Bipolar Disorder: My Sister in law Refuses to Take Meds Posted: 09-11-07 16:08pm
My sister-in-law has been diagnosed with
bipolar but refuses to take her meds for
the last ten years. She is unstable and
verbally abusive to her husband who is on
the verge of having a nervous breakdown.
She just had a baby, so she uses
breastfeeding as an excuse to not take her
meds, but she smokes cigarettes and
marijuana, while lying to the health nurse
who checks in on her. She is a compulsive
hoarder and the living conditions that her
three children have to live in is
horrible. When her husband takes steps to
improve the situation she makes terrible
threats, manipulates and lies. Her
husband, my brother, is seeing a
psychiatrist to learn how to deal with
her. He is going to have a nervous
breaddown! please help! What can we do to
help him and his children?
Your brother is doing the right thing by
seeking professional help from a qualified
specialist. There is not much you can do
for your sister-in-law if she refuses to
take her medications. Educating is key in
dealing with this illness. There are a lot
of good books out there on the subject. I
would take the initiative and check them
out for him. If this were my brother I
would also try and convince him to seek
help for not only himself but for his
children too.
