Dear Pastor,

I have a daughter who is giving me a lot of trouble. She tries to hurt me all the time. I am desperate. I don't have a proper house to live in because of the hurricane. A friend of mine gave me a little room to live in. My daughter came to me and said I should lend her a key to open the door and I gave it to her. She didn't give the key back to me.

She took over the room. She has a cutlass right at the door. I went there to get some clothes and she was washing something and she threw the water in my face. She attacked me with a stick and hit me on my shoulder last year, and now she came and did the same thing again.

She is going on as if she is sick. And when she wants to use the bathroom, she does it in the backyard. I have to work very hard.

Her father committed murder and someone killed him. Every time she comes, she wants me to tell her where her father is. and that happened from she was four months old.

X., St. Elizabeth

Dear X.,

I am sorry to hear that you are a very unhappy woman. And from what you have said, the behaviour of your daughter seems to indicate that she has a mental problem and needs psychiatric care. I doubt very much that a sane person would behave in the manner you described.

I suggest you ask your minister to help you get your daughter to the doctor. Perhaps, he would be able to meet with her and counsel her the best way he could, and also get members of the church to help get her to a doctor. You should also try to seek assistance from the local police.

Pastor