The last couple of weeks has been very challenging for me and today my daughter went to the hospital. She took an overdose of pills and called the police and mental health emergency line on her own. I felt too upset and angry with her to deal with her drama.
My daughter has been acting up the last few weeks with delusions, maybe hallucinations, anger and paranoia. Part of me feels resentful and angry with her. I ask myself why doesn’t she want to grow up and why is she still attached to my aprons strings.
So this evening I’m working on distracting myself. It’s around 10:30PM, dark and raining so I can’t take a walk which is my usual way of dealing with stress. I’m doing some deep and slow breathing and that helps a lot. I’m sharing this all with you and that also helps and after visiting this forum I will probably read. I’m 20% into this very engrossing novel.
Yes, I’ve been dealing with my daughter’s illness for about 17 years but I still have my bad days. Yes, I know it’s not her fault she has a mental illness and I feel a great deal of empathy for my daughter that she’s dealing with this on a daily basis. I can only imagine what that feels like and as her mother at times I think why can’t I just let her go and let her make her own mistakes and deal with the consequences. There are times I want to toss her out on the street but I can’t do it plus she has a couple of great kids and I would never ever want to hurt them in any way. It’s tough.
What do you do to distract and calm yourself. I’d love to hear from you on your go to stress reducer.
I don’t know, but I just take a break. I’ve had to take breaks before. Sometimes I go out for walks or just watch Netflix. I like taking baths and pouring some Village Naturals minerals in it, helps with muscle pain and stress relief. I isolate myself mostly, I can’t deal with people during these times. Just taking a day off completely for yourself or even a couple of hours can help you recharge and be more relaxed when you get back to the chaos.
Visited my daughter in the hospital and talked with her psychiatrist. Doc told me that my daughter is having a lot of auditory and visual psychotic episodes and that it is pretty serious. She is frightened and suicidal and the doctor want to keep her for several days. Doc said daughter is very fragile and needs more therapy as well as skill building. None of this surprises me – I’ve seen the progression of her disease but I’m still hopeful that her life can be improved with an open dialogue and better medication. Daughter has kept her psychotic episodes to herself and very guarded with anyone she comes in contact with
You need to give yourself some time doing something you enjoy. I may read or watch a movie. Your daughter sounds like she is not taking her meds is she monitored.,
Yes, she is being monitored. Hoping and praying that doctors can help her. Her biggest issue is depression and she can’t take anti-depressants because of mania. My daughter’s diagnosis is schizo-affective. Sometimes I wonder if the medication is making her sicker.
Me too. I’m also a sneak cleaner. My son is usually quite well and lives in his own. These days his place usually looks like a young guy’s place. Not bad at all. But still, when I go to use his bathroom, by the time I come out, the toilet and hand basin are clean. If I stay for a few days, all his floors are clean. And so on. Mostly he doesn’t seem to notice what I’ve done. If he gets a bit awkward or embarrassed, I just say I was bored. But that’s true. I always weed the garden or do the ironing when I stay with my mum too!