ErikTheRed
Bluelighter
Hi everyone, this is going to be a long post, I appreciate anyone willing to take the time to read it.
For about 2 years now my mother has been showing increasing signs of some kind of mental disorder that involves: anxiety, depression, poor memory, difficulty in comprehending the most basic ideas, trouble expressing herself, and a flattened personality.
Some of the symptoms started to appear when I was struggling with drugs. I was hospitalized with a pretty serious OD and also got into some trouble with the law. At first my father and I thought her symptoms came from worrying about me, this is a definite possibility. Around the same time, she lost her job as an attorney. This was a process that had been going on for awhile, her field of of law, worker's comp, was changed so that her position as an attorney became less and less necessary. Around 2 years ago, she more or less officially stopped working. So the combination of losing her job (which was a major part of her identity) and the stress I put her through with my addiction seemed like the most likely cause at the time.
However, for the last year my life has become a lot more stable. I've been on sub maintenance and see a psychologist. I also just graduated from college with strong grades and have a solid career path. But her condition continues to deteriorate. All of her friends and family are aware of her issues, but none of them have been able to help her. Some 6 months ago I had a serious talk with her, that she needed to get help. She promised me to see a psychiatrist but never did. My dad had a similar talk with her, with no positive results. 2 days ago, my dad and I had another talk with her about her condition and she became extremely angry and defensive, pretty much stonewalling us and any notion of therapy.
She seems like a shell of the person she once was. Half the time I have trouble understanding what she's saying to me. At the same time, it's difficult to try to help her while I have mental issues of my own that I'm dealing with, mainly generalized anxiety. But since I've now moved back home from college, I see more of her and her issues are often at the fore front of my mind.
My father and I are worried that it could be some physical issue with her brain, such as dementia, she's now 56 years-old. We tried to get her to go to a neurologist, but again she's extremely resistant and defensive. She's always been a very private and vain person, which explains her EXTREME stubbornness towards the idea of any kind of therapy. She's not willing to admit or talk about what's going on, and I also think she doesn't realize the full extent of her issues. If by some miracle she gets into therapy or meets with a neurologist I'm almost positive she wouldn't be honest about her condition, she also has trouble expressing complicated ideas in the first place.
Since her friends and family are somewhat aware of what's going on, I could try to get some of them together and have a sort of "intervention" with her. But this may make her even more defensive.
I'd really appreciate any ideas on how to proceed or any insight as to what specific mental ailment this may be. I just have no idea where to go from here when she's so defensive. I also feel like trying to help her is making my own anxiety and depression worsen.
Thank you for any feedback.
For about 2 years now my mother has been showing increasing signs of some kind of mental disorder that involves: anxiety, depression, poor memory, difficulty in comprehending the most basic ideas, trouble expressing herself, and a flattened personality.
Some of the symptoms started to appear when I was struggling with drugs. I was hospitalized with a pretty serious OD and also got into some trouble with the law. At first my father and I thought her symptoms came from worrying about me, this is a definite possibility. Around the same time, she lost her job as an attorney. This was a process that had been going on for awhile, her field of of law, worker's comp, was changed so that her position as an attorney became less and less necessary. Around 2 years ago, she more or less officially stopped working. So the combination of losing her job (which was a major part of her identity) and the stress I put her through with my addiction seemed like the most likely cause at the time.
However, for the last year my life has become a lot more stable. I've been on sub maintenance and see a psychologist. I also just graduated from college with strong grades and have a solid career path. But her condition continues to deteriorate. All of her friends and family are aware of her issues, but none of them have been able to help her. Some 6 months ago I had a serious talk with her, that she needed to get help. She promised me to see a psychiatrist but never did. My dad had a similar talk with her, with no positive results. 2 days ago, my dad and I had another talk with her about her condition and she became extremely angry and defensive, pretty much stonewalling us and any notion of therapy.
She seems like a shell of the person she once was. Half the time I have trouble understanding what she's saying to me. At the same time, it's difficult to try to help her while I have mental issues of my own that I'm dealing with, mainly generalized anxiety. But since I've now moved back home from college, I see more of her and her issues are often at the fore front of my mind.
My father and I are worried that it could be some physical issue with her brain, such as dementia, she's now 56 years-old. We tried to get her to go to a neurologist, but again she's extremely resistant and defensive. She's always been a very private and vain person, which explains her EXTREME stubbornness towards the idea of any kind of therapy. She's not willing to admit or talk about what's going on, and I also think she doesn't realize the full extent of her issues. If by some miracle she gets into therapy or meets with a neurologist I'm almost positive she wouldn't be honest about her condition, she also has trouble expressing complicated ideas in the first place.
Since her friends and family are somewhat aware of what's going on, I could try to get some of them together and have a sort of "intervention" with her. But this may make her even more defensive.
I'd really appreciate any ideas on how to proceed or any insight as to what specific mental ailment this may be. I just have no idea where to go from here when she's so defensive. I also feel like trying to help her is making my own anxiety and depression worsen.
Thank you for any feedback.
