Mental Conditions Forum - 55 Year Old Mother having extreme anger and apathy

Mental Health > Mental Conditions Forum > 55 Year Old Mother having extreme anger and apathy - ideas?

Stress

Stress is a natural response to life. But when does stress begin to cause health problems? Basics on stress and the stress response here....

Q: 55 Year Old Mother having extreme anger and apathy - ideas?

asked by: johnb22 on December 3rd, 2007

New User

Hi

I am a bit concerned about my 55 year old mother as she has been going through these bizarre phases of extreme anger and emotional apathy even towards her family. It happens about once a month or every two months and lasts about 2-3 days. The reason it is so alarming is because it is totally out of character. She is usually very caring and patient. She also has periods of severe depression which last a day or two where she will just lie in bed the whole day with the lights off and not even answer the phone. These periods seem to begin randomly without warning and end randomly.

If I ask her about it when she is back to normal self she just says something like “I must have been stressed” and doesn’t seem to realize the dramatic change in her personality.

If you could share your views on this that would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Replies(6)

Rosie H

replied on December 3rd, 2007

Extremely eHealthy

It sounds like she is severly depressed and maybe even manic. She needs professional help. You can try and talk to her when she isnt in a "bad" mood and see if she will agree to see someone. let her know that you just care about her and that it might help her to share her feelings with someone. Maybe you could bring someone to her house to talk to her, only if she agrees though.

All you can do is make suggestions, you cant force her into anything. She has to be the one to acknowledge she has a problem and ask for help.

I wish you the best, I know how much it hurts to see your mom suffer..

Birch

replied on December 3rd, 2007

Extremely eHealthy

Lack of insight...depression...rage...flat affect...wow. She absolutely needs a psychiatric evaluation. Unfortunately, as Rosie says, there is nothing you can do to force it upon her unless it is clear that she poses an imment risk to herself or others.

Perhaps if you document everything going on, you can show her when she is not going through a bad period. I would recommend documenting everything anyways just in case you will need it later.

Best of luck...this must suck.

johnb22

replied on December 5th, 2007

New User

I appreciate the replies. I looked up manic depression in wikipedia and the symptoms seem almost identical. She doesn't really seen too interested in talking about it when shes her normal self as it isn't an issue then. If only I could talk to her about it when it is actually affecting her...thats obviously impossible tho as she just tells me to leave her alone and that I'm harassing her.

Georgia59

replied on December 6th, 2007

Especially eHealthy

johnb22 wrote:

Try looking up bipolar disorder- that's what manic depression is called now. Either way, she should see someone about it.

homerx

replied on January 4th, 2008

Moderator

maybe Alzheimer's..my mother is imposable to deal with and she has Parkinson's and has rage and a lot of the symptoms you described.

TMJWorld

replied on January 4th, 2008

Extremely eHealthy

Georgia59 wrote:

johnb22 wrote:

Try looking up bipolar disorder- that's what manic depression is called now. Either way, she should see someone about it.

I agree There is the possibility of her being bipolar. People with bipolar disorder have anger issues and it can either last a while or be sudden and quick to end.

alzhimers i dont think is the answer--that has to do more with memory loss than anger

Learn About Us

Get Help

Join In

Do More

We comply with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health
information:
verify here.

The site is not a replacement for professional medical opinion, examination, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your medical doctor or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment or making any changes to existing treatment. Do not delay seeking or disregard medical advice based on information written by any author on this site. No health questions and information on eHealth Forum is regulated or evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and therefore the information should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a medical doctor. Posts made to these forums express the views and opinions of the author, and not the administrators, moderators, or editorial staff and hence eHealth Forum and its principals will accept no liabilities or responsibilities for the statements made. Schizophrenia health sitemap.
This page was last updated on January 1, 2009.
© 2008 eForums, Inc