MY TWIN SISTER

Hello,

It sounds like you're experiencing stigma from within your own family when it comes to your sister's possible mental illness.  Stigma is a term to describe what occurs when people don't want anything to do with someone who is "crazy" or "schizophrenic."  Or they deny there's a problem because they don't want to face the fact that their loved one has a mental illness.

You are not exaggerating.  Your sister's behavior might be the result of impending schizophrenia or it might be caused by another medical condition.

Either way, at this very moment, she should get a consultation with a qualified professional who is the only one who can make a diagnosis.

Your sister's delusions and paranoia are not something your fiance and your family should dismiss.  If she does have schizophrenia, the longer she goes without medication, the worse the symptoms will get.  To the point where she might not recover or will possibly not recover to the degree she would have if she got immediate help.

I am reluctant to say this however if no one involved is ready to seek help for your sister or if your sister lacks the awareness that she has an illness, it might just get worse before it gets better.  Right now in the U.S. the criteria for admission to a psych ward is that the person is an obvious danger to herself or someone else.  That is why the system fails the very people who need it the most.

I would maybe approach it in a way to suggest to your sister she can have relief from her worry and you would go with her to talk to someone about how it can be better.

Xavier Amador, Phd wrote the book I Am Not Sick, I Don't Need Help (2007 edition) to help family members persuade loved ones to seek treatment and stay on their meds.  Anosognosia, the lack of awareness that you have an illness, is actually a symptom of schizophrenia caused by a dysfunction in a hemisphere of the brain.  It causes people to refuse treatment because after all if they are not sick, why should they take meds?

It is impossible for the average person to fathom that someone who is delusional can't comphrehend that her delusions are false.  You and I know that if your sister thinks you are a fake sister or has other strange beliefs these are entirely real to her.  So when you talk to her in a gentle way if you're able to get the chance, you would not try to convince her that what she thinks is happening is not really happening.  You would not repeatedly keep telling her she's sick.

I recommend you read the Xavier Amador book or check it out of the library if the library has a copy.  It will give you ideas about how to talk to your sister to enable her to see that getting help would be a good thing.

I cannot tell you or your family or fiance that adopting a "wait and see" attitude will help.  It will not help to wait and see if it gets worse.  Though like I said, getting her into treatment is the main obstacle I see right now.

And she needs to be in treatment if she is experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia.

So I urge you to keep involved with your sister and monitor her behavior as best you can.  At any point in the future, should you need to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital, you might have to do that.

I will end by saying that your family's denial of the situation is a classic example of how stigma gets in the way of a person getting treatment for a mental illness.  Nobody likes to think their daughter is "crazy."  Stereotypes of people with schizophrenia abound in the media and this prevents a person from seeking help.

Also, because mental illnesses have a genetic component, I feel your fiance will need to adjust his attitude and take your concern seriously.  Do not back down.  Do not waver with him in your belief that your sister needs help.  Mental illnesses run in families and you might want to have kids some day.

Regards,

Christina

I am a twin with scizophrenia.Now I live a very normal life but never a dull moment with this disease.People do want to be left alone sometimes with this.Get her some help before it gets worst.I tried to cut my hand off in front of my son cause I thought I was the blackhorseman in the Bible.It wasn't suicide to me I had an aggenda.See this can't be true cause the rapture hasn't happened yet.This is really real to the people suffering from it all.Watch her close as you can and get her help.They will say nothing is wrong with me trust me.It is like living in your own little world. I joke about it all now but it really isn't a laughing matter.I do feel like the Lord can get rid of this problem too and it can be healed no matter what these other doctors say.Stress is a real factor and something emotionally upsetting can set it off.We are not vilet people no matter who says what.It is very frightening at first depending upon what you see.Most of us like live in a book,Bible other things and we can think something and we see it so if you see these things it can make you go off the deep end.It doesn't scare me anymore it is a battle period.It maybe upsetting but it has to be dealt with period.The society puts us out to be wac jobs but that just isn't true it can be controlled with medication.Would you give a diabetic insulin?I believe so.I raise two kids by myself,took care of my father who died in Feb. of this year so people can be as normal as others trust me.Well if there really is a normal hehehe!Here lately I am fitting an episode but the longer you have it the more you can cope with it.It is like a living hell at first.