My family is having a crisis, and it all centers around my bipolar sister. I posted a thread probably a year ago about the process of her diagnosis and the S-L-O-W treatment leading to her continued instability. I'll summarize: She is currently 19 years old, and has Bipolar type II (rapid cycling-- like one week she's low, won't get out of bed for days, and the next week she's high, can't sleep, full of energy, spending money, partying with friends, disobeying long-standing house rules) with ADHD. She has been to two different psychologists as well as two different psychiatrists. None of them have been aggressive in treating her. She recently stated that she only feels "normal" 40% of the time. Geez! I can't imagine!
So, my sister disobeyed a house rule, and my mom called her on her cellphone to ask her to please come home to discuss it. Well, she did come home-- to get a pillow and clothes, and storm back out to her car. She is currently living in the local party house-- they owner provides the alcohol to all the minors (yes... the police know about this), the house is FILTHY dirty-- so much so that my sister once said that she doesn't know how someone lives in so much filth, and leaves the front door WIDE OPEN all the time. She states that she is going to pay rent, but once we added up the rent, car insurance, and cellphone bill, she was already in the negative numbers. She doesn't have enough money to pay her car insurance and registration due on March 1st, and frankly, doesn't care.
Her friend, who is barely 17 years old, ran away from home a few weeks ago. Her parents filed a missing persons report, and guess who the police found her with?? Yup, she was driving her friend around to various "hiding spots." Hmm, harboring a minor wouldn't look too good on the record.
Neither would a DUI/DWI-- since she admits to driving drunk, even though "it's just a mile down the road." We found empty liquor bottles in the garage trash, and neither my mom or I drink alcohol.
To top it off, my mom hasn't been able to find a job for the past 6 months, and my entire paycheck from my new-grad job (stressful enough) goes into the family account.
So, if you're still reading, I have a question... Technically, my sister isn't a threat to herself or others, so we can't have her admitted to the hospital unless she WANTS treatment-- which we all know isn't gonna happen cuz she's on top of the world right now. But the stress has got to lessen for my mom and I. I feel myself dropping into a depression from being around it, and I know that my mom isn't going to last too much longer. Dad isn't in the picture (although technically I guess he is because it was his abandoning us that lead to her bipolar-- or so the docs say), and we really don't have a strong support system (both sides of the family sided with my abusive alcoholic father, and won't interact with us). Are there options? Any psych nurses out there who have any ideas? Is there a way to get her back into the hospital if she isn't a threat/won't sign herself in? I guess even hospitalization isn't always the answer unless she wants the help... which she doesn't.
