ACTUALLY, Brian, what you described of her mother fits pretty well with a mild case of Schizophrenia, paranoid type! If she'd sort of always been this way, from adolescence, I might think of a personality disorder...but not with an onset at 40.
40 is, unfortunately not an unusal age for women to express this disease. I know a little something about this personally, as well as professionally, as my paternal grandfather had Paranoid Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder and other eccentricities abound on that side.
Interestingly, when people hear "Schizophrenia" they think of straight jackets and back wards....in reality 70% lead pretty much normal lives on the "outside".
Schizophrenia DOES have one of the highest heritability rates...in the general population the risk is 1%, with one parent the risk is 17%. Certainly no guarantee!
Symptoms of the paranoid type include, of course, paranoia...but these delusions can be quite bizarre...poisening and plots are common themes.
Interestingly, Paranoid Schizophrenia is the highest functioning of the types (less evidence of grossly disturbed thoughts/ language), and responds better than the rest to standard meds.
Can you tell I've been on the boards too long and should be working on a psychology lecture?
Sorry for all the technicalities, dude...stopped just short of getting into the neurotransmitters!
I know a little something about this personally, as well as professionally, as my paternal grandfather had Paranoid Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder and other eccentricities abound on that side.
