Helping a bipolar person who refuses medication?!


Question: and refuses to accept that she has a 'problem'. What would you do?


Answers: and refuses to accept that she has a 'problem'. What would you do?

I don't know how severe her condition is, of course, but...

If it seems like she might hurt herself and it is a VERY severe case, you need to act ASAP. Bipolar people slowly and systematically destroy their lives and relationships with their strange behaviors, it can affect their work, their family, their friends, etc. Therefore I think her loved ones (yourself included?) should stage an invervention and sign her into a hospital as an inpatient, against her will, on the grounds that she is not sane at the moment and probably isn't a good judge of her own problem. The staff at inpatient behavioral health ("mental") hospitals is trained especially to make sure that people take their medicine and to deal with medicine's side effects. It's a pretty expensive route to take here in the US though.

Otherwise, an intervention might still need to be staged but with a trained psychiatrist/therapist waiting at the person's home or other "safe" place along with loved ones. They should force the person to become confronted with how their illness has affected her and to sort of prompt her to accept her problem. It's impossible to expect her to "get it" if she's really very ill, but that way she cannot avoid the fact that there is a doctor there... and I guess you can always have loved ones hide her medicines in her food, or have someone come see her every morning and make absolutely sure she takes her pills. It might take a few different medicines before she feels better anyway, and some will have nasty side effects, but once her medicine starts to take and her mood swings are normalized, I think she'll start to comply with taking her medicine as well.

Wow. Ummm....REALLY important that you and other friends family form a support network for her, even if she doesn't want it. She could quickly become suicidal in a depressive episode or recklessly endanger her own life and the lives of others in a manic episode.

Run. Far. Fast.

There is NO WAY to help a person who does not want to be helped and does not admit they need help. To keep trying means that you have a problem too.

Best of Luck.

Whoa, that is a tough one.

Anyway, I don't think you can actually force her to take the medication.
Maybe take her to a doctor to help her understand?
If she has already been to a doctor and been diagnosed with bipolar and has been prescribed medication but refuses to take it then I don't know if you can force her, it will be her decision in the end, she has to want to get better. Just be there with her.
I wish you luck.

First of all, how do you know they're bipolar if they're not accepting they have a problem. Has it ever been diagnosed? Is it just a hunch?
If you're sure, stop hassling them verbally, they'll just get sick of hearing about it.
You could try tactfully leaving info leaflets in places they'll find them, or tell them to check out the 'beyond blue' website where they can do an on-line questionaire.
Or go and ask your GP for advice, or a mental health centre. There's not really much you can do really tho, other than be there for your friend when they need you.

Not much you can do. I know because I've tried to get help for my bipolar daughter several times when she has stopped her meds. Keep being told she has rights,which she does, but she also has a right to be safe. It"s very frustrating.

I'm afraid if she is of age and does not choose to take medication or even seek help in the area then i'm sorry that is her flipping problem. I am bipolar myself if it makes any difference. If a person does not want to get help then so be it! Do what you can but everyone has the right to make their own decisions. Simply not taking medication can actually be a great thing but if she absolutely needs it (provided that therapy and group meetings did not help) then still she is her own person with her own two hands. I would not be around her that often if she is that unberable of a person.

ignore cedric, first of all, he's NOT taking his meds, obviously. ok, i need to ask, how do you know she has a diagnosis of "bipolar"? are you diagnosing her, or is a psychiatrist, or her family MD? if you are diagnosing her, what makes you think she's "bipolar"? what are her symptoms? and why do you think she needs treatment/meds? if she is a danger to herself or others, or if she is unable to care for herself, you can take her to an ER, and have her put on a 72 hour hold. this is to have mental health professionals evaluate her and figure out what's going on with her, and how best to treat her. if she is none of those 3 things, and she refuses to be seen by a doctor, there is little you can do except be supportive and try to let her know you are worried/concerned for her, and that she needs to be evaluated in order to get some help. good luck.

