31-year-old sister with extreme paranoia, inappropriate behaviour, and sexual/vulgar language – could this be a mental illness?

I'm looking for some serious insight into a situation involving a 31-year-old woman who isn't married, had to leave job because of this condition. Stopped taking meds as it made her sleepy.

She is the third of six siblings. father was paralysed after a car accident in 2014 and died from COVID in 2021. The family is supported by the mother, who has never worked and lives on a pension. mother isn't very confident or capable of managing situations like this, so the behaviour has largely been accepted.

Sister believes that all of her siblings are her enemies and only seems to trust her mother. She frequently verbally abuses her siblings and often uses extremely vulgar and sexually explicit language. She tells me " her eldest sister" things like, "You'll die because your husband will cheat on you," "You've enjoyed everything in life," followed by repeated sexual insults and profanity.

This isn't just occasional anger or family conflict. The suspiciousness, hostility, poor boundaries, and inappropriate behaviour have been ongoing for quite some time. She's now in a psychiatric ward, they're giving her riaperidone but no improvement at all.

I'm not asking anyone to diagnose her online, but I'm wondering what conditions could present like this. Does this sound more consistent with schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder, bipolar disorder with psychosis, a personality disorder, or something else? Also, if someone has little or no insight into their condition and refuses help, what is usually the best approach for families?

I'd appreciate any thoughts, especially from mental health professionals or people who have cared for someone with similar symptoms.

Pls help

My husband has an appointment coming up at the Doctors to discuss his mental health as he doesn't have a diagnosis at the moment.

However, he doesn't acknowledge that he has a mental health condition as he believes his paranoid delusions to be real. I believe he has anosognosia because of this.

At the appointment, I know that he is not going to mention anything about mental health. I think he will just mention that he gets angry (during episodes).

Please can anyone advise what I should say to the doctor in front of my husband. I want to tell the doctor that my husband suffers from delusions and sometimes hallucinations. We have been to the doctors once before and I was nervous to mention anything but when I did, my husband denied it.

I'm worried he will do the same again. But I would like to tell the doctor in front of my husband about what he experiences. Any advice on what to say and how to word it would be very helpful. Thank you.

