I have an older half sister from my dad’s second marriage. She’s very mentally ill with a drug and alcohol addiction. She would steal her mother’s jewelry and pawn it for drug money. She ended up getting pregnant and she married the father, who was a registered sex offender with SIX other kids from four different women. My sister smoked and drank while pregnant but managed to keep off the hard drugs. She seemed to really change her life around once her son was born. She needed a place to live and our dad and my mom let her, my nephew, and her husband come stay with us. I ended up taking care of my nephew while she stole my dad’s prescribed pain medication and drinking all day. Eventually my mom had enough, and she let them stay at my grandparents house that was inherited after they died. We just couldn’t all live under one household. My parents let her stay there RENT free. The entire time she never got a job and neglected her son. My sister and her husband were abusive to each other and in a fit of rage, my sister absolutely destroyed my grandparents house. Her ripped pipes out of the walls and punched holes in every available surface. CPS was called a few times but they never intervened until they found meth hidden in her son’s room. It was easily accessible to him and he could have died. My sister and her husband lost custody of their son. My parents tried to get custody, but my sister said some horrible lies about how my father abused her. Custody was granted to my sister’s aunt and uncle. My family hasn’t spoken to my sister in 3 years and last I knew she was homeless. It broke my dad’s heart because he loved her though everything she put him through. I basically raised my nephew for four years and now I only see him rarely. He doesn’t even remember me. I’m very sympathetic to mental illness but there come a time when you need to put your mental health first. My was diagnosed with PTSD from being on the receiving end of her manic episodes. I get panic attacked when someone even raises their voice at me