The baby momma is back

If you read a few posts back I had a patient that was a homeless mother who gave birth and tested positive for drugs and when the hospital staff took her baby and gave it to DCFS she went haywire. She punched, kicked, screamed and became a danger to herself and the staff. She had a full fledge temper tantrum like you see in a 3 year old, but she is 18. Eventually custody the baby was given to the patient's mother. The patient was not happy about this, as she had a long history of discord with her mother. It was also questionable if the patient's mother was capable or a fit mother.

She was quite the handful on the psych ward and ultimately I was able to piece together her psychiatric history. She had long standing bipolar (real bipolar) with mania and she was in the middle of an acute manic episode that actually began prior to giving birth. Her mania was so strong that she did not sleep for 2 weeks and she required no pain medications during the birth. She was unbelievably strong and required 5 + men to restrain her. 

I medicated her and got her back on a regimen that would treat her bipolar illness and it was amazing to see her improve over the course of several days. She transformed from a manic tyrant that was completely out of control and was in and out of reality to a relatively regular immature teenager. However there was no doubt that she has actual bipolar manic disorder and without medications she will end up in a psychiatric hospital. 

On the day of her discharge I was worried that she would head straight to her mothers and demand to have her baby back and cause all kinds of problems. However we could no longer hold her on the psych ward because she had improved and was no longer deemed dangerous to herself or others. She maintained that she would not cause problems with her mother and that she would work through the courts to get her baby back. 

Well she is back and she is my patient again. She was brought to the hospital by the police and she had several altercations before landing here in the hospital again. I had to sedate her this morning because she was yelling and screaming and attack staff and other residents all while being nude. It was quite the scene.