My mother has gone psycho

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Raleigh
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13 Feb 2018, 8:44 pm

My mother is threatening to call the police on my brother because she believes he's trying to kill her.
She's gone totally psycho, because she's the one who's leaving threatening voicemails on his phone almost every day threatening him, and sending letters to his work full of absolute rubbish about how he threatened to bash her, etc.
All untrue.
She's suffering from some kind of paranoid delusions.
My brother doesn't know what to do because he really doesn't want to call the police on her.
He asked me to speak to her but I doubt that would do any good either.
You can't reason with her, God knows we've all tried.
I don't know what to do.
Does anyone know if there is someone you can go to help out in a situation like this?


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B19
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13 Feb 2018, 8:48 pm

Is there a mental health service that you and/or your brother could call and discuss this with. We have a crisis line that we can alert if someone is going over the edge, they make home visits and do an assessment, it is part of community health services funded by the government. They can also arrange counselling etc for the affected person. I don't know if Oz has that option though.



blackicmenace
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13 Feb 2018, 8:50 pm

You should probably try to get her help. These sorts of situations can end poorly for all involved if she has lost grip on reality. She won't be happy about it, but she might need to be saved from herself.


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kraftiekortie
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13 Feb 2018, 8:53 pm

I'm sorry you're going through this. It's a terrible thing that your own mother is acting like this.

Like B19 and BlackIC said, I would try to get some sort of help for her.

I'm sure Australia has similar things to New Zealand as far as mental health is concerned.

What has set off your mother?



Raleigh
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13 Feb 2018, 8:55 pm

B19 wrote:
Is there a mental health service that you and/or your brother could call and discuss this with. We have a crisis line that we can alert if someone is going over the edge, they make home visits and do an assessment, it is part of community health services funded by the government. They can also arrange counselling etc for the affected person. I don't know if Oz has that option though.

We have a MHU but I've never heard of them doing anything like that unless the person is violent or suicidal.


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kraftiekortie
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13 Feb 2018, 8:57 pm

How about if somebody threatens violence?



B19
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13 Feb 2018, 8:58 pm

Another part of the service here is that they can arrange a few days of respite care in a safe setting while the person rests and restablises.

We also have a Mental Health Foundation here which acts as a directory service for callers seeking help for themselves or family members, is there anything like that over the ditch?



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13 Feb 2018, 8:59 pm

I'm sorry you have this going on. It sucks.
Has your Mum always had psychotic episodes? I remember from when I was really young, my Mum being too scared to hang the washing out because she thought there were tigers in the backyard. It's scary when a parent is psychotic.
You can contact lifeline for advice. They will know what services you can access. Good luck. I hope your Mum gets help soon .


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Raleigh
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13 Feb 2018, 9:03 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:
I'm sorry you're going through this. It's a terrible thing that your own mother is acting like this.

Like B19 and BlackIC said, I would try to get some sort of help for her.

I'm sure Australia has similar things to New Zealand as far as mental health is concerned.

What has set off your mother?

I don't know where to go for help, without calling the police. :(

She's been going on about this for years, but it's getting worse and worse.
My brother is a nurse and told her once that she should put a do not rescusitate note in her POA because of what he had personally witnessed in his career, and that led to her believing he wants to murder her.


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Raleigh
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13 Feb 2018, 9:07 pm

bunnyb wrote:
I'm sorry you have this going on. It sucks.
Has your Mum always had psychotic episodes? I remember from when I was really young, my Mum being too scared to hang the washing out because she thought there were tigers in the backyard. It's scary when a parent is psychotic.
You can contact lifeline for advice. They will know what services you can access. Good luck. I hope your Mum gets help soon .

She's always been paranoid that everyone's out to get her.
I might try Lifeline, I didn't think of that, thanks.


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kraftiekortie
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13 Feb 2018, 9:11 pm

Your brother was giving good advice. But your mother wasn't rational enough to receive it as such.

If I would have recommended that for my mother, she would have gotten paranoid, too. So I leave the decision up to her. I'm not even going to mention it.

Not blaming your brother--at all.

Which state of Australia do you reside in? It seems that many things in Australia are left up to the states to decide, similar to what happens in the US (though there might be more of a Federal presence in the US).

It's hard NOT to call the police. Do you have any knowledge of the nature of the police in your area? Sometimes, they can do these sorts of things right---other times, though, they could be very questionable.



Raleigh
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13 Feb 2018, 9:24 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:
Your brother was giving good advice. But your mother wasn't rational enough to receive it as such.

If I would have recommended that for my mother, she would have gotten paranoid, too. So I leave the decision up to her. I'm not even going to mention it.

Not blaming your brother--at all.

Which state of Australia do you reside in? It seems that many things in Australia are left up to the states to decide, similar to what happens in the US (though there might be more of a Federal presence in the US).

It's hard NOT to call the police. Do you have any knowledge of the nature of the police in your area? Sometimes, they can do these sorts of things right---other times, though, they could be very questionable.

It was only a suggestion by my brother.
I was there when he said it.
He wasn't pushing, or anything.
He only told her what he had witnessed, working in an aged care facility.

Calling the police on your own mother seems excessive.
Ideally, I'd like to talk to someone just to find out what the options are.
I wouldn't like to see her hauled off to the MHU or anything like that.


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B19
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13 Feb 2018, 9:26 pm

Mental Health Foundation Australia (Google for services and contact numbers).

I would suggest go that route instead of the police at this stage. The police tend to over-react and deliver people rathe forcefully at times to psychiatric wards instead or looking at options, and that is sometimes using a hammer to crack a nut, and worsens the condition of the person suddenly trapped in that system. It is really intended for people in a very acute state who are likely to cause direct harm to themselves or others, though the police take the road of least resistance.



Raleigh
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13 Feb 2018, 9:30 pm

^ Thanks for that.
I will try it.

Starting to get a bit overwhelmed here, so hope you don't mind if I drop out for a bit.

Thanks for all the help. :heart:


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blackicmenace
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13 Feb 2018, 9:45 pm

Hope everything turns out for the best Raleigh, take care.


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kraftiekortie
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13 Feb 2018, 9:47 pm

Yep. Take care, Raleigh.