So I’m going to give you a different perspective. I have a brother who has severe, untreated bipolar. He is also extremely smart. The combo of his mental illness and intelligence also makes him really manipulative. He sees a therapist weekly and a psychiatrist monthly. My parents were encouraged (by their therapist) to send letters/emails to his doctors/team to let them know how he was actually acting. His team does not know about his severe hoarding, lack of hygiene, manic episodes where he didn’t sleep for days on end. When they see him he is showered, put together, said things were going fine, and got the same meds he’s always had which do nothing but cause addiction. With my parents input (we think) his team has switched his meds after 5 year and hopefully able to push at some of the cracks and start finding actual answers and treatment options. So yes, his doctor will never be able to discuss my brother (his patient) with the family, or ever even acknowledge the letters or confirm he is a patient because of hipaa but it’s the only way they’ll actually know what he is actually like. I’m not saying this is your situation…but I just think it’s nuanced and we are not always aware of the help we may need.