Needing some answers please

[AfricanDaisy]

I am in a long term relationship with a man who has taken care of his schizophrenic mother most of his life. She is mostly controlled thru meds and only has an occasional episode usually related to stress.

Two years ago her adult daughter who is 50yrs old came to live with her after having hopped form one family member to another and being tossed out because of her behavior. So she lands on her moms doorstop unexpectedly over two years ago and her behaviour has caused her mother enough stress that she has been thru one schizophrenic episode and is currently in the begining of another.

After having a family meeting it was discovered that the daughter is bi-polar. She lives mostly in a depressive state with periodic times of what seem normal and productive behavior that don't last very long. She is not working. She has tried and failed to go back to college. She mostly stays shut up her bedroom and is not productive in any way. She has been rude and manipulative to her mother and caused her mother to experience anxiety attacks, depression and of course like I mentioned earlier, stress related schizophrenic episodes.

I have recently discoverd NAMI and have talked with a volunteer down there and gotten the schedule for support group meeting and signed up for a 12 week class that will take place this fall. We are going to make some concentrated efforts to understand this disease better and to find out some productive ways of dealing with the daughter.

My main question of the moment is this.....do we have any legal recourse for dealing with the daughter? Family does not want to toss her out into the street and she has worn out her welcome with all the other family members. Do we have any recourse that can force her to take the necessary medication. We are not presently sure if she on medication because so much of what comes out of her mouth is lies. She withholds any information from us in an attempt at self preservation. What legal recources, if any, do we have? She simply cannot continue to stay in the home with her mother if her being there is going to continue to create enough stress to bring on a schizophrenic episode. Please help, we don't know what to do and the first support group meeting at NAMI isn't for over another week.

[Isaiah]

I'm afraid it's a simple, no.

Unless she threatens her own life or someone else's, there's no legal recourse.

[AfricanDaisy]

Thank you Isaiah, I was afraid of that. It seems a shame that she can continue to distrupt lives like this indefinately but that none of us has any recourse unless she becomes violent.