Let me explain something here since all the advice you have received so far is unhelpful. The simple answer is you cannot force a person to take medication but you can educate them. The person in question obviously has very little insight into their mental illness, so they need a professional to explain the benefits of taking medication. Perseverance is the key. If they want their life to improve or if they want any hope of recovering they need to be convinced. This relies on alot of marketing. The person needs to have the idea of hope sold to them. Medication needs to be portrayed as a positive thing, rather than a punishment for being who they are.

Dear one thing is really clear like the sun shines in the sky and

water flows in the river ,All and every thing happens need and have a reason.so when some one says I don't have any problem doesn't make any sense it all ,,
And next that medicines not Drugs..are all for our goodness
I mean they can help us at the right time when we need them ..

so Try to get the first course if no use then you may stop but try not to play with the one and only one chance of life .....

This journey has helped many people who are bi polar. If they are off the medication good! Becouse they will be able to do the healing journey better. No drugs to numb the feelings :) http://inspiringlives.com/ I do my journey with a man named Bob.

That depends who it is and what your relationship is to them. For example, if it's your daughter and she lives with you is different to if it's some random person who you hardly know.
Whoever it is, if they are affecting your life negatively by asserting their 'rights' not to take medication etc., remind them that with rights come responsibilities. Don't take up the slack when they don't accept their responsibilities. Let them take the consequences of their actions and behaviour. It really gets tiresome hearing about rights from people who won't take responsibility in their lives, and not only will not but can not in many cases.
I have worked with many people who have psych. illnesses over the years, and the one thing that stands out is that the more mentally ill a person is, the less they want to take their medication. In other words, the people who need it most want it least.

First of all, most people with any psychiatric disorders sees 10 psychiatrists or psychologists, they will likely get 10 different diagnoses.

Second, if a person is not a danger to themselves or others, medication is optional. By "danger" that means physically injure or kill themselves or someone.

For many people, the side effects to medications are far worse than the benefit. Unless you have lived inside her mind and body, you will not be able to judge what is best for her, including whether or not she needs medication. Maybe she's a nicer person with it, or maybe her house is cleaner, or maybe she even seems less depressed, but you don't know what side effects she is experiencing.

Another side to look at is if a person is medicated for something like bipolar disorder, the meds may help her now, they may make life easier for her now, but she is not learning how to deal with life on her own. And as time passes, she needs those meds more and more to survive emotionally. So again, unless she is a danger to herself or others, learning how to grow emotionally may be better for her than drugging the symptoms away.

Remember that what you see, is probably not what she sees. The decision to medicate is very personal. If her personality without meds is unbearable, don't hang around with her anymore. if that's not the case, then just be a friend and don't try to get someone to do something they don't want to do.
It may take a while, but in time, she will learn how to cope with life's problems like the rest of us.

P.S.
Making bad choices (like drinking and promiscuity) is NOT a considered a danger to themselves of others, it's just bad choices. If it were, the majority of the developed world would have to be hospitalized and medicated at some point in their life.

This is a classic responce for someone in the denial phase of the bipolar phaze. basicly this person needs to be calimed down enough so they can listen to someone it 's gonan have to be someone that is THE most important person life in the world to them. they need to be explaned to them they basicly have to be one meds. try o avoid any conflctual word with them there all ready pissed off don't upset them more by makeing demanding statemens.there is a much more sever route you can go but only go this way if your truelydesprate to getthis person help,you can alway petition the court to make this person get help.your gonna have to have documation as to why you feel this way. hope this helps you out. I also do a blog on myspace that may help you out as well its on bipolar. i have had bipolar since 1996. and although i am NOT a doctor I do have a lot of fact on the illness

I would get as far away from the person as I could. People who are Bipolar and do not get treatment are self-destructive (the act of not getting treatment is self-derstructive). Sometimes the destructiveness of the person spills over to people that are close to them.

It's not just her problem - it's your's as well.

dress up in a black suit, like men in black, and tie her down and giver her her meds saying "her containment field is going stan quartsic"





The consumer health information on answer-health.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007-2011 answer-health.com -   Terms of Use -   Contact us

Health Categories