I think my daughter has become so institutionalised it’s becoming too difficult to fit back into her home life.

[Close]

She has been in a mental health care facility for pretty much 2 years and has been for home stays but usually only lasts a couple of weeks. She has 4 children and her interest seems to be waning - it seems to be too much for her. She also has become totally self absorbed and demanding. Any suggestions?

[Betternow]

Hello Close

Can you provide some more background information relevant to your daughter’s and your family situation? Some commentators may be struggling to get a handle on the problem without knowing more details.

I’m sure you find support and advice in this forum. Please post your reply.

[Close]

My daughter was raped when she was a teenager. She is now in her forties. A few years ago she confronted the person to try to deal with this as she had always tried to just push the incident away. That triggered anorexia. So she entered a mental health clinic to try to get well. Under the care of a team, she was in this facility for two years. She tried suicide during this time and was rushed to intensive care. Physically she recovered from this attempt. During this 2 years she has self-harmed a lot, is now bulimic and just appears to be getting worse. She has started to go home but it doesn’t last long. She has 4 children and an amazing husband (thank you God). This situation is having a really bad effect on the whole family. I just start to wonder if the Clinic has her best interests at heart. Whether they are trying to rehabilitate her or whether she is now in the too hard basket and just $’s to them. She has also become very demanding and selfish. I have been trying to suggest alternatives to her care program and because of this she has pretty much stopped talking to me. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Close,

Thanks so much for your post and I hear how much you are struggling with this. It sounds like this has been going on for such a long time and I appreciate how committed you are to getting her some help.

I wonder if it might be worth booking her in to see a psychologist. They are going to be so much more equipped about alternatives to a mental health facility and finding the best way to go.

There's a couple of things I've thought of that might be worth exploring though-

One of them is care homes, where she lives with mental health support workers (or they visit regularly). Unlike a mental health facility with multiple people (which I assume is the case), it's just a regular looking house. The other option might be outpatient programs, where she lives at home but attends clinics all throughout the day.

If you haven't already, it might be worth setting up a meeting with the people who are at the mental health facility. They are often called 'case management meetings' which is basically a chat about how your daughter is going, if she's getting the best care, and what her goals are.

I hope that this helps a little and I wish you and your daughter the best for her recovery.

rt

[Close]

Thanks so much for your response. You’ve given me a couple of good options to try. It’s a bit of a problem as she has pretty much blocked me out of her life. I think she is probably frightened to budge from her current situation and she sees me as a bit of a threat. I will keep trying tho. A meeting with her care team at the facility is a good idea.