Originally Posted by EllenT

Hi I am new to this forum, and am scared and frustrated. My 22 year old daughter was recently diagnosed as bipolar but she refuses to accept the label, and will not take any medications or see any therapists. She was hospitalized for 2 weeks back in October and the experience was beyond frightening - I am worried that it has left her with so many negative impressions that she may never trust a doctor again. She was drugged into a state of utter fog, and was given no particular attention in the hospital. She was released without clear instructions other than to see her psychiatrist for more medication. She lives on her own not near me, and while I have spent time with her, I can only do so for short periods of time because she gets angry and feels that she has no privacy. She seems fine on some days, then on others starts ranting and expressing serious paranoia about things that make no sense. If I try to tell her that she's not making any sense, she says that I just don't understand what is going on in her head. I wish she would get back to treatment but do not know how to make that happen.

If anyone out there has been through something similar - please let me know what might work. Am seeing a therapist myself, which is helping, but I still have no concrete advice on what to do next. Waiting for the next bad thing to happen is just scary, and the loss of control and influence over the kid's behavior is terrifying too.

thanks