Reply to how to help mentally ill brother, his wife who is sick of it

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Skyeblue]MD here, Bipolar disorder is a clinical diagnosis, meaning it is diagnosed by symptoms and behavior, not by imaging. It also, in my experience, can be something of a "bucket" diagnosis, meaning if it's at all unclear what the issue is, BPD sometimes is used as the diagnosis code and sometimes sticks.

What matters more than the label however, is how he is doing. And it sounds bad. If the meds aren't helping something needs to change. That may be his provider, his treatment, etc. Know that you are likely not getting the whole story and that SIL's concern about addiction issues may have merit; addiction and mental illness are often coexistent.

Hard to say what to do here. They're geographically far, they both seem in financial denial, and there's a kid involved. To the extent that you can reach your brother I'd work on helping him make a practical plan (diagnosis/med reassessment, 12 mo budget that involves moving or not, etc.). I would not bail him out financially. SIL may need to move in with her mom (who is nearby?) with kid for a while and let them both take a breath. Who knows if their initial arrangement was that he'd earn and she'd spend, but that plan clearly soured. They both need to contribute to their financial solvency,  or call the marriage quits.

Good luck OP. [/quote]

BPD is borderline personality disorder. Not sure what physician is trying to say here.

Mom of a seriously mentally child. Protect your family. Don’t fly across country - your
Brother won’t be in a position to accept or act on anything you say or together decide. And his wife is part of the problem which you can’t fix.

I’m sorry. But you can’t fix it. And likely you can’t make it better in except for periodic short term bailouts which would keep them from homelessness and you aren’t in a position to do this.

And get yourself some good support. This could get far worse before it gets better. [/quote]

BPD is an abbreviation that is used to refer to both bipolar d/o and borderline personality; that's why I wrote out the words in the first sentence. [/quote]

Not wanting to engage in a debate or negate your advice. But BPD is not used as an abbreviation for bipolar. It is definitely the abbreviation for borderline personality disorder. [/quote]

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