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Dpd
Casual Contributor

Persecutory delusional disorder

My mum has been diagnosed with persecutory delusional disorder. She has no insight whatsoever and has had delusional thoughts for some time, and prior to that suffered from OCD (hoarding, anxiety).

She believes my father and I employ people to poison her, stab her, vandalise her possessions, steal from her and track her through her mobile etc.

She has lost her job, refuses to drive her car, and is effectively homeless. She is also spending money at a rate she cannot sustain i.e. Living in hotel rooms and employing security guards.

I am finding it almost impossible to get her the help she needs, despite the sympathetic help of mental health services.

She was involuntarily committed for a week recently when she approached the emergency section of a hospital claiming she'd been poisoned. This resulted in her diagnosis. She is much worse since being discharged and the hospital believes she needs to be reassessed.


Aside from my father, who is estranged from mum, I am her only relative in Australia so I cannot be implicated in getting her sectioned as I need to help with any recovery. Because she has no fixed abode it is difficult to know where she is to alert the mental health services. She is also totally 'with it' and would easily talk her way out of a police welfare check or even a mental health check not undertaken by the hospital psychiatrist who knows her...yet the hospital cannot attend a hotel without the police, but the only times we know she is at the hotel it is not possible to coordinate police and hospital to attend together!

Meanwhile she is ruining herself financially...

If anyone has advice on:

1. How to get her sectioned, and/or
2. How to secure her finances through the public trustee (without me being implicated)

Thanks




7 REPLIES 7

Re: Persecutory delusional disorder

Hi Dpd,

it isi Marchhare here. One of the forum moderators.

Welcome to the SANE forums. It sounds as if your Mother is having a lot of delusional mental problems and it also sounds as if you are alone in helping her. Hopefully there are members here who can give you advice and direction on where to go from here.

Marchhare

Re: Persecutory delusional disorder


Hi @Dpd, welcome to the forums. Sounds lime you really care about your mum yet frustrated by feeling so powerless. This must be so painful for you with your parents estranged as well.

I have 2 brothers with paranoid psychosis and understand the conflict between wanting to dob them in yet maintaining their trust. I was about to print up and mail my bro's Tx msgs to MH but was relieved when he himself put it all in Stat Dec to the police who activated MH to have him Assessed for 7 days. He's back on antipsychotic tablets again, but we shall see how long it lasts because he's being discharged tomorrow apparently.

Its very hard because they think we're part of the conspiracy (delusion) just for not believing them and getting onboard (as if!)

If your mum is hospitalised again, alert the Mental Health Team to her spending & homelessness. The team have the power and processes to activate Trustee to supervise spending.

Please be careful to look after your own needs too. These things have a way of working themselves out. Talk to her, try to reason, get her into counselling with a psychologist etc, because you care, but it really is her call and sometimes they have to fall hard to learn. So try pull back emotionally, guard your heart.
Cheers

Re: Persecutory delusional disorder

Hi @Dpd,

It sounds very stressful, and like you're dealing with on your own. 

@Former-Member has provided some really useful advice. I agree, it is extremely tough getting help for someone, particularly when they lack insight into their own condition and they are not will to reach out for help. Keep the communication lines clear with your mum, and look after yourself too. There is only so much you can do.

You mentioned that you've been talking to MH services. Have you had an opportunity to speak with your mum's treating team? 

Re: Persecutory delusional disorder

Hi DpD,

How old is your mum if you don't mind the question?

Have you considered the possibility of Dementia or something else that's fits outside of the DSM diagnostic model?

Often doctors will neglect to consider this if the patients primary symptoms are Psychiatric in nature.

Re: Persecutory delusional disorder

I have this disorder myself.  It is impossible to believe anything other than the delusion.  The hospital psychiatrist could help with all legalities 

Re: Persecutory delusional disorder

Hi Dpd, my mother has also been diagnosed with Persecutory Deusional disorder, she also lacks insight and is in constant belief of me and my two siblings being in danger from bad people. She also believes she is being spied on by the government and that she is agent of some kind. Our Father is also estranged from our mother due to abuse from my mother (caused by her disorder)

 

I am thankful that I have my two siblings to help deal with it. And we also live in Australia. She also like your mother, was spending money unsustainably. We contacted MH and got her assessed and they placed her on involuntary injections which really really helped. However they removed her from the injections because she had gotten better. We are currently going through MH again to get her back on the injections. It is a battle that doesn't stop, and I hope your mother got the help that she required. 

Moved:

Re: Persecutory delusional disorder

This comment has been moved by a moderator to another part of the forum where it might be more easily found by the community.

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