Yikes, I've been there. My ex mother in law was mentally ill. She was paraniod, delusional, experiencing hallucinations. We were living with her so I bore the brunt of her paranoia and rage. We did an intervention and had her committed. This was over 20 yrs ago so I don't know how relevant that is today. The outcome was not as we had hoped. It created resentment, anger and further rage. I insisted that we move out. Things were never good with her.

I don't know that there is anything you can do to force her into treatment. She needs to do this voluntarily unless she is a danger to herself or others.

Have a discussion with your husband. Be honest with him and tell him how her behavior is effecting you. Tell him you know she was diagnosed with schizophrenia years ago. This disorder does not go away. It may lay latent and then resurface with new episodes. Left untreated the disorder will only worsen. See if you can appeal to him. You both need to set limits with her. Don't allow her to be in your lives so intimately. He needs to be aware of her paranoia and recognize that his mother is ill. In this illness she will sabotage your marriage. She may feel threatened by you. This will cause her to target you. Your husband needs to have an awareness of how this illness works and how to deal with the behaviors that result from the illness. A good therapist that has experience with schizophrenia can offer support, insight and advice. Both of you should see someone.

I hope this helps. My situation was not good and the ending was not good and we did not live happily ever after - together at least. Self preservation kicks in and you need to take care of you. Hugs to you.

I think antigone about covered it. It can be a tricky situation though...

make sure you don't step on any of the family member's toes along the way, that can get sticky (I've been there)

In spite of being pretty sick, I never had a period where I was not aware of it. Being sick and not even knowing it must be pretty harsh for everyone around you as well as yourself.

Yes i understand what you're going through. Paranoid schizophrenia is one of the most difficult things to deal with. I reckon it could be even more emotionally draining than a physical illness itself.

My sister is diagnosed with schizophrenia 8 years ago, but she had a relapse after her divorce and refusing to continue medication about a year ago. She thinks that a couple of family members are out to harm her, especially me. She has called the police to arrest me 2 weeks back, and has filed a court order against an 84 year old aunt last month. The court hearing is this week. She has recently been warded for professional treatment, but we still have lots to deal with, and hopefully get the case dismissed. My mum just passed on, and she is accusing me of killing her now. It's very sad because we love her very much, and we have never been nasty towards her.

We have to understand that her perceptions aren't really coming from the person suffering from it. I realise that the more we try to correct her perceptions about things, the more anger is built up against us. It is hard but we have to try not to disagree with them but to try see it from their point of view. Conversations are best kept to an abstract level, without exactly agreeing or disagreeing with the person. Cheeriness helps too, as they are often sensitive and would interpret any signs otherwise as negative.

Please stay strong and take good care.

I work at a hospital for the mentally ill. It is a short term emergency facility designed to stabilize patients and assist them and their family as they cope with many different mental disorders. It is quite clear that your mother in law needs to be admitted to a facility like this one. I don't know where you live but in NY a person can be involuntarily committed to a mental institution for 72 hours in a procedure called a two PC involuntary admit in which two physicians both evaluate a patient separately for admission and determine that they need emergency care. In all facilities like these (and most hospitals as well) as long as the individual enters the hospital he/she would not be able to leave without medical approval (i.e. until they became complaint with meds and made a clear improvement).

My best advice would be to talk with your husband about this and try to get him to understand how her illness is affecting you as well as the rest of the family. He may have a hard time accepting the fact that she is as ill as she is and needs treatment and you should take care in the way that you present all this information to him (i.e. don't place blame, emphasize that you want her in a hospital so she can get better because you care etc).

this is a good website to check out http://www.schizophrenia.com/family/mansym ptoms.htm

also while looking into hospitals in your area try to find a psych hospital that provides emergency care, if you can't find one of those a regular hospital will make sure that she doesn't leave until they can evaluate her and determine that she's needs more specialized care. Then they can admit her and ensure she doesn't leave while they find placement for her in a hospital that specializes in psychiatric care or in a long term institution that can give her the proper care that she clearly needs.

I know that this must be difficult for you it is hard not to take her accusations personally but you must try not to get confrontational because that will only make it worse especially if she's paranoid. Do not place blame and try to remember that she in fact may not recall any of the horrible things that she has said or done because of her illness

I hope this helps, if you need any other information you can PM me

I am living with my bf and his mother his brother suffers from this I am considering leaving as he will bang on the door to wake us up tampers with our food of not eats it, this morning before I left he ran to the front door to stand in my way and when I said hello lied and said I find then went on to rush me out the house, shouting out jamo(as I am jamaican) and slamming the front door, now tell me how does someone deal with that:,-(

Put them in a hospital, put them in a home.
Thats that, just get rid of them.
And everyone will be happier.
Its so simple and easy to see, just put them away.

Just wanted to say that everyone with schizophrenia does NOT need to be locked away in a hospital or put in a home.Many people,with good treatment and support,can live decent lives and be safe to be around.Every person is different.