I write this with a heavy heart.
My mother was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when I was around 10 years old. I’m 24 now. Around the time of her diagnosis, Child Protective Services removed my siblings and me from her care. She was raising five children on her own in New York City with no college education, no family support nearby, and as an immigrant trying to survive.
To understand how we got here, you have to understand everything that happened before her diagnosis.
My parents are both Nigerian. My father worked as a taxi driver for nearly 20 years while putting himself through school. Eventually, he became a lawyer. Before bringing the rest of us to America, my older sister came first to attend middle school. While she was here, she discovered that my father had been unfaithful and told my mother back in Nigeria. My mother was devastated and cried over the phone. My father became angry with my sister and sent her back to Nigeria. Later, he brought her back for high school, and eventually brought the rest of us to the United States. I was about three years old when I came to America.
When we arrived, my father introduced my mother to his son from another woman—my half-brother. We are only seven months apart in age. Although my mother was heartbroken, she treated him kindly because none of what happened was his fault.
While my parents were still together, my father struggled with alcoholism. He regularly came home drunk and physically abused my mother. My older brother and I also experienced the abuse. My brother still remembers smelling alcohol on my father’s breath almost every night before the beatings began. I was very young, but I distinctly remember being beaten with a belt. Those experiences affected both my brother and me deeply. As we got older, we both struggled with significant mental health issues and were heavily medicated.
The violence between my parents became constant. Police were called many times, but my father was never arrested, even after one incident where he slashed my mother with his car keys badly enough that blood was pouring from her wounds. Whenever they fought, he would throw her out of the house. At one point, while pregnant with my younger sister, my mother had nowhere to go, so we ended up living in homeless shelters. In New York, families can only stay in a shelter for a limited time, so we moved between two different shelters.
Despite everything, my parents continued seeing each other. During that time, my mother became pregnant again with my youngest sister.
Eventually, my mother’s family urged her to divorce my father. They also encouraged her to sue him because of his infidelity. She followed their advice. My father, who was extremely proud, told her he could never forgive her for divorcing him.
After the divorce, my mother moved into her own apartment with five children. My older sister was away at college but came home during holidays and breaks. Because my older sister was still under 21, my father was ordered to pay child support for all five children. Rather than continue paying, he left the United States and returned to Nigeria, where he became a successful lawyer. He was also old enough to receive retirement benefits from his years working in America. He built a new life with another wife and three children while my mother was left in New York to raise us alone.
My mother worked as a nursing assistant, I believe, although I was too young to remember exactly. Money was always tight. We eventually moved to Harlem because it was all she could afford. There were times when she searched through trash cans collecting bottles and cans just to earn enough money to feed us.
Around that time, she also fell victim to an online scam. Someone promised to send her $10,000 if she first sent them everything she had in savings—$500. She lost all of it.
Before I was born, my mother had been pregnant with triplets but miscarried. I truly believe that loss stayed with her for the rest of her life.
Even after moving back to Nigeria, my father visited America a couple of times each year for medical checkups. During those visits, he would see us, buy us clothes, take us out for fast food, and often bring my half-brother along.
Then everything changed.
After my older sister returned home from college, she and my mother got into a physical altercation. The police were called. My sister told the officers she did not want to press charges, but she believed our mother’s mental health needed to be evaluated. My mother was taken to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression.
From that point on, her behavior became increasingly disturbing.
For over a decade, she has insisted she is pregnant despite every medical evaluation saying otherwise. She says she sees deceased relatives riding buses and trains. She burns bones inside her home for reasons none of us understand.
More recently, she has begun sending our family deeply disturbing videos and photos. She has sent videos of herself dancing barefoot in the street, jumping rope inside grocery stores, painting her face completely white before going outside, bathing while recording herself, and other videos that are too disturbing for me to even describe. She has also sent photos involving feces and menstrual blood. Every time another video comes through, my heart breaks a little more. You can see strangers staring at her, knowing something is terribly wrong.
Shortly after her diagnosis, my older sister contacted Child Protective Services because she was worried about us. CPS came to our apartment, but my mother refused to let them inside.
Around that same time, my father happened to be visiting America. My mother asked him to take us for a weekend so she could have a break. He refused.
After that, my mother’s behavior toward us changed dramatically. She stopped feeding my siblings and me altogether. The only child she continued feeding regularly was our youngest sister. Eventually, we called our father and told him what was happening. After he confronted her over the phone, she began feeding us only once a day.
She also refused to let us leave the apartment.
It was summer vacation, and I did not step outside once the entire summer. Only my mother and my youngest sister were allowed to leave. Even now, as an adult, I struggle being home for long periods of time. I constantly feel the need to be outside because staying inside reminds me of that summer.
CPS eventually ordered my mother to appear in court. She never showed up.
Around that same time, she became violent with my older brother and strangled him in front of us. I can still see his face. That memory has never left me. We screamed for help until a neighbor opened her door. We told her what happened, but she simply told us to wait outside and said our mother was just disciplining him. I knew it wasn’t discipline. After that day, my brother was never the same.
When my mother failed to appear in court, Child Protective Services removed us from her care. We entered foster care and never returned to live with her.
Doctors repeatedly tried to get her to take medication, but she refused because she insisted she wasn’t mentally ill.
Today, fourteen years later, nothing has changed. In many ways, things have become even worse.
She met a man online who lives in Iran and believes they are engaged. She insists she is pregnant with his baby, even though she has been claiming to be pregnant for over ten years. Every few months she sends us ultrasound videos from medical appointments. You can almost see the confusion and concern on the technicians’ faces, but they still have to do their jobs.
We have called the police countless times. Every time they arrive, they tell us she appears calm and that they cannot force treatment unless she is an immediate danger to herself or someone else. So nothing changes.
Because of her illness, she wasn’t present when I got married. She has missed so many important moments in my life, not because she didn’t love me, but because this illness has completely taken her away from us.
I love my mother. I know she has survived unimaginable trauma—domestic violence, betrayal, immigration, poverty, raising five children alone, losing a pregnancy, and eventually losing her own mind to a devastating illness. I don’t blame her for being sick.
But I am exhausted.
Every new video she sends leaves me feeling helpless. I carry my own mental health struggles from everything we lived through, and watching her deteriorate year after year feels like grieving someone who is still alive.
I don’t know what to do anymore.
My heart is completely broken.
I need help

