Times Boundaries Are Hard To Set With Family, But Important
- By
Julia Austin
Source: FreshSplash / Getty
Help yourself if they won’t help themselves
Ultimately, if a family member with mental illness won’t stay on her course to get better, the resulting chaos affects the family, and they have no choice but to put up boundaries. “You cannot force anyone to do anything. It’s up to that affected individual,” Jackson states. “Sometimes setting boundaries can seem harmful or hurtful. It can be, ‘Every time you come here you break stuff…or the police have to be called,’ so maybe the boundary is ‘You can’t come over here anymore.’ For someone with mental health issues, it can feel like the family is not being supportive.” Be prepared for those accusations, but don’t take the guilt as a sign that you should bail on your boundaries.
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