How to deal with a loved one with a mental illness

[EsclavoDeCristo]

I am at a loss right now. I have someone in my familiy whom I believe to be bi-polar or have some similar disorder. The moods of this person are completely unpredictable at best, moods of depression, anger, resentfulness and especially paranoia seem to come in an instant. I try to walk on egg shells around this person, to say the right words, to get along no matter what, but all to no avail. Nothing I do or say can be right. No formal diagnosis has been done by a doctor. I would like to recommend some sort of medical treatment but fear that any mention will lead to an “episode” of resentment and paranoia.

This leads to my question: Do any of you have a mentally ill friend/family member? If so how do you handle the situation with charity and as a Catholic Christian? Is it just time to keep praying to St. Jude?

 

[Princess_Abby]

What is your relationship to this person? Is it a child, brother, sister, wife, mother, father?

 

[Ray_Scheel]

There are some things you can do, but yes, prayer is often a primary tool when someone is not willing to pursue therapy, though be sure to include St Dymphna.

How to approach the issue depends on your relationship. However, if you are close enough where you are startign to feel held hostage to wondering what’s going to happen next, its time to learn to set resonable boundries for acceptavble behavior and stick to them.

Self-education can help too. I’ve found the following resources helpful in my own struggles with a family member (my spouse) who suffers from a related disorder and is in treatment but is resisting change.

http://www.psychologyinfo.com
familyaware.org
dbsalliance.org
nmha.org
clinical-depression.co.uk/
psych.org/psych_pract/treatg/pg/Depression2e.book.cfm
psych.org/psych_pract/treatg/pg/bipolar_revisebook_index.cfm
http://www.mentalhealth.com