Mother addicted to anxiety pills

KungFu

I just got off the phone with my older sister a city away. She is in tears trying to tell me that a family friend just called her and wanted to tell us that our mom is not alright and she is really depressed and hooked on Xanax that she gets from our grandmother or some shit. To top it off, she (mom) was creeping them out by trying to give her possessions (like camera, stereo, stuff) to them saying she wouldn't need it.

So from I now know, my mother has been getting anxiety pills from my grandmother to just munch on whenever she feels anxiety (no dosage, just taking them whenever) and she is possibly suicidal (this is what my sister thinks, I don't know enough to say that is what I believe). So now my sister is driving to my campus to get me and then go home and try to inform my father (lives my mom) and do something about this.

I don't know what to believe. I am in disbelief about it all. I just met my parents for dinner the other night and seen a movie with them. I have been in regular contact like this and never picked up on anything. She has been down at times about her brother dying about 6 months back, but nothing out of the ordinary for her.

Worst of all, I don't know what to do. Anyone have any advice on this sort of thing? I really hope when I get there, this turns out to be some sort of sick prank that we could all laugh about - but I doubt this is the case.

Menthol

Yeah, the giving away of prized and/or expensive possessions, especially in regards to someone who isn't particularly generous, is always a warning sign. But if I were you, I wouldn't bring up that you think she's considering suicide. I would tell her that you are concerned about her developing a dependancy on the pills.

That's fucking rough, though, man. It sucks that you have to deal with it. Hopefully your sister is just being a bit hysterical and it turns out to be no big deal. But it's still better to address a potential issue early before things go downhill.

Pheezer

You kind of need to look into getting her into a treatment facility. People giving away worldly possessions is a pretty generally accepted sign of someone who intends to commit suicide. The problem here isn't going to be the substance abuse, it's the undiagnosed and untreated depression. I'd go so far as to say she's probably stealing the pills to deal with that and it's not working well enough. Also, I'm really sorry man. One way or the other there are rocky times ahead.

Look up the emergency mental health services available in her region. Odds are there's something available, if nothing else, there is the option of hospitalization, but that doesn't usually address people who don't want help and who are adults.

Feral

pheezer FD wrote:

The problem here isn't going to be the substance abuse, it's the undiagnosed and untreated depression.

I agree with this. I wouldn't focus so much on the pills as focus on her getting proper and adequate treatment. Whether she's addicted or not isn't your call to make. However, either way she should be getting them from a psychiatrist and not from a family member.

TroubledTom

You've gotta stay on top of this. My mom went through a period of dementia and tried to kill herself a year or two AFTER getting off the prescription anxiety drugs she was on and not seeking help. If she goes off of what she's on now without help or a substitution that could be bad. Get her to a Doctor and make sure somebody can verify that she's going. Get someone strong and trustworthy to administer any future prescriptions to her like her husband or another family member.