I'm not exactly who to go to or who to ask. I never come here or read
this group but it's active and I just might get some useful advice if
I try...or maybe i'll just get flamed. maybe, maybe not, I've got
nothing to lose.
my sister is fucked up. she's depressed. that's one word for it. or
maybe you can just say she's crazy... she's bulimic, she's an
underachiever, she's dependent, she's a drug addict...
it's been getting much worse over the years. at the age of 26 she's
still in college, been there since the age of 18 and we're looking at
at least 1 more year minimum (if she ever does manage to graduate). as
a result of her bulimia she majored in dietetics, i don't know if she
realizes it. also, as a result of her bulimia, she's become a drug
abuser. it really started to go downhill when she started using
cocaine a few years ago, but now she's switched to a prescription of
adderall (amphetamines (speed)) for her "ADD". on top of this she's
never had a serious relationship.
my parents don't know what to do with her, so they pay, and they pay,
and they pay. about 1-2 years ago she decided that she's too old to
live at home with her parents, so my parents bought her an apartment
which they pay the rent for. as long as it will help her get her
degree, they say. she doesn't have many friends and sits in her
apartment alone most of the day surfing myspace while her away
messages swear that she's studying for school. today my dad told me
that i need to help her or else she's going to end up in the hospital
one of these days... maybe he's right
now i know what most of you would say to this: get her some
professional help. well she goes to a shrink, and to be honest, i only
think its been making things worse. i don't really know what to do to
help her... maybe if i just went to her and confronted her, told her i
know she's bulimic and i think she's a drug addict and flush her
amphetamines and valiums down the toilet in front of her face... maybe
we should just send her to rehab and it would open her eyes a bit that
she's a drug addict (she'd never admit it)... or maybe somebody else
has an idea other than sending her to go talk to some moron who's
going to feed her even more pills... cause that doesn't work.
thanks in advance for any insight
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| User: "Nom dePlume" |
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| Title: Re: my sister.... |
24 Jun 2007 01:46:57 AM |
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<namssa@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1182663982.452275.271690@u2g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
I'm not exactly who to go to or who to ask. I never come here or read
this group but it's active and I just might get some useful advice if
I try...or maybe i'll just get flamed. maybe, maybe not, I've got
nothing to lose.
You won't get flamed, and you do have nothing to lose. I hope you will have
something to gain.
I am not familiar with treatments for drug addiction, or ways to deal with
addicts. I know that, in general, you can't make someone else want or do the
right things, and addictions can be fiendishly hard to treat.
That said, a couple of things come to mind. The first is that your sister
may be "self medicating," meaning tryint to treat her mental illness by
taking drugs that make her feel somewhat better, at least for a little
while. This is fairly common, and does not work out well. It happens
precisely because the person who is ill does not get the right medication.
The fact that she is taking amphetamines and cocaine *may* be a sign that
she would benefit from certain classes of psychiatric medications (the
"dopaminergic" medications), which can be both effect and much more benign
than what she is on now.
now i know what most of you would say to this: get her some
professional help. well she goes to a shrink, and to be honest, i only
think its been making things worse.
You say she is going to a "shrink," but I don't know if you mean she is
seeing a therapist (someone who does talk therapy), or a psychiatrist
(someone who prescribes psychiatric medications, such as antidepressants).
The difference is important. Given her drug issues, I think it is critical
that she see a competent psychiatrist, who can both prescribe useful
medications for her, and understands how to get her off the dangerous drugs
she is taking now. If she does not have a competent psychiatrist now (which
seems likely), then the challenge is to find one, and get her to see him.
i don't really know what to do to
help her... maybe if i just went to her and confronted her, told her i
know she's bulimic and i think she's a drug addict and flush her
amphetamines and valiums down the toilet in front of her face...
Someone who knows more about addictive behavior than I should comment on
this, but it isn't clear to me that this reaction alone would do much good.
maybe
we should just send her to rehab and it would open her eyes a bit that
she's a drug addict (she'd never admit it)...
I'm not sure how you "send" someone to rehab who is 26 years old, although I
suppose you have leverage with regards to paying her rent.
or maybe somebody else
has an idea other than sending her to go talk to some moron who's
going to feed her even more pills... cause that doesn't work.
I don't think you should be so quick to dismiss medication. She may be
seeing a quack now, but that doesn't mean that only quacks exist.
thanks in advance for any insight
I don't know that I've provided any insight, but you are welcome. It seems
to me that your biggest challenge right now is in figuring out what to do,
and for that, you need resources you don't yet have. I would suggest opening
your phone book, and start calling around. Call drug-treatment centers. Call
psychiatrists who treat patients with bulimia, depression, and drug
addiction. Start identifying the different treatment strategies available,
and think about their pros and cons. Then, and only then, should you and
your parents confront your sister. If you go off half-cocked, without
knowing what you are doing, you are likely to make things worse, not better.
--
Nom dePlume, Ph.D.
Why, yes, in fact, I am a rocket scientist.
Guide to Medications for Mental Illness:
http://www.mentalmeds.org
=====
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