I'm 21 years old, and was brought up by a mentally ill mother - I was physically and emotionally abused.. all the posts sound EXACTLY like my mother's behaviour.. she accuses me of being abusive, starts fights with everyone in the family, ruins every holiday.. she used to call my friends parents and tell them I was a delinquent child.. she cannot hold a job or a relationship, cannot support herself, and constantly borrows money and uses other people. She is incredibly manipulative - when I was 11, my uncle called social services on her because of the abuse - she is so charming that the social worker left without asking me a single question.

When I was 15 I had finally had enough of the abuse and ran away to live with my grandparents.. we went to court so they could have custody of me. My mom thinks everyone else is crazy and out to abuse her.. she does not think anything is wrong with her and blames everyone else for mistakes she has made. She has not acknowledged that she was extremely abusive to me..

I keep a distance from her these days as I am living on my own, but she still causes my grandparents and I a lot of grief.. we cannot turn away from her because she will cry and act suicidal... I don't know what to do.. she needs help, I am so desperate to not have to deal with this anymore.. how do you get someone to get diagnosed with an illness when they can trick almost anyone with "manic" side and act COMPLETELY normal...

I would be so thankful for some advice.