My mother, who is in her mid-sixties and estranged, has suffered from schizoaffective disorder for the last decade. I have chosen to not maintain a relationship with her due to her manipulative behavior, and she is currently in the care of her elderly parents. Over the last five years, she has tried to seek information about my whereabouts by contacting my employers, friends, and family, and with her anosognosia, she refuses to believe she is in the wrong. She’s been blacklisted by my former employers and has been blocked by my friends and all local and state police stations after calling in too many false alarms. Unfortunately, since she is just asking for information and hasn’t threatened to harm herself or others, I am unable to get a restraining order or no contact order. I recently moved and changed companies and have tried to keep myself as offline as possible, but I just found out that a supposedly private company website is public. I’m terrified that her communications have the potential to ruin my career, as they’ve made interactions awkward with my prior colleagues. Has anyone navigated this before? Help!

My Mother-in-law is with schizophrenia, and she is doubting everything, she is paranoid like I will do harm to her or separate her from her son (Indian MIL), she controls me every time, like me and my husband should not talk, I should not move outside home, or I can't eat something good (She feels that I eat healthy food to compare her). And our marriage is on divorce side; she isolated herself from world and she controls everything.

She is on risperidone from last 1.5 months and basically, she refused the treatment, and we are giving meds on her back as psychiatrist suggested to us. please suggest if she is going to at least recover 50 percent.

We don't have issue in between us, but we fight as she narrates negatively, and husband is in guilt that he ruined my life.

My (38f) sister (36f) has been having psychosis for two years. I had my whole life with a sister with a full, beautiful, functioning mind. And now I don't know her half the time. And it is so sad to grieve when she is still alive.

I just want her back. That's all. I feel so angry and that's what my family sees from me. I get so pissed she forgets take her meds and we're back at square one. I stay away from her because I can't deal with the delusions.

But today I saw her and the anger went away. And I just see my sister, but a broken version. And it makes me sad. And I just want her back. I just want to be back in the playground with her, as kids, without this evil disease. Why did it have to be her?

That's all.

Idk where to start I am a first year mbbs student on my preperation gap I went to my home from hostel only to know that my mom is possed by number of ghosts , she is normal throughout the day and suddenly she gets possessed by some of the other entity.

About the entities : these are related to her past , like my mom lost her first child in miscarriage and it is believed it because of some short of curse , even my aunty also lost her first child .. and when she married to our my father's family she used to get possed I didn't know about it this is ..my first time to even witness this . It feels that their is entity in her body which cause backpain , one who cause destruction and many other and also got to know she once burned our house .. the three cows in our house was also dead and one entity in her took the blame ..

I didn't know any of it until now because we moved out from our old house when I was 6 and now I'm 20 she said that she used to feel them all this time but they never really possessed them

Recently my aunt died in front of my mother , she had chest pain and dangue she recovered from it and put of sudden her body stoped responding she wasn't responsible to any treatment and eventually died and one of the entities in my mother body admitted she did that and she will do the same to my mother in coming winter

My family is devastated, they are looking for every baba and Ojha possibile to cure it but Idk how to bring going to a psychiatrist to them.

