Usually a good antipsychotic (whether it’s an older one like Thorazine or something very new like Abilify) will take the coo coo factor out of these birds. The problem is often that there is no support network for the mentally afflicted person. Does she have a hubby? (Probably not)
It’s not about her! A support network!?
Take out the coo coo factor and there is still a Damaged Child!
But, gee, let’s worry about Mom’s mental state. . .
What’s really needed is an implantable automated drug delivery system, with some sort of alarm system that “phones home” if it’s removed — and some of these people, even when medicated, ARE crazy enough to dig out a drug implant with a kitchen knife. But with the great majority, as long as they stay on their ultra-strong meds, they’ll stay in touch reality. However, even mentally normally people often forget to take medicine regularly, so obviously fundamentally crazy people will do so too, even if they sincerely meant to take it regularly. A missed dose or two and that grasp on reality that was prompting them to follow doctor’s orders to take their meds every day can slip away quickly, often to be reinterpreted as “THEY are trying to poison me with these pills” or some such paranoid cr&p.
Until we have reliable and secure implantable drug delivery systems, people with mental illnesses that involve complete detachment from reality simply need to be kept confined.