Hi,

What kind of mental illness does your mom suffer from?

My dad also lives with me and my family, and even though he is pretty self-sufficient there is still a huge impact on our family. I can only imagine the extra stress you must deal with given any mental health issues your mom might have. No wonder you're overwhelmed -- *I'm* overwhelmed, and I don't have that piece of it to contend with.

Keep sharing here -- it's good to hear from you!

welcome to the group....you have a lot on plate...but her being self sufficient is important as you do not need to do the bed changing of pads and stuff that some have to do....I know mental illness is hard to deal with as I myself was very sick with it years ago....I am in remission now from schizophrenia....have been for long time now....hugs n welcome to our corner of the Internet...

Welcome to the forum.. Is there any type of state assistance that your mother would qualify for to help alleviate the amount of support she requires from you. It's important for you to be able to take a break from the care on occasion. Do you work? Do you have hobbies that you are able to participate in?

You'll find many of us out here that are going through the same type of situation with daily care of a parent. There are lots of great folks out here; you've come to the right place.

Best, PD

Welcome to the group! Happy to meet you, sad that you had reason to find us.

Please, do let us know what sort of mental illness your mother has. I came to DS to learn how to deal with my depression, and I have learned that I am not alone in the struggle, and that there are a lot of coping methods that various people use. Some work for me, others would be a disaster to even try.

Some mental illnesses almost always require medication, others are rarely impacted by medication. Talk therapy is almost always a good thing but it requires the mentally ill person to buy into it before it can work.

As for caring for a person with mental illness, the best thing you can do is to learn as much as you can about it. Learn what triggers her issues and how you can control her environment so that she is not triggered as often. Also learn how to deal with a person who is triggered. Sometimes it requires professional intervention, other times it just requires isolating them and letting them burn themself out.

Gentle hugs

I think you can keep her in assisted living http://jchcorp.org/ for few time as she will met people with similar age and can share lots of things in the meanwhile you can also enjoy your life.

My mom has struggled with lifelong mental illness. It's the only mom I ever knew. She is bipolar with severe OCD and paranoia. She is 91 and now lives with me. I am a widow so it's the two of us. I completely understand the awful stress of living with a "crazy person." Half the time I feel like I'm crazy!! There are no good answers. Even with medication, my mom is nuts. I find strength in knowing that there are other people out there struggling with this too. Parts of me feel as though her mental illness finally killed my sweet dad (stroke) and my dear brother (cancer). Anyway, I understand. I really do.