Summer time and the living is...hectic

Summer is supposed to be a time to relax. But it seems almost the opposite these days, atleast for me. My attention has been drawn away from this blog by other projects. But psychosis came back into focus yesterday when a friend called to talk about a long time mutual 'sister' who appears to have slipped, over the past year, into a serious psychosis with paranoid delusions and auditory hallucinations (hearing people talking about her).

Our 'sister' has a long history of psychological struggles along with difficulties in relationships. But her current mental state has clearly gone far beyond anything we've seen before.

Helping her has become problematic because she has incorporated her closest support people into her delusional system and now believes they are part of a massive conspiracy against her.

Of course she does not recognize the delusional nature of her beliefs and see no need for professional help. So, how to help her? One possible avenue is that she is involved with some social service agencies. Perhaps by making the professionals in that agency aware of the depths of her mental issues will prompt them to get her to someone who can do a proper assessment and determine if she is psychotic (which appears to be the case) and begin the process of treatment.

This situation is certainly not unique; something like it is playing out in many, many families in the midst of this summer season.

May those who need help receive it.