Dianne -

My heart goes out to her -- my son was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia at 18 --

This is a very serious illness -- and without the CORRECT meds -- can be dangerous to the person and people around them.

Bi Polar is very similar to schizophrenia -- but the fact that her father and brothers have this --and the way you described them being homeless etc this sounds more schizophrenic than bi polar. If she's talking about God or the devil telling her to do/say things -- GET HER COMMITTED and on meds -- again the religious part of this coming thru tends to make me lean more towards the schizophrenia.

I'm not sure if its only your sister that lives in France -- but if the DIL lives here in the states they can Baker Act her into an institution. They need to find one that they would feel comfortable leaving her in and set it in motion. A medical doctor is not going to cut if for this sort of illness -- she needs a psychiatrist that CARES and knows his schizophrenia and bi polar !!

They can't give up on her. It's only going to get worse. They need to find a doctor -- a KNOWLEDGEABLE doctor in the area of these two illness's -- and believe me I know how hard this is !! -- that will take this serious and will help find a solution for her. Even if it means against her will !! Five days will NOT give the illness enough days to rear its ugly head or for the meds to truly start working - these anti-pyschotics are very potent meds and can't just be given with a script and say call me in a week -- they need to be monitored closely for at least 2 weeks.

I'm not saying this for the drama -- I just can't stress the need for help here enough -- and where I cant say about the BiPolar -- I can promise you that if its schizophrenia -- she WILL become dangerous to herself and others !!!!

(by the way - do you know what meds was she on)