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Mental health

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Assesments of mental health

2 replies

Ripeberry · 16/04/2010 09:33

My mum has dementia and manic depression. She goes from being a total vegetable and not walking or talking to being quite lucid and 'normal'
My poor dad was supposed to be going on his first holiday for 10yrs today and my mum sat in her chair last night and had very bad dioreah and just sat in it.
My dad will now not go on holiday and he has been looking forward to it
But I know she did this on purpose as whenever she has a 'mental assesment' she will pull herself together and be very lucid and even offer to make a cup of tea (has not been in the kitchen for over 5yrs!)
But just before they arrive, she is her usual self, sitting in the chair rocking back and forth, shouting "Ow" every five seconds ALL DAY LONG!
She is not in pain, it's just a habit (she claims), but she magically turns it off when strangers are in the house.
The 'assesments' never last more than 10 minutes. How on earth can they decide what someone is like in such a short space of time?
Would it not be more useful for my dad to put a camera up in the corner of the room and video her over 24hrs?
Would they take that as proof of what she is really like.
At the moment the GP does not believe my dad and says my mum is not ill, but you can't be right in the head to be doing these things?
He is a total prisoner and he is physicaly and mentaly being drained .

OP posts:
cestlavielife · 16/04/2010 12:17

time for your dad to take on board what the profressionals are saying and say look: you are fine, docs say so. and you want them to say you are fine. so you say you are fine, docs say you are fine teherefore you are fine.

so i am going out for the afternoon/weekend/week. bye... here is the phone number for the GP/SS.

i agree that v likely she has episodes of MH - but if she wants to be seen as "fine" then your dad has to take it as such and take his time out when he needs it.

she will try to manipulate him but help him to get the freedom he deserves...

v hard if they been together long time - force of habit and all that.

my exP would take diazepam before psych appts so he could show he was "fine"....

of course she may chose to harm herself etc - but ehr choice. her choice to sit in poo...

Ripeberry · 16/04/2010 20:27

He is a bit of a control freak and thinks that no-one else but him can sort her out.
He has been offered home help and sleep-ins but he does not like 'strangers' in the house.
It will all catch up with him one day and I just know that he will run off and never come back and who can blame him?

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