What should our family do?

Question

We have a family member who has recently been diagnosed with trichotillamania at the age of 31. She also has a drug problem and refuses to get help. She picks at her skin and shaves her head. She weighs maybe 95 lbs. Her moods are unpredictable and scary.
She lost a baby 5 years ago and life for her went down hill just since April 2007. She is now alienated herself from the family after we tried to ask her to commit herself for treatment. She has been through a lot and we have no idea how her son's death has triggered all of these things for her just recently. She does not leave her boyfriend's house or have a job anymore and is fixated on her son's death.
She is offended if we mention getting help to move on with her life. She feels his death has created all of her mental and chemical problems. We are a tight family and we are not sure where to turn at this point to get her the help she needs to get well and function like a normal adult.
Any suggestions??

To add: her boyfriend is a convicted drug offender. He also has no job and is supportive of her choices. He wants her to have nothing to do with her family. We have done an intervention only to see she has no insight into her own life. She is blaming us for all of her problems and it has torn us apart from her. I know that we have to let go of her for now. She is so volitile that she is unsafe to be around the children in the family. How do we cope with letting go ?

Answer 1

I see you having a couple of choices here; involve a good counselor to have a family intervention. Or, you can tell her boyfriend if he really cares for her, he could talk to her about seeking help. Lastly, you could let go. I know that is very difficult, but sometimes a person is so far gone, you must let go so your pain will stop.

Before you do anything, I hope you discuss this with a good counselor who has a lot of experience with interventions and her disorder. Take care and I hope this all has a happy ending.

Answer 2

Be as supportive as possible. Its never easy after losing a child to move on. I watched my mother go through a lot of the same things after my brother died. She wouldn't eat, leave the house and blamed herself for his death. As she would say" A parent is not supposed to bury a child". It does happen though and yes this event may have triggered her imbalances. Sometimes certain traumas can do that.

If you think though that she may cause physical harm to herself or others there are laws in place that allow a family member to have someone comitted for 72 hrs. You can try talking to local law enforcement about that.

Answer 3

You should look into having her committed involuntarily. You could do that if you could get two doctors Psychiatrists or psychologist to agree that she's a danger to her self since she's not taking care of her self. The person who's the nearest related to her would have to do it. Either her parents or sisters and brothers . It can be done but it might further alienate her from you and the rest of the family. On the other hand if she could be brought to realize that she's in a deep depression and get the help that she needs, she may thank you later on.

Answer 4

well maybe her child death did contribute to her men tale illness an she knows it you must try a different approach an comfort her first an let her know that you understand an then speak on the subject of a support group an then see if that helps her

Answer 5

she may need to be committed if she does not think she has a problem. have you considered an intervention?

she is suffering from stress and anxiety being out of control. these things are EASY to manage if the person suffering them recognizes them and DESIRES to change. if they dont, they there is nothing you can do. really.

see hypnotherapy-psychotherapy "dot" com

Answer 6

Look on webmd.com to see what her problem could be. Use the symptom checker.