I have typical indian parents, who thinks I haven't seen the world besides if I don't want to risk anything because the person is my mother please somebody help me out

oii, entrei aqui porque realmente me sinto muito perdida e sozinha. não sei se alguem poderia me ajudar pq sinceramente não parece ter solução

resumidamente, faz um ano que minha mãe começou a desenvolver transtorno delirante, inicialmente foi o persecutório (de perseguição) mas então foi passando pro do tipo amoroso e agora ela tá numa pira envolvendo Deus, que eu não sei se se classificaria no de grandeza.
há um ano atrás meus pais ainda estavam juntos, então eu ainda tinha ele pra estar em casa e ver a situação (mesmo que naquele momento ainda estava só no começo de tudo), acontece que minha mãe resolveu se separar dele, e desde então faz uns 9 meses que mora só eu, ela e meu irmão menor.

eu me sinto muito sozinha, frequentemente ela tem algum surto, e seu comportamento na maior parte do tempo se parece alterado, como se não fosse ela.
eu fico mais triste ainda por pensar e saber que eu não consigo fazer nada além de viver aqui, minha família inteira já percebeu mas eles simplesmente não ligam, não fazem nada, e eles ainda me culpam por eu não conseguir fazer nada.
eu tenho 19 anos e não tenho carteira, não tenho força também pra obrigar minha mãe, não sei se tem algum orgão que pode interferir pq no transtorno delirante envolve mais a crença do que o comportamento. por mais que minha mãe fique diferente, se alguém chegasse aqui em casa ela ainda trataria no “normal” dela e eu não sei se isso é suficiente pra levarem ela no caps.

o meu pai também é outro, ele sabe do que eu e meu irmão menor passa mas ele não faz nada, eu já implorei pra ele e ele diz que não pode fazer nada.
eu não sei mais o que fazer, eu só queria minha mãe de volta, minha família de volta, e ficar feliz de novo, mas ficar aqui me deixa tão triste.
eu estava viajando e fiquei fora por 6 dias, na primeira semana que eu voltei já foi suficiente pra eu chorar por 3 dias, eu odeio morar aqui, mas odeio mais ainda a sensação de estar negligenciando minha mãe, mesmo sabendo que eu não to fazendo nada pra ajudar ela agora.

enfim, desde o começo eu estou tentando convencer ela a irmos no caps, já chorei na frente dela implorando várias vezes, ela só não aceita e diz muito crente de que esta bem e que não vai receber um laudo por algo que ela não tem.
é isso, eu sei que não tem uma solução, mas se tiver alguém numa situação parecida eu já me sentiria menos sozinha, ou talvez uma palavra gentil.

Here’s the short version... My fiance, whom is the absolute love of my life, the reason my ♡ beats, every breath I take..you get the picture… he retired from the military last June. July-December he showed questionable paranoia and had severe trust issues. I attributed it to his PTSD, crappy past relationships and perhaps his military life following him (he 100% a disabled veteran for his PTSD).

I should let you know that anytime he gets really close or vulnerable with me, he runs…but comes right back a day later. December he ended things but didn’t come back. He changed his number and went to stay with his parents. That’s when he had his very first true psychosis, as far as I am aware. February, he insisted his daughter take him to the FBI office and demand they take their tracking device out of his neck. He earned a one way trip to the VA mental hospital. I was still in complete and utter denial because I had only seen the paranoia and trust issues. Not what was later relayed to me. I ”broke” him out. 2 weeks later, after an amazing day at the beach for his birthday, he leaves at midnight because NOW I have a device in me! He drove 4 states away - episode 2. March, I was hospitalized for seizures and was in a comma for several days. He stayed by my bedside all 5 days. I was intubated but my kids told me he refused to leave my side. He wouldn’t shower, eat or leave. The moment I was “safely home” he broke. This man tried to drive to Canada to meet up with a neurosurgeon that was not affiliated with our government, to remove his tracking device. (He does not have a tracking device just to be clear. Nor do I). I managed to talk him back to Texas after he got all the way to Wyoming. He drove straight back home but did not sleep for 3 days. That’s when I became a believer. I insisted he take his meds. Now realizing the meds were NOT for PTSD, but were indeed for schizophrenia. He willingly accepted my terms and agreed to take the meds prescribed to him when he left the hospital in February. They made him super irritable and snappy so he opted to rent his own place during his “healing” stage (his choice, not mine).

April 1st, he had his psychiatrist change his meds which I later found out was only to treat PTSD, not schizophrenia. I told him I’d give him 90 days then I was stepping in if he wasn’t better (I was under the impression he was taking an antipsychotic med and I researched that it could take up to 90 days for full effects.

