What is this metal illness called?

Question

My sister in law we believe is mentally ill. We want to find her help but I'm not exactly sure what to call it...

For example, she we swear up and down that you talked to her that day, and you weren't even around. She'll say she had been talking to her dad, when he doesn't even have a phone. You can say, your lying... and its as if she really believes what she is saying. She can't tell reality from what's inside her head. What is this called?

Answer 1

Hi. I would say this is Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a chronic and often debilitating mental illness. The condition can cause you to withdraw from the people and activities in the world around you and to retreat into a world of delusions or separate reality.

Schizophrenia is a form of psychosis, which is an impairment of thinking in which the interpretation of reality is abnormal. Psychosis is a symptom of disordered brain function.

The illness affects approximately 1 percent of the population worldwide. In men, schizophrenia typically emerges in the teens or 20s. In women, the onset of schizophrenia typically is in the 20s or early 30s.

There's often no cure for schizophrenia, but by working closely with a psychiatrist and other mental health professionals, schizophrenia can be managed successfully — especially with an early diagnosis. Fortunately, newer medications continue to make this poorly understood disorder more manageable.

Signs and symptoms of schizophrenia may include:

Delusions — personal beliefs not based in reality, such as paranoia that you're being persecuted or conspired against
Bizarre delusions — for example, a belief in Martians controlling your thoughts
Hallucinations — sensing things that don't exist, such as imaginary voices
Incoherence
Lack of emotions or inappropriate display of emotions
A persistent feeling of being watched
Trouble functioning at work or in social situations
Social isolation
Difficulty with personal hygiene
Clumsy, uncoordinated movements
Generally, schizophrenia causes a slowly progressive deterioration in the ability to function in various roles, especially in your job and personal life. The signs and symptoms of schizophrenia vary greatly. A person may behave differently at different times. He or she may become extremely agitated and distressed, or fall into a trance-like, immobile, unresponsive (catatonic) state, or even behave normally much of the time. Signs and symptoms that occur continuously and progressively may indicate schizophrenia.

In general, schizophrenia has symptoms that fall into three categories — negative, positive and cognitive:

Negative signs and symptoms
Negative signs and symptoms may appear early in the disease, and a person may not think he or she needs treatment. They're referred to as negative because they indicate a loss of behavior or of a personality trait. Negative signs generally accompany a slow deterioration of function, leading to your becoming less sociable. Such signs may include:

Dulled emotions (lack of expression)
Inappropriate emotions (laughing while expressing terrifying images)
A change in speech (speaking in a dull monotone)
Positive signs and symptoms
Positive signs include hallucinations and delusions. They're called positive because they indicate a trait or behavior that's been added to the personality.

Hallucinations. Hallucinations occur when you sense things that don't exist. The most common hallucination in schizophrenia is hearing voices. You may carry on a conversation with voices that no one else can hear. Or you may perceive that voices are providing you instructions on what to do. Hallucinations may result in injuries to other people.
Delusions. Delusions are firmly held personal beliefs that have no basis in reality. The most common subtype of schizophrenia is paranoid schizophrenia, in which you hold irrational beliefs that others are persecuting you or conspiring against you. For example, some people with schizophrenia may believe that the television is directing their behavior or that outside forces are controlling their thoughts.
Cognitive signs and symptoms
These signs and symptoms tend to be more subtle than positive and negative ones. Cognitive signs and symptoms may include:

Problems making sense of incoming information
Difficulty paying attention
Memory problems
Misconceptions about schizophrenia
Schizophrenia may exist alone or in combination with other psychiatric or medical conditions. Misconceptions about schizophrenia and its relation to other mental illnesses abound. The following truths will help clarify what it is and is not:

Schizophrenia isn't the same as a split or multiple personality. Multiple personality disorder is a separate, rare condition.
Although some people with schizophrenia develop violent tendencies, most don't. Many withdraw into themselves rather than interact with others.
Not everyone who acts paranoid or distrustful has schizophrenia. Some people have a paranoid personality disorder, a tendency to be suspicious or distrustful of others, without the other features of schizophrenia.
Not everyone who hears voices is schizophrenic. Some people with depression may hear voices. Hearing voices may also occur as a result of a serious medical illness or from the effects of medication.
Substance abuse and schizophrenia
While not necessarily a sign of schizophrenia, drug abuse is more common in people with schizophrenia. Nicotine is a commonly abused drug by people with schizophrenia; it's estimated that 75 percent to 90 percent of people with schizophrenia smoke compared with about one-quarter of the general population. Unfortunately some drugs, such as amphetamines, cocaine and marijuana, can make schizophrenia symptoms worse. Others, such as nicotine, can interfere with schizophrenia medications.

Causes
Researchers haven't identified the cause or causes of schizophrenia, although they believe genetic factors play a role. About 1 percent of the general population develops schizophrenia compared with 10 percent of those with a close family relative who has the disease. Chemical or subtle structural abnormalities in the brain may contribute to causing this illness

Answer 2

I stopped reading mid way through - this dog has been neglected and mistreated to the point of developing issues for which a proper trainer and loving home could work through, but this isn't mental disorders. All due respect, I'm sure you're all nice enough people but you should not be allowed to have any pets until you learn how to properly care for them rather than use them as disposable items to meet your own needs without giving back to them what they require to be well adjusted. This story sickens me as an animal lover and a professional veteran trainer and behaviorist.....to read how you've done just about everything wrong with this poor little dog from day one and then wish to blame her for developmental issues that were easily seen would be the outcome is without excuse, imo. If you have any desire to keep this dog and do right by her, spend the time and effort with a professional who will come in and teach you all how to properly handle and train and provide for her needs and with dedication and hard work you may be able to undo some of the damage that you caused.

Answer 3

Most likely it's a delusion or possibly dementia. It is serious. Although it can be a symptom of a number of mental illnesses, it also can be a sign of brain tumor, stroke, aneurysm, and other diseases. She should see her GP and a neurologist and/or psychiatrist ASAP. For obvious reasons, her husband should be in the room to describe what's observed since she isn't aware of the problem. (There also is a remote possibility that she is lying, but you'd probably have a pretty good sense of it.) No one can dx on the Internet, and much more info would be needed to take a stab in the dark at guessing specifically what her problem is.

Answer 4

There is a Munchausen Syndrome and it's named after the Baron of Munchausen who was known for his lies. I don't know too much about that Disorder but I think people who are diagnosed with that are intentional liars, I'm not sure though if they eventually start believing what they lie about... Then there's schizophrenia, that is when you can't tell reality from the things that go on in your head. You see things, hear things and all that. But I'm not a mental health professional, so I can't tell you anything exact. This is just an idea.

Answer 5

i work in a care home and this sounds a little like Dementia some other symptoms are
Symptoms of dementia include:

Loss of memory - for example, forgetting the way home from the shops, or being unable to remember names and places.
Mood changes - particularly as parts of the brain that control emotion are affected by disease. People with dementia may also feel sad, frightened or angry about what is happening to them.
Communication problems - a decline in the ability to talk, read and write.

or she could be suffering from scizophrenia as someone has already said

Answer 6

That's not enough information. Does she ever say something that sounds bizarre; belief in magic, aliens, weird religious stuff, etc? Anything about being persecuted or about having some kind of accomplishments or being able to do things that obiviously aren't true? Does she ever seem to not be able to tell what day it is or say that something happened yesterday when it really happened years ago?

Answer 7

The symptom is called a delusion.

Could be a sign of other serious mental illnesses.

You cannot convince a delusion person there is anything wrong with them. They will say it is you.

Awful situation to be in. I am leaving my family far behind because of their delusional issues and the problems it has caused me.

Answer 8

Sounds like she is a pathological liar.