again. Accused him of having an affair. Spent $4000 on a DNA test to try and prove that another woman has been using her hairbrush. When her grown daughters tried to convince her to get help, she up and left the holiday celebration. She called me yesterday trying to convince me that my brother is having an affair and the reason she is acting crazy is because of the affair! It seems to be getting worse over the 35 years I've known her, instead of better. (I read PPD gets better over time)

So, my question is this: How do you convince someone they need help when they don't think they do? And is this disease something that a brain MRI can detect? Could early dementia be to blame for it progressing? Help!!!

[Skeezyks]

Hello Rainbows & Sunshine: I'm sorry to say I don't have an answer for you. From my perspective, if your sister-in-law refuses to seek the help she needs, there simply is nothing anyone can do to convince her. And nowadays, unless a person is a danger to themselves or others, there's no way to force mental health treatment on them.

I read another post, here on PC, just a day or two ago written by a member who is in a situation similar to what you describe. At the end of her post, she wrote that she would be calling the authorities where she lives & telling them her family member is threatening to harm herself so that the family member could be hospitalized. I don't know if that type of approach has any chance of working. But desperate circumstances sometimes call for desperate measures. I wish you well...