Expert: Joyce A. Anthony - 7/11/2010

Question
hes 30 years old married 3 children will not acknowledge he has problems my family has a history of mental illness on my side and my wifes we see a lot of the  same  symptoms in my son as we seen with my mother in law who has a diagnosis of bi polar manic depression he is unwilling or just cant grasp the fact that he has anything wrong we have spent many hours on evaluations only to be told they cant/wont admit him because he is not violent/suicidal heres what i see he has always had a hard time staying on task until completion now i believe he is hearing voices always confrontational seems to be unable to even hold a conversation and stay on any topic has selective memory ex. if he says something mean or out of context he doesn't,t seem to remember but he remembers things from a long time ago his whole world is starting to come apart so my question is how and what do i do to help thank you for any and all help

Answer
Hi Kevin:

Unfortunately, you are in a situation where there isn't too much you can do.  As he is an adult, they won't keep him against his will unless he is suicidal or tries to hurt someone else.  The best you can do is hold a family meeting--you, your, wife, his wife and talk with him about your concerns.  Try to get him to see what is going on and how it hurts you three and the kids to see him like this.  Other than trying to get him to seek help on his own, I'm afraid there is nothing anyone can legally do to help him.
                         Joyce A. Anthony