Patient question: My mother has lived with me for years since she is regularly unemployed. Whenever I moved during the last 16 years, she usually followed. In the last 4 years, she has become paranoid–someone is stealing electricity, wifi, cable, cell phone service, water. We didn’t even have wifi or cable at the time. I even checked the water and electric usage, but found they were consistent with usage at other addresses. Then she decided someone must be at home at all times because someone is sneaking into the apartment–to mistreat our pets, to fiddle with the electricity, to steal services, to live in the attic. She also claims someone had wired the apartment to listen to us, wired the front door so it would randomly open, stole our forks (I don’t know where they went), stole the Mummy dvd (we have at least 100 dvds, but that one was the only one taken, sneaks through the ventilation, stops by and electrocutes her around 3 a.m. on random mornings, and added wires under the driver side of my car (don’t worry she pulled out). Someone disrupts the signal on her analog radio, she insists all power, circuit breakers be off, and the major appliances unplugged except for the refrigerator and a few lamps. She says her last 5 cell phones were hacked and taken over by someone. I have never experienced or witnessed any of the problems she claims. So she accuses me of helping the someone because I say none of these issues can be proven. She won’t see a doctor, and she can pass any mental test. Honestly, I wander if she is a dick rather than sick. These incidents have been continual at 3 dif ferent addresses. In the one address, the landlord said she could not live there any more because she was entering the basement and changing the handyman’s repairs. (I don’t know if this accusation is true; she denies it.) At one point nearly 2 years ago, I expressly asked her not to destroy the landlord’s county letter because it itemized repairs to the house. She ignored my request and ripped up the documents. I gave her $4000 (my savings) and my car and kicked her out of my apartment two years ago, so she stayed with my aunt for a week, in hotels for about a month. Then she came back for another $2000 (payday loans). Eventually, she spoke with the VA hospital, received a bed at a homeless shelter, and money to return to school. They also offered to pay for housing, but she couldn’t find a place she was comfortable with for the money offered. After a few months in the shelter, she “couldn’t” make it to the shelter by curfew, so she was kicked out and moved in with me again. Within a year, we moved again. About 8 months ago, we were evicted from a house (only 5 months into a year lease) because “someone” had cut out all the copper connecter in the electrical outlets (a fire hazard), had cut a large outdoor cord connecting the central air to the house, and had removed insulation and created holes in the outer walls. I cannot prove it was my mom, but no one else was in the house. She or I am always home. Now we’re in an apartment and she opens the outlets and has cut the connectors to the phone jacks. She still experiences are all of the aforementioned issues. I discovered she had pulled wires beneath the driver’s seat of my 8 month old car. She claims someone is hacking into its system. I plan to move because of unrelated issues, but because of my mom, I am hesitating. I am sick of the problems. I am sick of her refusing to listen to reason. I told her 5 months ago that I wanted to go separate ways with this move. I tried to give her time to find an apartment, get a job, request government assistance (she hasn’t worked since 2010), but she has proven she unwilling to take care of herself. She wants me to buy her a Winnebago, so she can live in the woods with her dog and cat. I am tempted because I don’t want to continue this cycle anymore. I don’t want her to live with me. I don’t even want her to know where I live. I don’t even feel guilty about it any more because every time I find something she “fixed” I just cry. However, I feel bad for the dog and cat since I’ve had them for years. I feel guilty because there are no other siblings or family… just me. This situation feels like the rest of my life. What do I do?

Distorted part: I feel guilty because there are no other siblings or family… just me. This situation feels like the rest of my life
Dominant distortion: Personalization
Secondary distortion: Overgeneralization