Mental health help

[Anonymous]

I need to help with mental health issues. I am at a total lost.
My adult sister in her late 30s has mental health issues.
She has been having episodes of panic and fear of me taking her child away. When this happens, she calls and text me and other siblings non stop until she can speak to someone. When we talk, it is for 2-3 hours. She would call someone else and do the same thing. It is exhausting. She sees a psychiatrist. She tells me she's not really taking anything that the psychiatrist is prescribing. But the next appointment is in a couple of weeks. I want to know how I can help her. I have no idea where and how to help. It is exhausting everyone in the family.
I would think it is helpful to work with the psychiatrist. Is this possible?

[Anonymous]

It is only possible if your sister agrees. You might be able to talk to the psychiatrist but maybe not because that would be an admission that she is a patient which technically violates your sister’s right to privacy.

[Anonymous]

You can only work with a psychiatrist if she fills out forms to allow access.

What you can do is email or regular mail the psychiatrist your concerns. There is no guarantee that the psychiatrist will read your letter, and they certainly will not respond, but it's one way of communicating your concerns to her doctor.

I do suggest that you sign up for Family to Family group through your local NAMI. It's so beneficial to talk to other families in similar situations. https://www.nami.org/Support-Education/Mental-Health-Education/NAMI-Family-to-Family
It's a free onlline class that meets once a week for eight weeks. I learned so much and feel better equipped to help my family member.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can only work with a psychiatrist if she fills out forms to allow access.

What you can do is email or regular mail the psychiatrist your concerns. There is no guarantee that the psychiatrist will read your letter, and they certainly will not respond, but it's one way of communicating your concerns to her doctor.

I do suggest that you sign up for Family to Family group through your local NAMI. It's so beneficial to talk to other families in similar situations. https://www.nami.org/Support-Education/Mental-Health-Education/NAMI-Family-to-Family
It's a free onlline class that meets once a week for eight weeks. I learned so much and feel better equipped to help my family member.

This. Your sister needs professional help. It’s great that you want to support her, but what you describe is unsustainable.

[Anonymous]

As others have said, you can't talk to her psychiatrist unless she gives written consent (which has to be renewed every year, I believe).

I had a brother who was schizophrenic. There was little I could do for him except listen and be supportive on the marathon phone calls. He did give permission to talk to his support people, but I only did so when he was in a down cycle or not responding.

The best thing I could do was support his wife and two kids. I spent a lot of time with the kids, provided some financial help so they wouldn't be homeless, and listened. Being a stable presence may not seem like much but it really is a lot to a family trying not to drown.

[Anonymous]

You can write to her psychiatrist. Based on what you have said here I would mention the word "delusion" when you do that. She is not having anxiety attacks; she is having a completely unfounded factual belief and then a response to that.

[Anonymous]

As above
- you can always give information to the psychiatrist
- the psychiatrist won’t give you information unless your sister agrees. It sounds like she might not trust you. You could consider just giving psychiatrist information, share your concerns. I say this because if she doesn’t trust you and you suggest working with her psychiatrist, will she start to mistrust her psychiatrist? Tread carefully.
- agree “delusion” is possible, and will convey to psychiatrist the possible need to delve deeper, consider other treatment
- if you feel there is imminent risk to herself or to child or anyone else, you can always call 911 and she could be further assessed in Emergency room.