My sister has been suffering from paranoid schizophrenia for almost 30 years now. She’s lost her husband, lost custody of her children, has been in and out of jail numerous times, tried suicide and yet still believes it’s all because the world is out to get her. She’s been Baker Acted at least 10 times now too. But as most of you know, that never helps. I and the rest of the family don’t know what else to do other than let her go even though that means she’ll end up in jail again or worse, get killed when she breaks into a home of someone who doesn’t realize her mental illness. Without treatment this vicious cycle will never end until it ends in death. Has anyone been able to find help beyond the useless Baker Act?
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Its a heartbreaking disease I’m sorry your sister is in this space right now . And you and your family as well .
Does your sister have any lucid moments still ?
I haven’t had success yet but I’m trying to work on getting a court appointed legal guardian for my sibling . His sz has had him in and out of jail homeless inpatient many many times.
My father who helps care take and provides a home will not be around much longer .
I speak with him daily but I’m across the country and would be unable to take on care giving for him again .
Extended family is no longer willing to help him at this point in time.
Its such a horrible hard position to be in trying to help make decisions that may keep our loved ones safe but not at all what they want for themselves .
There are a few threads here in the search engine about the court appointed guardianship and you can google your states law and process
Thank you for sharing here
The end goal is for her to see that she could have a far better life if she saw a psychiatrist and became willing to take the medications that are prescribed. Just as she would do for any other illness: see a doctor and follow the treatment advice.
I don’t know of any way other than for your sister to see for herself, thus the standard advice for you to follow the process in I Am Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help! How to Help Someone Accept Treatment
Than you! I’ll definitely read it and encourage her to do the same
Oddly enough she is almost always lucid when dealing with her lawyers or parole officer. Mainly why we can’t seem to get help from anyone of authority. Then she gets home and is almost comatose or disappears, loses her phone so we can’t get in touch. Then gets arrested again for some just generally bizarre behavior. 
Someone else suggested a book called ‘I’m Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help. I just ordered it and will give it a read. Might at least be helpful to me
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I totally agree with you that it’s a vicious and sad cycle. There is little to no help from anyone. I’ve found that dealing with my sister and her illness will have to be her recognizing and wanting to get the help that she needs. The medical community seems to lack understanding or knowledge or maybe their hands are just tied. All I know is that it’s almost impossible to get help for someone struggling with schizophrenia. I had to leave my sister by herself again to come home. The last visit there was so draining that I could feel a weight lifted from me when I headed to the airport. I was called all kinds of names, awakened from my sleep most nights by her delusions and had my kids called names as well. In spite of all of that, I recognize that a lot of it is the disease and I still want my sister to get help. I know she’s angry because she doesn’t want to be in this state but she has to be the one to diligently seek the help that she needs. The answer to your question for me is that ‘No’ I’ll never give up but I will set boundaries to keep myself sane. I do what’s in my control and I pray about the things that are not. I don’t know if my sister will ever be the same person that she was before this illness but I have to accept the reality of where she is now. I hope that you will get the answers that you need and find peace in knowing that you’ve done the best that you can do. It’s not easy but take it one day at a time. Try to find a glimmer of hope in the small things.
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Believe it or not, I found Florida’s Baker Act an absolute dream compared to the Mental Health act in the UK, where the minimum restrictive option is used until things escalate. I believe there are some work assistance programs around Florida for people with severe mental illness. Can you share what county they are in?