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FCEGM
Guest
One of my closest and oldest friends suffers from manic-depression (the incidences of mania predominating). Your description of your friend sounds very similar to what I experienced with mine - including being a very devout Catholic (she is also a very brilliant women, with a university degree in history). I came to know her during a stable period of her life and so was shocked to see her go into a mania that required hospitalization. Fortunately she has finally been prescribed the correct medication and is living a relatively stable life after many such episodes. In the past, she, too, had a very difficult time keeping a job; she would go off her meds and voila another episode of mania would creep upon her. She has come to realize that the stress of holding a job works against her mental stability and so lives only on her Medicare assistance.
I would caution you as others have that as long as she is obviously mentally unbalanced that you keep her at a distance. Perhaps your priest might know something of her family background and could contact them - or possibly her doctor. During my friend’s last episode a couple of years ago, another friend got her to reveal her psychiatrist’s name and contacted him about the need to get her back into the hospital and properly medicated. While a doctor cannot reveal anything about his patient, he is usually willing to receive (name removed by moderator)ut.
Just realize that as much as we may want to help, there are times to simply step back and pray. (St. Dymphna, btw, is the patron for people with mental ailments.)