Bi-polar Or Split Personality?

I said this before, or something like it, but a person "has to want to help themselves", I know with some mental illness there is a situation where they don't have the ability to be honest with themselves. I think that denial actually exists, although I am not a professional. Just in what I've seen in my life.

I would leave it to the professionals because I admit I am not capable of dealing with some folks issues. I have enough issues of my own to work on

 

Sometimes it's just best to distance yourself from people with known mental issues. I've been told to do this numerous times but I didn't listen. Learned my lesson the hard way.

 

I guess it is easy to speculate about what should be done with such people if it isn't affecting us directly. But those that "must" deal with the actions of such personalities, seem to be up a creek. Sometimes the people that "have to" deal with those that have these kind of mental impairments must take measures to protect themselves.

There seem to be a large portion of mentally ill people that have a strong need to wreak havoc opon those that do care about them. They go out of their way to torment the very people that try to help them.

I have been watching someone do these very things to people I care about, and now it seems to be my turn to receive the spiteful attention of just such a person. Each time this person trys to discredit me, I must set back and depend on others to recall who I really am, and how I've really treated them.

Patience Ina, patience.

 

I love your new avatar Ina, it sure suits you

 

It does !

 

Is this person older? It almost sounds like an early onset dementia.

 

Nobody needs to distance themselves from people with mental illness. Unfortunately it's never been health issue fully understood. Nobody distances themselves with people with cancer, so why mental illness or depression.

There just needs to be more understanding.

 

No, she is a few years younger than me maybe 55, 56. She had asked me about symptoms she had been experiencing and I thought she might be going through menopause which she got very upset when I suggested she see a doctor.This was weeks before she lashed out at me.

 

I just came upon an article about the long term use of marijuana and it can lead to mental illiness and schizophrenia especially if started at a young age and smoked for too long....adding other drugs to the mix doesn't help either.

Do you think that's your friend's problem?

http://theconversation.com/does-cannabis-cause-mental-illness-54890

 

I agree Honey, but I do have to say that not everyone is capable of handling mental illness. Just like the gals I see being caregivers, they have a gift those gals do. I don't have the same gift or talent. That's why sometimes I have not been able to handle someone for long, with a mental illness like the OP mentioned, or other types either that I have encountered. If you are a nurse you have a gift, and thank God for folks that can handle the mentally ill.

 

I've only smoked it once and don't know anyone that's smoked it their whole life but I'm sure it does some damage
Even being a long time alcoholic does some damage to the brain.

The only time I tried it I hated it but if later in life I would need it for medical reasons I would use it in pill form and hope it is legal everywhere.

 

Houston is a very large city, and on almost every corner you will see men and women carrying signs. Panhandling seems to be one of the modes of support that many mentally impaired people have to resort to. I admit I'm prone to giving them a few dollars.

When I was taking my husband back and forth to the VA , we had to sit many hours awaiting Michael's various appointments, and my husband would get into conversations with the other vets. Of course there were many vets there that were homeless, and many of them were dealing with mental issues of one sort or the other. A lot of these vets have no problem talking about how they try to deal with their own battles to manage these conditions. Most of these people are quiet, and they do their best to manage theses problems.

Then there are people that refuse to see that they even have a problem, much less try to manage it.

I have a friend that is right now trying to deal with a bi-polar 29 year old son. He will not even entertain the idea that he needs to get a handle on his condition. He's not a veteran but he reminds me of the many conversations on this subject.

Unlike most people with this condition, he is very aggressive, and he can become hyper-manic in his efforts to hurt those around him. It is now at a point that they are trying to get legal support to have him committed, but the legal system seems to be against their efforts.

So far he has destroyed his family's credit with identity theft, burned down his parents home, instead of working he has stolen everything not nailed down to finance his perceived needs. The list goes on and on.

Recently I loaned them $5,000 to purchase a used car just so they didn't lose the very jobs that support and feed their son as well as the rest of their family. Somehow this brought me into the realm of those that this person feels he needs to punish. So now I've had to beef up the security around my home for my grandson and myself. If this person harms me, then I can report him, but I'm up a creek until then. This can go on indefinitely, and I feel at a loss as to how to help his family or myself. I am now a sitting duck.

As far as the use of marijuana goes, his parent wish he would try it. It might actually calm their son down, and at least it would be a natural medicinal suppliment instead of synthetic anti-depressant that are not working for him. But, his choice is to take anti-depressants, (from anywhere he can find them), and heavy alcohol. So no, marijuana isn't a factor in this young man's problems. If it were just that simple his parents would grow it.

But that still leaves those around him vulnerable to his attaches. I have had to block him from contacting me, and I must rely on others to help keep an eye out for any unusual activity around me or my home. I have no desire to hurt this person, but at the same time, I'll do whatever I need to do to stay safe.

As much as I would like to help this person, I can not, and there comes a time when one must defend themselves.

 

I think lithium or some other drugs are prescribed for Bipolar but if he's not going to take them there's nothing you can do I guess...I don't know the law concerning mental illiness.