Mom wants sympathy all the time. How to ignore when nothing is wrong?

gimmieabreak, what meds is your mother on now and for how long has she been taking them. Some meds like anti-depressants take about a whole month to start working.

Taking meds in my opinion is only part of the equation. There is only the role of talk therapy and her taking some responsibility for herself. I know for I have bipolar disorder, take various meds for that and other things, plus see a therapist every other week and I am on disability also.

She's only on a benzo currently. Has just switched back to that several months ago. Trust me, she has improved compared to when she was on all the different anti-depressants/anti-psychotics.. That was a living nightmare, afraid she wouldn't live through those episodes.
There's very limited resources in the area as far as talk therapy goes. And when she did have therapy appointments, she would refuse going, and still says she doesn't need therapy. Can only force her to do so much.

Is it hard to distinguish bipolar from other similar illnesses?

gimmeabreak,

You might want to read up on bipolar disorder. There are several articles and threads on this site.

https://www.agingcare.com/search.aspx?searchterm=bipolar+disorder

There are two basic types of bipolar. I which is the manic kind with some depression. and II which is the depressive kind with mild mania.

I'm sorry that your mother does not want to go to therapy and thinks that she does not need it.

I have not read all the replies to #chickengranny but let me state again what I've said times before on this site: place your elder mom and/or dad in Nursing home or AL for YOUR well being & the well being of your spouse and children. Also, many care givers health (mental & physical) goes way downhill due to the stress... in other words: they will suck the life out of you.

We hired a caregiver and took me out of the role of caregiver for my mom. That did NOT work. Now I can go visit her and separate myself at other times. I take care of the finances and keep up with the Doctors and all that. But I am NOT her caregiver. You are right...they can suck the life out of you if you let them! You have to learn healthy boundaries. If you can't, then you have to put them in a facility for your own mental and emotional sanity.

Omg! Thank you! Thank you! I thought it was just me. You are discribing me and my mother exactly! It's like I wrote this myself!

You can say "yep, you're right." Then walk away. She'll think she's won. Don't engage after that. Hard, I know.

Llamalover47 I will try that out and also just walking away without saying anything. I will also try being empathetic. I'm also at the point of seeking couciling for me to help with my reactions. I try and ignore her but after I've reached my limit of tolerance I tend to explode. She has always struggled with depression. She takes a small amount of meds for over 30years. She had a bad depression a few years ago when her brother died, and I Took her to a psychiatrist which she tried other meds but insisted she go back to what she was taking. She went a few times and then stopped. She was so stubborn that they just gave in to her and gave her what she Wanted. She's getting very forgetful. She never says sorry even when I know she realizes she was wrong. That's the only time she's nice for a while. It's exhausting to deal with her. She's only 70 and I'm frightened for the future. She tells me all the time if I want to kill her then put her in a nursing home. Guilt guilt guilt is her mo. She has beaten my self esteem so low that I have anxiety. She's nasty to me. My husband is the only one who sees this side of her and my dad who is scared of her so wouldn't dare to say a word...