Friday, August 20, 2010

Help with an undiagnosed mental illness?

I am desperate for answers in how to get help for my father who is currently undiagnosed with a very severe mental illness. My dad has always been a very shy, insecure man who struggled with demons his whole life. From an abusive father to living in poverty he has always struggled and became an alcoholic at the young age of 20. He is now 58 and sober but lived 30 years as an alcoholic. My mother recently passed away and since then his whole life came crashing down. He lives alone and struggles with paranoia, depression and anxiety. We have him on meds for those issues but has recently developed a ';new'; problem that I cannot find answers for. For the last few weeks he is struggling to talk, think clearly or even function. He does not shower, clean up after himself, pay his bills or even respond when spoken to outside of a few words. He talks to himself quietly and says things like ';I'm scared'; or ';Oh God';, ';Help me';. He was recently suspected of stealing from our local supermarket because he walks around acting strange, confused and looks around at people standing there in the aisle. He used to call me 10 times a day but now wont even return my calls and when I ask him how he's feeling or what's wrong his only response is...';um';...and then starts sweating and seems panicked. He starts to say that he doesnt know what to do today. Almost like thinking about chores, the day, things that need to get done overwhelm him and send him into this strange almost comatose state of mind. If anyone knows anything about the things I've described or has any experience with some of these symptoms...please help. The ER, Phych Ward and regular doctor have all given him a clean bill of health physically and organically and I'm running out of options.Help with an undiagnosed mental illness?
Hmm..i honestly don't know what it could be because I don't have any personal experience with this. However, you should try getting him referred to a different psychiatrist because something is obviously wrong. Or even take him to a psychologist who would then refer to you to a specialized psychiatrist. It seems he may need some medication and the psychiatrist is the only way to get it.

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