Help...confused

[blitzsume]

Hey there

My stepmother has been acting weird lately. I'm not exactly sure that Bipolar Disorder is the reason why she's acting this way, I just know that she does have it. She has awful mood swings where one minute she's depressed, then happy, then angry. And she gets really paranoid that someone's going to come into the house and hurt or kill us all. Now, I know she has a history of mental health problems, but she didn't really start acting like this until she was taken off her hormone pills; she was told they'd cause her breast cancer if she stayed on them. My question is, is the reason why she's acting this way a mixture of being taken off her hormone pills and having Bipolar disorder? Or is there more of a problem?

[jo929]

she needs to go to the dr now and find out what has caused this flare up now   lucxk  jo

[shawn47]

There are some posts asking questions where my first response is, "Take Her To Her Doc," because that's all one can say, really, and probably that's what you should do.

[blitzsume]

Well you see, I've told her she needs to go, and she thinks I'm calling her
psycotic, which I'm not. Is there anyway I can call someone? She just simply refuses to go and she keeps trying to call the police on me an my father. I love my stepmother like I do my real one, I just don't know what to do. But thanks for the advice.

[doctora]

Sorry to hear your going through this. Before I was diagnosed, I called the police at least once a month on either my husband or daughter, and even had my husband arrested. I also knew I had some mental issues, but didnt know what, and all the Dr's I saw always put me on anti-depressants.

On top of acting crazy, like you say your step mom is, I was also drinking heavily, which made it worse - is she drinking too?

I found out that I have schizoaffective disorder, but primarily bi-polar 1 and that is why I was acting the way I was. I still dont know what the trigger was for me but I am glad that I finally spoke to my Dr about it, and got the medication I need.

You cant make her go to the Dr. but if you can think of a reason to get her there, something like you are worried about her blood pressure, or anything, just dont mention anything about mental disorders or she will not go, I wouldnt.

It wasnt until my husband said he was going to leave me, that I agreed to see a Dr.

Maybe you should talk to you dad about this?

The only other advice I can give you, is maybe mention it to the police if she does call them, they will keep it private, and they are aware of the signs of mental illness, at least most of them.

I live in Canada, and if you go to the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, there are numbers there you can call 24/7 for assistance. I also believe that Bi-Polar Association of Canada has some numbers, but I utilized the Schizophrenia site, and talked to someone right away.

Please keep me informed how it goes, and dont give up, there are many of us out here that have been through this or are going through this.