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How to deal with dad with severe untreated mental illness?
GeneralMy dad has extreme paranoia and delusional thoughts and it includes believing that other family members are trying to poison him and believing that the neighbours are unleashing poisonous gas from their door to murder him but somehow the neighbours themselves won’t be affected by the “poisonous gas”.
He has been like this many years before I was born as my older cousins recalled the constant fights between him and his siblings and my grandparents due to his paranoia and delusions. He also never worked since the start of his mental illness. He has physically threatened my grandfather with weapon before and my grandparents eventually leave their own house.
I grew up under very tight control and I still have many irrational rules today such as being banned from certain brands of groceries from the supermarket because he suspects that the expiry dates are fake. Apart from this rule, I have more than 50 other rules from him. Due to the stress of being affected by his paranoia and delusions, I have to see doctor and get mental health support myself. My doctors and psychologist suspect that he has untreated paranoid schizophrenia for many decades.
I asked a doctor about whether can I inform IMH and get him treatment but he said he has to consent to treatment and they cannot force him unless he is currently a threat to himself or others. He has lack of insights and he can’t see anything wrong with himself. He is also paranoid towards doctors and psychiatric medications.
I wonder what can be done about this situation? Is the only way out being moving out of my parents’ house and reducing contact? I wonder should I just let my dad be since he is already very old?