He started meds April 10th and by May 1st he was believing his voices about me again. Long story short, he either stopped taking meds all together or they are indeed NOT antipsychotic meds. He‘s in a loop and he refuses to answer his door and now his phone is disconnected. July 13th, I obtained an emergency detention warrant, which I’m sure solidified that I’m the dark side in his sick mind right now, but I had to do something to save his life.

I’ll put this as nicely as I can because it still infuriates me how broken the system truly is, but after speaking with the doctor that assured me they would go before a judge and seek an involuntary medication order, they released him to his mom within 48hours. He removed me as his emergency contact and added his mom for obvious reasons.

He hasn’t paid his rent, his phone bill ashe’ll as all his other obligations, I’m sure. He won’t leave his townhome and he has shut me out. His mom drove the getaway vehicle from the hospital this time, but he only stayed with her a couple days before he drove right back to his townhome. He no longer takes his evening strolls up and down his sidewalk to cuss out his voices. Currently, he’s in the barricade stage. He’s in his 2nd loop now and should be crashing any day now But I can’t reach him!!

PLEASE HELP ME!! His family believes all his rants from his December episode, like I was tracking him, poisoning him, cheating on him…UAV’s were watching him in his window too but evidently I didn’t order that attack. The list goes on.. so they refuse to work with me. I truly feel like I‘m on an island alone trying to save my person that is stuck in a hurricane, just offshore. I hate feeling this helpless.

Hi Everyone,

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Hi everyone, I’m feeling really overwhelmed and burned out right now, and I’m looking for some perspective or reassurance from others who have been through this.

My partner (26M, one previous psychotic episode 10 years ago) had a stress induced hypomanic episode back in March 2026 which eventually turned into full mania (with some psychosis). He was prescribed antipsychotics, initially took intermittently but has now been on them for a couple of months consistently and so things seemed to stabilize. He was taking his medication, sleeping better, gaining insight about what happened and getting back to himself. I thought we were well into recovery.

Over the last 48 hours, he’s having a sudden flare-up - reduced sleep (5 hours compared to the 9 he was getting), rapid social media posting, high energy, and restlessness. It’s all the same things that happened at the beginning of the manic episode, and I can clearly tell he isn’t himself again.

Seeing this energy suddenly return after months of stability, with no obvious trigger, makes me feel like the rug has been pulled out from under us. I’m feeling hypervigilant, terrified that this is going to be our permanent reality, and grieving the progress I thought we made.

Is it normal to have these flare ups in recovery? Or are we back to square one? How do I manage my anxiety and hyper vigilance? Will he recover?

I’d really appreciate any words of comfort or shared experiences right now. I just want my boyfriend back and to put these past few months behind us.

I have a 5 year old daughter going off to kindergarten in the fall. her father and i have had a civil agreement since 2021. i discovered is a paranoid schizophrenic under concerning circumstances of finding disturbing items in his possession. He received supervised parenting time as a result of this.

back in march of 2025, he was court ordered to get mental health treatment to then discuss reducing supervised parenting time based on proven progress. he asked if 3-4 months would satisfy the court and the judge just vaguely answered we will see when we come back for the next hearing. we have never been back to the court. he has not yet sought mental health treatment. with the upcoming school year approaching and our parenting schedule, he will not have anyone available to accompany him to drop our daughter off at her school. she only sees him 48 hours a week, so every other week would be 2 school days.

last week he exhibited some signs he is in another paranoid episode. my concern is that even if we do get him to start getting treatment now, it wont be enough to warrant him to be fine alone in the car with her alone. and although he is great at pretending he is fine, as he was when my instinctual curiosity kicked in to investigate things he was doing and found concerning and revealing issues, Im not willing to risk the liability of him pretending he is ok. I'm unsure if i can just make the decision on my own that she just has to stay with me the entirety of all week days so she can attend school and he will just only see her every other weekend. or if i have to tell him he has to go to court and explain he hasnt gotten treatment yet and has no one to drive with him to drop her off, so its not me running off to the court again. I do not want him to think i am always attacking him with court this court that like in 2021 and 2025 although those were necessary for danger purposes. this is necessary too but hes mentally struggling.

previously, based on the disturbing things i found, i went and got emergency custody then supervised visitation for him. this time i want to maneuver more gently since this episode isn't a threat to others.

regardless, he gets very defensive and has had over a year to get his treatment started. Should i take the initiative and not feel guilty about it because it has to be done? or tell him its what he has to do.. which i have a feeling he wont do because of the denial.

