We’re a family of 7 (5 siblings – Me (29M), 25, 22, 15, 10; and our Mom (47) and Dad (54)). Our family has been in a bad situation financially since the past few years. There have been multiple financial crises that we have struggled through and managed to just scrape by. Our mom has been the most affected mentally by this. Lately, her behavior has become very concerning and anytime we bring it up or try to “talk sense”, she becomes defensive and lashes out. There are multiple things that have built one over the other to cause her immense mental anguish. Sone of them are as follows:
Our financial situation. It is even more difficult for her as her sisters are all doing very well financially and don’t seem to care for her situation. In fact they exclude her from their lives because of her financial situation.
Her children. 3 of us have moved to America for college and work and have not been able to afford to meet in over 5 years. She loves her children very deeply so it has been very hard for her. Also, our youngest sibling has Downs Syndrome and it has been increasingly challenging to manage.
I recently got married and had a few ceremonies but my parents and 2 siblings were unable to attend due to visa issues. This was very difficult for my mom especially as she had a lot of dreams for her first childs wedding.
Her marriage. She snd my dad don’t see eye to eye on many things and they have a lot of resentment built between them to the point that they almost hate each other. Ideally, they would have divorced but have stayed together for the family.
Coming to her concerning behavior. She has been collecting rocks from the beach in which she says she sees gold, diamonds etc. it started off as a fun activity she did but lately it has become like an obsession for her. She has filled the a whole section of the house with these rocks and is spending hours obsessing over them. She did the same thing with a large piece of wood she found in our grandfather’s house that she believed to be very valuable. She is spending all nights watching videos on these rocks or just looking at them. She is getting very little sleep, if any.
I want advice as to how we can approach her so that she doesn’t get defensive or feel attacked. She is refusing to go to therapy and has a mindset that she knows best and everyone is against her