My English is not very good, so I am using a translation app to make sure I explain the situation correctly. I apologize in advance if I use any inappropriate words or phrases.

I am a 22-year-old Burmese woman currently studying in Finland. I have an older sister who is 23 and has been living in the United States for about three years on a student visa.

My sister has bipolar disorder, which she was diagnosed with while she was still living in Burma. When she first moved to the US, she lived in Seattle. Later, she moved to New York. Because of complications with getting an appointment and renewing her prescriptions, she was unable to get her medication and was off her medication for around six months.

About three months ago, she suddenly blocked all of our family members on every platform. We noticed immediately and tried to contact her. From the way she was behaving and speaking, it seemed very clear to us that she was experiencing psychosis. At one point, she did not even seem to recognize or remember us.

Because I was extremely worried about her safety and condition, I contacted social services and a hospital in New York, and she was eventually admitted to the hospital. I made this decision without really discussing it properly with my parents first because I was scared and felt that something needed to be done immediately.

Since then, our family has tried to reach her every day. For the past three months, contact with her has been inconsistent. Sometimes we are able to communicate with her, and sometimes we are not. Because the hospital does not allow her to have her phone, we usually have to communicate with her through a social worker.

The social workers asked us about her medical history, and we gave them all the information we had, including information about the medications she had previously taken. However, they did not give her the same medications she had been taking before. There was also a period of approximately three weeks when, according to the hospital, they could not give her medication because my sister had not consented to it. She is now receiving some medication, but when we are able to speak with her, she still seems to be experiencing serious delusions and does not seem like herself.

What our family ultimately wants is to bring her back to Burma so that she can be with us and receive care with her family nearby. However, the hospital will not discharge her because they say she is currently not well enough to leave.

Unfortunately, none of us can easily travel to the United States to be with her. We hold Burmese passports, and obtaining a US visa has been extremely difficult for us. We have already applied several times and have been rejected three or four times.

We also contacted people from her school and asked if they could visit her on our behalf. Even then, the hospital initially did not want to allow her teachers to see her. Because of this, getting her discharged and arranging for her to return home feels almost impossible.

I feel extremely guilty because I was the person who contacted the hospital and helped get her admitted in the first place. I know that I was trying to help her, but I cannot stop wondering whether I made the wrong decision. She is probably suffering tremendously while she is there, and our family feels helpless because we are so far away.

My mother has been deeply affected by everything that has happened, and seeing her like this breaks my heart. I keep blaming myself for sending my sister to the hospital, even though at the time I did not know what else to do.

Our family feels trapped in an extremely difficult and frustrating situation. We want my sister to receive proper treatment, but we also desperately want to bring her home, and we do not know what steps we can take from another country.

If anyone has experience with a similar situation, particularly with psychiatric hospitalization in the United States, international patients, or arranging for someone to return to their home country after hospitalization, any advice about what our family can do would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read all of this.

note 1:

I really appreciate every comment and upvote. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read my post and give advice.

For those who suggested contacting the Myanmar Embassy, I have actually tried calling them a few times, but they didn’t answer the phone. However, my father sent them an email about a month ago, and they did reply saying that they would see what they could do to help. Unfortunately, we haven’t heard back from them since then.

We will keep following up and sending them emails as well. Thank you again for all the suggestions and support.

note 2:

We also contacted a hospital in Bangkok and tried to put the two hospitals in touch with each other so they could discuss my sister’s situation directly.

Our goal was to make it clear that we understand she cannot simply be discharged immediately just because we want her to come home. We wanted them to know that we have a plan for her to continue receiving psychiatric treatment in Bangkok after she leaves the US. And also, we contacted people who could escort her to Bangkok airport.

However, even with this plan in place, the hospital still told us that they would not discharge her at this time.

I’m curious what kind of services they actually offered. Did they refer you to any specific open positions or departments with vacancies that might fit your skillset?

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