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Mental Health  (Expert Forum)
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How do family members help a person with PPD?
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD), bipolar disorder, dementia, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic, personality disorders, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, stress, transitions, and work problems.

How do family members help a person with PPD?

by CONCERNED54, Jul 24, 2001 12:00AM
My question concerns a family member who I believe has a Paranoid Personality Disorder.  I have some limited psychiatric training, and have done much research in trying to find the basis of her problems. PPD fits the bill with a capital "B".  She meets all of the criteria (in spades).  Previous marriage of 17 years appeared mostly normal to most of us.  Signals went up when she divorced and remarried.  We have since discovered that the previous 17 years were much of the same, but hidden from other family members.  Relationship with current husband was in about 3rd week when "irrational jealousy" instances surfaced.

by Roger Gould, M.D., Jul 24, 2001 12:00AM
There is no pat answer for this. Nothing you do will make much difference unless she agrees to treatment. Confronting paranoid ideation only drives it deeper into hiding or causes it to be worse. Going along with it makes it stronger. Staying away from it is the only course for an outsider...the husband should seek professional help for a detail response.
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