Much ado about my mother...

Dear Sisters,

I need your feedback. I am an only child and my mother is having a rough time. She has pretty much lost everything due to alcoholism and prescription drugs. She is currently homeless and staying at a friends house. She has not worked in almost a month. The problems she is having have been going on for several years and she keeps getting worse.

My major concern is that she is a danger to herself. She has attempted suicide 4 times that I know of and has been sent to a mental facility each time. Yet with each attempt she gets 'better' at it in that this last time we really almost lost her. In addition, she has had 4-5 DUIs in the past 15 years. She is currently awaiting a court date next month. While she was out on bond she was driving and caused an accident and get this she had beer in her car that she picked up on her way home from church. It was then that she tried her most recent suicide attempt, when faced with the possibility of immediately going to jail, she took a bottle of pills.

Well fast forward to her now, she is broke and really struggling. I have paid her cell phone bill for the month, but I am unsure how much help I should give her and how much I should encourage her to help herself. I started the process of her getting on disability (May 2010) and she is yet to finish the application. When I make suggestions to her to try to get on some public assistance she just makes excuses about why she can't do it.

We live in different states which is for the best because she has been hinting at coming to live with me. I cannot do that. I cannot expose my children to her unstable behavior. My biggest concern is if she tries to kill herself again. There are of course numerous other concerns, but that is the biggest one.

I am at my wits end and any advice or tips to help her and help me deal with her would be awesome. Maybe I am missing something because I am in the middle of it.

Thanks in advance for your help. I will respond to comments within this original post.

Take care....
Your Sister SB

Welcome

I created this blog as a place for women all around the world to be able to come to get or receive advice on handling their "issues". Whether is it choosing between breast feeding or formula feeding, or how to handle a troublesome spouse, we are all here for each other. There is strength and safety in numbers, so I want to be able to tap into our collective spirit of strength, knowledge, humor, love, kindness, etc. to build a online community or emotional safe house for any and all who may need it.

So I am unsure where this may lead, but with women in charge I know we will be alright.