My partners little sister is going through a hard time. She has been self harming, going through depression and severe anxiety. They put her on some medication. I just feel pressured by her and my inlaws to tell them what the mental illness road is gonna be like for her. They want to know and I’m not sure if what I have to say will be welcomed
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IDK. Maybe hint around the issue first. Don’t say a bunch of terrible things about mental illness right off the bat, just kind of ease into the discussion. Kind of hint around that mental illness is serious but not hopeless. And that’s the truth. Tell the girl that mental illness makes some things in life hard but she can still have goals and live mostly a normal life. Tell her both your diseases are different than each other so each disease has it’s own special problems. Say to her that it will be hard living with a mental illness but mental illness is treatable and with the right treatment, she can get better and manage the symptoms. Teens are smart, tell her straight up the challenges she will face so she will understand. Just pepper in some positive news along with the bad news.
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If it’s not a psychotic disorder, it could very well be totally manageable and not interfere with her life at all.
A lot of people have severe depression and anxiety as a teen and grow up to be completely average people working jobs they hate and going home to their family they don’t see enough.
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I tried to convince her to take the medicine. It knocked her out. I think she wanted to avoid medication. I tried what @LED and @77nick77 said she seems to be open to talk about it for now. I think that even though they’ve known I’m mentally I’ll they are still not prepared for her.
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Maybe remind her that everyone has a different experience with mental illness. Not all illnesses are forever, and not everyone is disabled because of their illness.
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I like that. Thank you @Ninjastar. She had her first day of school today after years homeschooled by her step mom.
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I went through the same thing with my younger brother. I was very honest. I said the battle is long and very very hard. But if you really work for it and find the right medication, it is entirely possible to have a happy, normal life. And stability is worth every second of the challenge it takes to get to it.
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