Ok here is the situation..my mom is suffering from mental illness. She was hospita$lized back in 1988 against her will..and she is exhibiting many of the same symptoms. She was fine for 12 years after that..until my grandfather passed away.. However. the laws changed, and now she no longer meets the criteria for hospitalization because she is not a danger to herself or others..Here are her symptoms..She was diagnosed as bipolar, but I do not believe that to be the case...

1. She has tics..constant moving/jerking.
2. Will sit and scribble for hours in the kitchen..while she is scribbling it looks like she is staring off into space..
3. She will "Slam" things like doors...refrigerators..cabinets..cups on the table..she is very rough with everything..
4. Abnormal sleep patterns..
5. Angry outbursts..when you try to talk and reason with her she will yell and ramble...she doesn't make any sense
6. Poor self care
7. Messy, disorganized..clutter everywhere..does not care about personal appearance..
8. Does not talk to anyone to anyone on a regular basis..not even her family...has no friends..they tried to contact her but she won't return phone calls.
9. Does not open mail-she will scribble on it..She does not pay her bills-has poor credit. The roof is leaking, but due to her poor credit she was refused a loan..She doesn't pay her property taxes..if it wasn't for a sign being put in the yard indicating the house was going to be sold, we would have never known. Family has stepped up to pay taxes, but we can only do so much.
She can't plan ahead..we asked her what she would do if she lost the house..she said she will get an apartment but she doesn't make any sense..if she can't afford the property taxes on a house that is paid for, how is she going to afford 500 or more per month for rent..?



We are not sure what to do with her. She is non-functional..she doesn't appear to be bipolar..it appears to be a type of schizophrenia called the disorganized type..anyone have any experience with it? This type seems to be especially pernicious because people appear to be rational on the surface..you can't have an advocate come in and say this person is a danger unlike other subtypes...Thanks for your assistance!

Jim

Jim,

Have you thought about having your mother evaluated by a psychiatrist? If she does have a form of schizophrenia (or another type of mental illness) this would allow her to receive a proper diagnosis based on her current symptoms and perhaps medication(s) to help improve her overall level of functioning.

It's also important to keep in mind that diagnoses can change over time, so even if your mother was diagnosed as bipolar in the past, she could be diagnosed as having a different type of mental illness the next time she is evaluated by a psychiatrist.

neon_dreamer