Help Me Help My Mother-In-Law schizophrenia

Hi there,

I'm writing today because things have been really rough with my husband's mother, and I'd like some outside opinion on what could really be wrong with her and what I can do to help this woman.

A bit of background information: she is 65, diagnosed manic bipolar about 10 years ago, and had her thyroid completely removed about 5 years ago because she had thyroid cancer. She's supposed to be taking a synthetic thyroid medication daily but we're not completely convinced that she does. Her husband just passed away in August which would understandably be a traumatic situation for anyone.

My husband insists she is just 'manic bipolar', but this woman is almost perpetually in a manic state, has spent her entire retirement fund on silly trinkets from the dollar store and has forgotten how to use things she used to use daily, like a cell phone or a computer. Back her in heyday she was a highly functional woman who ran her own business and made almost $100,000 a year just by herself. I have to believe that at one point she must have been a very functional, powerful woman.

Right now she just paces around her kitchen everyday (she never sits) and scribbles illegible words on scraps of paper, shoving them into envelopes or taping them onto the wall. She took a permanent marker to the refrigerator one day and wrote a giant letter "G", saying that she "Saw a G floating, and it compelled her to create it". She's eating like a child would-- Oreo's, Marshmallow Peeps, and nachos... Her stomach is completely distended on her small frame and the doctor said it's because she's subjected herself to malnutrition.

She can't be still for more than a second. She moves repetitively back and forth, tapping her foot on her opposite ankle. She doesn't remember anything you told her to do (we always remind her to use the filtered fridge water instead of the well water from the tap, but she never remembers). She walks out of the house in her bare feet in the snow.

I just want to hear the opinions of some of you-- my own mother has worked in the mental health industry for over a decade (my mother-in-law did to some extent, as well) and she feels maybe this woman is dealing with schizoaffective disorder, as it seems too extreme to be just bipolar disorder. Since her husband passed away she keeps thinking she hears footsteps throughout the house (she lives with her son, so is never truly alone) and she's so frantic all of the time.

I'm trying to convince my husband that his mother needs professional help, and that if we get her on the right medicine regime that there is STILL HOPE FOR HER! I think he feels some sort of guilt that is stopping him from really getting his mom the help she needs, and I can only intervene so much.

Thank you guys.

Submitted November 20, 2014 at 02:46AM by oohhelloo http://ift.tt/1zDQbsb schizophrenia