RedheadRN1958

Do any of you think that previous experience with a personal addiction makes you a better nurse in CD? Or having experienced a mental illness makes you better with MI?

Update: I appreciate all the comments. I got a PM that suggested SSRI may enhance the bipolar disorder, and BINGO! She had recently started on Lexapro. Her children were removed from the home last week; the sheriff was at the house three times for domestic violence calls (Her trying to get the boyfriend to leave). Fortunately she went to the ER after I forced her to look at me and told her the Lexapro was bad. She went in for a bad headache but got an involuntary commitment. She's been upped a few more days but at least she's getting help (her working dx is bipolar disorder). Geez. I feel like a bad actor in a "B" movie. Again thanks for all your concern. It is nice to have someone to "type" to!

Suppose you have a friend or family member who you've known for years; female, a RN (BSN) who has been an RN for many years and is presently in a great supervisory job. Many stressors have been in your friends life over the past few years: a child with special needs and leukemia, another child with ADHD, divorce recently, financial troubles, graduate school (!) Over the last few months you have noticed some rather bizarre behaviour that makes you wonder (because of your own nursing background) if your friend or family member is experiencing signs of bipolar disorder, similar to some of the stories Patty Duke described in her book about her personal experiences with the disorder. Or substance abuse. Or some other mental illness. You may get a strange phone call in the middle of the night and your friend or family member is paranoid and irrational. You get emails with thoughts that just aren't connected. She spends several thousand dollars on "stuff" she really doesn't need with money she doesn't really have (credit cards). If a person has no insight into the fact that their behaviour is a little bizarre and they are not really rational, how does someone get evaluated for a disorder? Does something bad have to happen in order to get help? If any of you have had to deal with similar situations I'd love to find out how you handled it.