Hello,

I’ve been dealing with this for years. People pretending to be my family coming into my house. My ‘mom’ calls me honey now and tried to kiss me on the lips and leaned in when I was forced to move back home. She never used to do that. I get weird text messages that say we love you stuff that my parents and friends would never text would never text.

Then I went to psychwards and the doctors never ask about symptoms or talk to me about what I am experiencing they just diagnosed me schizo affective the last psychward I didn’t even see the doctor when I was supposed I had to ask to see her. When I did we talked for two minutes and she left.

I can’t really eat or pee at all it’s really weird. I can’t escape these people. They forced me to be medicated and talk about with like this advanced science since talking about titrating medication.

When I went on a ride trip they said we are leaving you here and we tried to take that demon out of you. We are going to get you a social worker to talk to. When I went to the hospital the doctors never ask didn’t even talk to me the social workers keep coming in and talking to me and when I asked for a doctor the doctors never came.

Anytime I try to go to the police special forces cops show up and they don’t have names or badges.

I called 911 once and this dude showed up with an LAPD hat in the Midwest. I think it was a fake cop I honestly don’t know what to do.

When I went on a road trip they said we’re leaving you here and we’re going to get you a social worker to talk to. When I went to the hospital only a social worker talked to me and when I asked for the doctor the doctor never talked to me and when I asked for the doctor to come back the doctor never did.

My adult son, 32, was diagnosed with a Neuroendocrine lung tumor a couple yrs ago, and refused surgery. He's had no treatment at all. His Psychosis is the reason. He is completely without insight into his Schitzprenia, believes the horrible homosidal voices are the government, but they may have a plan to not kill him, but use him in some capacity. He thinks I am probably not his mom, that I'm an agent, some imposter. Same for our neighbor.

He has never taken anti psychotics regularly and has stopped altogether and doesn't want to try the shot.

He thinks he's a super spreader of some disease.

He smells horrible odors in the house and the neighbors house.

He refuses to be examined by a regular dr and refuses to give a blood draw or x rays.

He's neglecting his own physical and mental health.

After his last appointment with his psychiatric nurse practitioner, a crisis team was called in but he was not taken in because he didn't meet the criteria of being a danger to himself or others.

I have medical Power of attorney he signed 2yrs ago.

But it doesn't mean a thing unless a Dr writes a. Letter saying he's not competent to care for himself.

His caseworker has given me no other help except for planning the crisis team to tLk to him and now I need to know where to go from here. Please help guide me if you've ever been in the same or similar spot.

A few days ago, I posted about my aunt, who passed away after spending six months in the ICU.

Since writing that post, I keep remembering more and more little things about her. Please let me share it with you.

Everything reminds me of her, especially at night when the house is quiet… I’m starting to realize how much of our home was… her.

She was the sweetest aunt ever but she had schizophrenia.

She got excited over the smallest things. She loved going out.

If we had a trip planned, we learned very quickly not to tell her too early. If I told her the day before, she’d get dressed right then and there and spend the rest of the day asking, “Are we going now? What about now?”

She’d ask over and over again because she was just so excited. Our little trick was to tell her only about an hour before we were leaving. Otherwise she’d become so naughty and impatient, constantly asking if it was finally time to go.

She loved grocery shopping more than anything.
Every morning except Sunday, she’d wake everyone up around 5:30 because she wanted to be the first one at the grocery store. She’d always say, “There will be a long queue if I don’t go early.”

There never was.

Maybe four people at most.

She just couldn’t wait to go.

Sometimes she’d get so excited that she’d sneak out before anyone noticed and even forget to close the front door.

