Can mental illness first appear in adulthood or old age?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was first diagnosed with bipolar in my 40s, after good treatment and the correct meds I’m doing well.

Happy to hear this for you, PP. Any advice to those of us with loved ones with suspected bipolar but no diagnosis? My sister has struggled terribly in the past few years - divorce followed by failed LT relationship followed by the passing of our mom. She hasn’t worked in several years and has isolated herself from friends and family. She’s sees a “counselor” and I know she is trying, but is in complete denial about her mental health. I don’t know what to do to help her.

[Anonymous]

NP and I don’t have good advice for anyone whose ill relative is seeing just a counselor or therapist. You really need a psychiatrist focused on medication and action-oriented therapy, and treatments like DBT or CBT. I say this as someone who has watched DH get progressively worse while hiding behind a therapist who does nothing but validate his feelings and take his out of pocket payments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, mental illness doesn't typically appear first in middle age. BUT middle age is typically when people who are untreated lose control of their mental illness and can no longer compensate or hide it behind closed doors.

Citation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am aware of several people who became very seriously mentally ill for the first time in middle age. There were signs of minor issues before but they totally lost control in middle age. I'm taking about serious stuff. Career destroyed. Sudden domestic violence. Involuntarily committed. Two men and one woman, at least. All high powered professionals.

Same. I also know several people like this, major mental illness that emerged later

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it can happen, but she should see a neurologist. She could also have a brain tumor. I am not kidding.

Right, or frontal temporal dementia. This is something doctors would consider if someone in their 50s without prior histories started showing signs of serious mental illness

[Anonymous]

For many people, mental issues don't really manifest until later - bipolar, schizophrenia, depression, addiction and all the attendant issues as substance abuse really warps the brain. It's a long menu of options that might not present until the 30s or 40s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am aware of several people who became very seriously mentally ill for the first time in middle age. There were signs of minor issues before but they totally lost control in middle age. I'm taking about serious stuff. Career destroyed. Sudden domestic violence. Involuntarily committed. Two men and one woman, at least. All high powered professionals.

What were the minor issue signs?

One person was prone to rambling once in a while. Most of the person's friends didn't notice or thought the person was just a little odd. This person later imagined being followed by government agents and became suicidal.

One person was a little depressed. This person became so depressed that the person couldn't work and also became very angry.

One person was a little awkward and stubborn. The person had a psychotic break involving domestic violence.

All of these people had friends, careers, spouses, and children, etc.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Can appear later. My sister was 41 when diagnosed with bipolar.

There were a couple of incidents in her early 20's but no one made the connection.

She was a world class athlete and I think the very high level of athletics and being outside a lot kept the mental illness at bay untili she reached 41.

[Anonymous]

20:11 poster

minor issue signs:

1. the rapid speech
2. ghosting of family members for no reason
3. raging over minor things--raging over the size of the stack of napkins on the kitchen table
4. not responding to texts
5. not responding to emails
6. bizarre behavior prior to step daughters wedding, really bizarre behavior at the wedding--this was when I realized something was seriously wrong
7. ghosting Dad, then ghosting Mom, then ghosting step daughter, then ghosting me (the sister)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For many people, mental issues don't really manifest until later - bipolar, schizophrenia, depression, addiction and all the attendant issues as substance abuse really warps the brain. It's a long menu of options that might not present until the 30s or 40s.

This is not true. For serious mental illness like bipolar and schizophrenia, vast majority of cases appear in adolescence or early addiction. Depression and addiction can materialize at any point but not SMI.

[Anonymous]

^ correction, adolescence or early adulthood

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For many people, mental issues don't really manifest until later - bipolar, schizophrenia, depression, addiction and all the attendant issues as substance abuse really warps the brain. It's a long menu of options that might not present until the 30s or 40s.

This is not true. For serious mental illness like bipolar and schizophrenia, vast majority of cases appear in adolescence or early addiction. Depression and addiction can materialize at any point but not SMI.

Op. I assumed this too but you’re wrong. 10 - 15 percent of bipolar and schizophrenia are late onset.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For many people, mental issues don't really manifest until later - bipolar, schizophrenia, depression, addiction and all the attendant issues as substance abuse really warps the brain. It's a long menu of options that might not present until the 30s or 40s.

This is not true. For serious mental illness like bipolar and schizophrenia, vast majority of cases appear in adolescence or early addiction. Depression and addiction can materialize at any point but not SMI.

I agree that most SMI manifests by late 20’s but bright, well-resourced people can hide it for a long time. Or it can appear as something else - substance abuse.

This is especially true for bipolar depression, which is often misdiagnosed as depression. My exH wasn’t diagnosed with bipolar until his 40s, and his Mom wasn’t diagnosed with bipolar until her 60s. On average, people with bipolar go undiagnosed for 7 years. Bipolar is often mistaken for simple general depression, as was the case with my exH, who had his first major depressive episode in his 20s but which was undiagnosed and mischaracterized as being sad after a break up.

Mental illness can sometimes be triggered by medication. For example, Jane Pauley’s bipolar was triggered by RX steroid medication. Or life events can trigger an episode of- like the sleeplessness of the newborn/new parent phase.

NAMI runs 2 very good class for for family members with loved ones who have mental illness - Basics (for parents of kids under 18) and Family to Family (for any family member or caregiver of someone over 18).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sister developed delusional disorder at age 46. There is a family history of mental illness (mom was schizophrenic).

Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear this. Is she ok now??

Not really. She quit her job and quit talking to all her friends and relatives. They send emails and leave messages that she ignores. She stays home all day, and I am sure she is at minimum chronically depressed. Just lies there on the couch doing nothing.

Does she have enough money? If so, why do you care?

I would love just stop working and ignore everyone. I am not mentally ill. I am run down and exhausted. I will be doing that in about 8 years. I have enough money.

I am not sure she has enough money. I am concerned she will be out in the street eventually. She had a good retirement account built up and inherited half our mom’s IRA but I’m not sure how fast she’s spending it.

And of course I care because I love her, and I think lying on the couch for another 40 years while never having much relationship with friends/family is no way to go through life even if her money never runs out.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely yes, it can be expressed in teen years or later in the 30s, or appear prior to early dementia in 40s/50s/60s.