D.I.D....

Things continue to go downhill. She's told the staff that she's got a strong SI and a plan to go with it. If she's not confident that she'll stay safe, they'll need to transfer her to a public MH unit. Because she dissociates, she believes she cannot guarantee that she won't do something SH+ related. Am frustrated and tired of her thinking she is totally helpless, because believing you're helpless makes it so... but cannot persuade her otherwise.

Self and Hubby are currenty under the weather with a rather rough cold. (Have been coughing so much that I get shots of sharp tingly pain, not sleeping properly, lightheaded. Hubby's at an earlier stage of the bug, so probably has some of that in store still.) We're not physically up to going to visit her, and I've partially lost my voice, so I can't even have much of a phone conversation.

So she hasn't got us to fall back on, and she's feeling very alone. We're lost for what to do next, apart from praying.

@Smc 🙏

@Smc

Praying here also.

@Smc

You wrote "Am frustrated and tired of her thinking she is totally helpless, because believing you're helpless makes it so... but cannot persuade her otherwise.".

I think this is part of a carer's lot, seeing how our loved ones could help themselves and their inability to do so, then realising that is part of their MI and often not possible, especially when they are acute.

Understanding the goal of medication to reduce the symptoms - the goal of therapy to learn coping mechanisms and foster resilience and enable patients to take the responsibility and do what they can do to help themselves.

Knowing when and how to encourage them ... how to manage our own feelings around this ... one of the reasons why us carers often benefit from seeing a counselor ourselves (and of course having a chat on the forum about it 😀)

@Former-Member, big "yep" to all of that.
I did find out in a recent telephone conversation that while she'd gotten the message that self talk is important, she had no idea why. I suspect that this means we are really only at "ground floor" stage of her understanding that she can build up her own supposed "truths", which may not actually be true. In the light of that, I don't know how many counselling suggestions have been discarded by her as ineffective because she hasn't actually understood their purpose and how/why they work. Am thinking I need to email the psychiatrist she's under at the clinic (and ongoing) to discuss this. But presently I'm lying in bed nursing this cold and a headache from the resultant broken nights, so I'm maybe marginally up to it.

@Smc ... hearing you

If daughter is taken to public hospital would be voluntary or do you think they would seek a treatment order?

@Former-Member, I don't actually know.

Her psychiatrist phoned us today, and she's in favour of avoiding a transfer if possible. She's a cluey lady, so we think she's got a reasonable chance of succeeding.

That would be a relief if dr can arrange that @Smc

@Smc

I do hope she responds to treatment and that a transfer can be avoided.

She's now had her leave priveliges revoked to keep her safe. Good move, but she's understandably unhappy and "feeling trapped". Hoping and praying it will work out better than she expects.