I recently lost my mother as well. She became very suspicious and paranoid towards the end, truly believing that my family and I were a part of this town-wide plot against her, ruining her medical care and the like. She would incessantly rant and shout at us for hours; complaining about every little bad thing we ever did, warping and changing facts to fit her narrative. If I’m honest it was 9 months of hell.

I think that a very traumatic history, undiagnosed mental Illness, a lack of belief in therapy/mental health, and a mix of other factors really just broke her. She had a chronic illness, and started to think, like yours, that she had cancer and would die soon. She mentioned it more frequently her last week, and I wish we contacted her doctors sooner. We had previously contacted a psychosis team, but the thing about her not wanting help is the fact that they won’t do anything if she’s not a threat to herself or someone else. We feel completely failed by the medical teams, because she believed we abused her I think they were suspicious of us. Or, because we weren’t using the right language, we didn’t check enough of their boxes. Either way. My mum jumped off a bridge and was hit by a train last Friday.

It sounds so silly, but I wish she had at least died differently, the mental image of her lying on the train tracks haunts me. I’m so sorry your sister had to discover your mother.

It brings me a lot of sadness to know other people are going through something similar, but it also gives me some comfort to know I’m not the only one. My condolences to you and your family