5 posts shown.
😁 Sure, but honestly, he’s kind of putting himself first right now—though I try to be mindful of that... 🙂
Regarding everything mentioned—you know, things like eating well and staying consistent, keeping up with work, setting priorities, getting enough sleep, and all that good stuff... I guess what I feel is most vital for a truly healthy, high-quality life is being surrounded by the people and things that actually bring you joy. It's about cutting out anything that makes you miserable (well, if you can actually cut it out, anyway). Everyone has those little things in life that just make them smile...
Mom is finally in a calm, peaceful phase right now—man, I seriously need to go find a four-leaf clover or something to celebrate...
Thanks for asking 🙂 The only thing I’m struggling with during this better phase is how the rest of the family seems convinced that everything is suddenly fixed and will just stay perfect forever... they think nothing bad can happen anymore, so everyone is just walking on eggshells—kind of like the whole "don't poke a sleeping lion" situation
I really have to agree with this take on lifestyle—it’s honestly spot on...
Thanks so much to everyone for all the replies! 🙂
I was wondering if you guys could share what actually worked best for you? Like, who helped, or maybe just what specific approach made a difference...
I feel like I've tried pretty much everything—constant talking, getting the whole family involved to try and reach her, making sure we spend as much quality time together as possible.
I even suggested seeing a private therapist, telling her we could just take my car so it stays low-key—you know, tell people I'm the one being driven to an appointment if anyone asks. Her dad tried his best too, but nothing seems to stick... her brother and sister have stepped up to help as well. Everyone is genuinely willing to pitch in, but she just won't listen to anyone.
Instead of building trust and seeing that we're just trying to help her find some peace of mind, it feels like we're constantly pushing against her... or rather, that’s how she sees it—like we're trying to lock her up in a mental hospital.
I have to admit, I'm starting to feel a little worn out by it all... since this has been going on for quite a while now.
How? There is absolutely no way she'll just go on her own... she refuses to even listen.
I have been pleading with her to go for such a long time now, but she just won't budge. I've tried being gentle about it—trying to reason with her through calm conversation—but that didn't work at all. And when the soft approach failed, things started escalating into shouting matches because, honestly, I just don't know how to handle the whole situation anymore. Everyone in the house has tried sitting her down to explain that nobody wants anything bad to happen to her—we really just want to help—but it’s been completely useless... her response is always the exact same: "You're all just trying to lock me up in a psych ward!" She insists she isn't crazy, and she tells us all that one day, we'll see that she was right about everything.
Hey there!
I was wondering if anyone might be able to help me out—really, any kind of advice would be so appreciated right now.
Basically, I’m reaching out because of a family member—my mom—and she hasn't been doing well for quite some time. I just can't seem to find a way to get through to her.
At first, she went through this really deep depressive phase, which I guess was triggered by menopause. It was just work, home, work, home... except at home, she’d mostly just sleep and eat. She stopped communicating with anyone and didn't show any interest in talking to us. During that stretch, she put on quite a bit of weight. Back when I was away at college, I’d come home for the weekends only to find total chaos. That depressive state lasted a while, and even though I begged my dad to step up or asked my brothers to help, nothing really seemed to change.
After a while, I finished my degree and moved back home, and things finally seemed to be settling down—until, out of nowhere, her behavior took a complete turn. Suddenly, she was full of euphoria—going out constantly, shopping, meeting friends for coffee, being somewhere every single day. It was such a shock, going from someone who stayed in bed for days and barely cared about hygiene to someone who was never home.
Then came the point where she started attacking me over things that honestly made zero sense. It started with stories that might have had a grain of truth, but eventually, it turned into stuff that was completely disconnected from reality. Her friends all drifted away because she would overwhelm them with these nonsensical outbursts. Even the extended family—mostly her sister and brother—noticed that something was seriously wrong. This led to her either walking for miles with her MP3 player glued to her ears, or cooking dinner with the music blasting, or pacing the balcony, or even sleeping with the headphones on.
In her mind, she thinks everyone is watching her and talking about her—and I quote, "all over the US"—that people are posting shameful things about her online. She even woke up my little brother at 2:00 AM just to make him turn on his computer so she could hunt for what people were saying about her. If you actually ask her *who* is writing these things, she can't even give you an answer.
The whole situation is becoming unbearable for me. Every attempt I make to suggest seeing a doctor, or telling her she isn't okay and needs to talk to someone, just hits a brick wall. And it's not just me; no one in the immediate or extended family can get through. Every word I say gets twisted or misinterpreted by her.
Hoping I could somehow break this stalemate, I went to see a private psychologist and shared all the details. His take was that she was suffering from severe depression fueled by life dissatisfaction. A few months have passed since that visit, and recently, another private psychologist told me that this looks more like schizophrenic psychosis and that we need to get her medical help urgently.
Her condition comes in waves—one day she's fine, two days she's not, then maybe two good days, then a bad one, then maybe a week of being okay before sliding back again.
I should probably mention that my grandmother—her mother—has dealt with similar issues and has been on medication for years.
So, I'm really looking for some guidance. How do you reach someone who is in this kind of state? Any advice at all would mean the world. Thanks so much.