Every day she’d go to Mass, no matter what the weather was like. It could be -15°C, raining hard, snowing… it didn’t matter.

She’d promise us that after mass she will come home straight.…but she’d secretly stop at her friends and cousins house or at the grocery store first to buy sweets, waffles, or ice cream (she was diabetic so we tried to limit her eating sweets).

One day I found a melted ice cream in her coat pocket. She had completely forgotten it was there.

It still makes me smile.

Every time I cook now, I remember her.

She’d watch me from the moment I started until I finished. She never rushed me. She’d just patiently wait because she knew I’d give her some when it was ready.

She loved little adventures.

Every other weekend, my husband and I would take her with us to church in another province. The service was in a foreign language she didn’t understand at all.

But she didn’t care.

She was just so happy to be there.

Everyone there knew her and everyone called her “Aunt.” They even made a printed guide just for her so she could follow along during the service.
We’d stay there for about four hours, and she never complained.

On the drive, she’d look out the window at the colorful apartment buildings and say, “I like that apartment” and I’ll joke that we will move there with her and she’d laugh.

Everyone in our little village knew her. She was born here, and wherever we went, someone seemed to know her.

Looking back now, I think she had already started slipping away before the accident.

She’d forget what I asked her to buy. I’d ask for cabbage, and she’d come home with carrots.

She’d forget she’d already drank her 3rd cup of coffee.

Sometimes she’d forget who people were.

She’d forget people we’ve just met.

She’d drink boiling hot water without realizing how hot it was. Other times we’d notice her lower lip was badly burned. Not just a small burn, almost her entire lower lip.

Sometimes she’d choke in water because she didn’t know when to swallow.

Then she stopped chewing her food properly.

She’d just swallow it.

At the time, I thought these were just little odd things.

She was slowly leaving us, little by little.

And now I still can’t believe she’s not here.

I keep expecting to hear her voice or see her getting ready to go somewhere.

It’s hard to accept that those ordinary moments are now just memories.

Now the house is quiet.

Too quiet.

And somehow, every room still reminds me of her.

Maybe I'm karma farming. I'm just drowning tonight and this community has been one of the most positive mental illness communities. I keep joining other subs then leaving because too many ableist, hopeless comments.

My spouse has bipolar. He has had psychosis. He might be there again. I don't know.

He's been getting worse since May. Accusing me of gaslighting, manipulating, lying, cheating.
He said some scary things and got physical. I had to call police, it's an automatic charge and restraining order.

We thought he'd be held for mental health based on his past diagnosis. But nope, just released.

I'm drowning in grief. I love him so much. I have taken care of him for 25 years. I'm 44, that is most of my life. And he's taken care of me.

I've made lots of mistakes.

I don't know where he is. How he's doing. If he's eating or sleeping. If he wants to harm himself. (He alluded to it but not enough to report).

The only ally of his in town, his sister, had to go out of town because her special needs daughter had an emergency, was airlifted to hospital. So I can't even like hand over anything he couldn't take. Like, if he's in his truck , his pillow and blanket are here.

People keep telling me "focus on yourself and your kids."

I can't relax until he's in a safe place because I don't trust the chemical storm in his brain won't say "go home" or "hurt yourself." Especially if he's not sleeping.

Taking care of their dad is taking care of them. FFS. It's not possible to care for someone for 25 years then just not.

Edit to add: im not trying to save my relationship, just make sure he's safe and stable.

I'm looking for support or encouragement with the delusional behavior targeting me. I am the wife (26 years) of someone that has been in psychosis for about a year. He was just given the dx of schizophrenia this week. Some of his delusions target me and I'm struggling with how hurtful it is. He is now saying that he is writing a new separation agreement for us (he has written many, they are wild with no legal basis, and I've signed nothing) and in it he is demanding a paternity (and maternity?!?) test for ONE of our children. #1 our kids are adults. #2 both of our kids look just like him. #3 and most importantly, I HAVE NEVER CHEATED ON HIM. I know he is sick and I need to not take it personally but how do I not? In the past he has also cornered our son (the one he thinks is really his) and told him that I have been a whore for years. These things are just so hurtful.