[stevette]

I submitted a question to the therapists but that may take 2 weeks, if they even answer it. The problem is my sister has lost her grip on reality and is in the hospital. She may come home tomorrow but I don't think she has improved. She told me she thinks she has post traumatic stress disorder because of the Virginia Tech shooting (we're alumni) and because her husband accused her of having an internet affair. I don't think it was really an affair, the guy was someone she knew in 7th grade who found her on the internet a year ago, and he lives in another country and is married. She had a crush on him and her husband got mad, forbid them to write each other, caught her writing him again, and told the guy's wife, but the wife thought it was a misunderstanding. Her husband I think is verbally abusive, and physically abusive to inanimate objects. So now she's been in this mental state for the past probably 2 weeks where she thinks someone died, or is going to die, and she can't figure out who, so she keeps checking to make sure we're alive. She wants facts on people who are already dead. The friend she was emailing was depressed because his mother had died. So then I think she had a panic attack, and had like an out of body experience, and thought she was channeling his dead mother, and that stuff was coming through the tv to her, and that her kids were him and his mother. It's really gotten our whole family distraught. My parents are in their 60's and are now having to take care of her 2 small kids because her husband has to work because they are having money problems. So she was hospitalized for depression and psychosis. Up until now she was pretty normal, although had low self esteem. Her husband also cheated on her years ago. My parents are having a hard time getting any information from the psychiatrists about her condition. Can this be post traumatic stress disorder, or dissocation? I knew her husband had an anger management problem, but I didn't really think it was abuse til now. Oh yeah, he also made her do marijuana to calm her down when this all started, and now she refuses to take her medicine. She has memory problems and thinks it's the medicine when really I think it's the dissociation. She thinks she can handle it herself, when we know she can't and that she needs help.

Gee, what a hard thing for your whole family to be going through. I'm sorry.

Well, it can be amazing just what even stress can do to us.... and then if depression is added.... it can take on many different looks-IMO(- in my opinion).

It sounds more like delusional problems than PTSD though-- but then, PTSD can have varying affects on a person too. It's hard to say without talking directly to her..... and anyway I'm far from being any kind of expert. I have been diagnosed with PTSD-complex from my childhood... and various Personality Disorders..... so I only speak from my experience.

I hope your family will get some definite help soon and that your sister will be home and doing much better.

mandy

As hard as it is to deal with a seemingly sudden change in your sister, I hope you'll think of it as the beginning of the journey to her wellness. It sounds very difficult for her and for you and your family.

Take comfort in allowing the professionals help your sister with the diagnosis, which isn't all that important. What's important is getting treatment and her being compliant with her treatment. Maybe that's where you can do the most good, by being supportive and encouraging and understanding; treatment can be frightening (as is being ill) and difficult to get used to. Being compliant is admitting and accepting that there is something going on needing treatment, so being compliant can be difficult if acceptance isn't there on some level.

This is a difficult time for your family, but can also be a time of growth. You might want to look into some family counselling or individual counselling for help in dealing with all the changes and to help ensure this is not a traumatic experience for your sister's children. It seems their world has been turned upside down and they may need help understanding the many changes in their lives.

I think you care a lot about your sister and she's very lucky to have you there for support.

Prior to being discharged from the hospital, a treatment plan will be put in place for your sister for continued care.

It's going to be a process. Getting better takes time. In spite of how it might appear, it didn't happen 'overnight' and it will take some time and work to get to where she wants to be. It isn't going back, it's going forward.

It's so good that she's started treatment. I wish your sister all the best as well as you the families.

stevette,
I take care of my sister, My thoughts go out to you and your family. I have no answers for you. Just know i understand..

[stevette]

Thanks for your replies. She is out of the hospital. She sounded better on the phone to me, and less paranoid, but she still is trying to act like she never needed hospitalization, and she is complaining of the side effects of the medicine. She is still also talking about other worldly things and claims she is not depressed. I guess the main hurdle is getting her to admit or realize her problem, and to accept help. I think she is embarrassed by the whole thing and is trying to save face. The positive thing in this is that our family has grown closer, oddly enough though, her husband seems to be the same. At least now I can communicate with her now that's she's home.

[Rapunzel]

She has sure had a lot of things to deal with all at once, and probably the cummulative effects were enough to overwhelm her ability to cope. That can translate into various different diagnoses depending on her symptoms, but the dx isn't the most important thing. I'll point out that major stress can trigger many responses and disorders, and is even known to be a factor in schizophrenia sometimes. Not saying that she has that, but stress could trigger depression, delusions, dissociation, etc. If the main stressors were as recent as the Virgina Tech shootings, then it is too soon to be PTSD, but could be Accute Stress Disorder. Or she could have already had PTSD and maybe was re-traumatized. Stress is a big factor, and biological and social factors probably also play a role, such as being more or less resilient, or having an abusive or non-supportive husband. Receiving social support and understanding from you and others can help her to recover too. It works both ways.

What is important is that she receives appropriate support now, and continues treatment. Being hospitalized doesn't guarantee that she will continue to receive appropriate treatment from here on. You might be able to encourage her to continue with therapy and use this as a turning point towards a healing journey that will lead to more fulfillment in life than she has had recently.

Best wishes to all of you.

Rap