Since Liam's mother has been diagnosed with mental health problems and has been treated with drugs, the question is not does she have a mental illness but rather was the previous diagnoses the correct one or is there a more accurate one that should be made? I'm not professionally qualified to diagnose her condition but based on my observations of her behavior, family history, and studying mental health, I think there is a good chance that Mrs. Smith suffers from Bipolar and/or Borderline Personality Disorder. Getting a correct diagnoses is important to understanding, and hopefully reducing, its negative impact on Liam.
Her mental health problems appears to run in her family and have some genetic component. Apparently Mrs. Smiths mother was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. Mrs. Smith has an aunt that also had mental health problems which resulted in being comitted to a mental hospital, guardian appointed for her, and finally suicide. I do not know yet what her diagnoses was.
Mrs. Smith's mother (whom I like in spite of her illness) has done things like call the police to report her husband poisoning her, making up imaginary allergies for her children, believing she has multiple chemical sensativity, refusing to have furniture in the house, keep clothes outside, teach her children to be afraid of their father, etc. Mrs. Smith herself recognized the problem and attempted to force her mother to get treatment or to get her dad to divorce her mother and take custody of the children to protect them. Although if you don't know her really well (like a family member) and see her outside of her family environment she seems normal or even better than normal - in much the same way Cheri Smith appears fine to others that haven't seen her have a fit of rage, psychotic episode, etc.
I've tried to get Mrs. Smith to work with me to find out specifically what her specific mental health issue is and to take steps to control it but she has refused. In spite of her threatening to kill people, acts of physical violence, and psychotic episodes, she apparently does not feel that Liam is important enough for her to address this problem.
I'll update the page with more details later but here are a few quick items about Cheri Smith's mental health:
