Friends, Family & Carers Forum

[Insmalltowns]

My lovely caring mother has bipolar disorder and she has had it through our whole life, she has 7 kids and we are aged between 19-38, myself my twin sister and little brother live the closest to mum and she lives in a tiny cottage town that literally has nothing for her. We get her out to the towns close to hers to keep her on the positive side of things. But sadly my brother and sister went to find her off her medication and in the bush, they had taken her to the mental illness clinic for extra help, but we all can find something to help her when she comes out! We don't want her going back home to nothing that town alone would send you loco 😞 we need help on what we should do. Any help would be highly appreciated! 🙂

[Mosaic]

Hi @Insmalltowns and welcome to the forums! Thank you for sharing some of your story. It sounds like you really care about your mum and it’s understandable you don’t want to see her isolated. It can be really difficult to find quality ongoing support for people living in smaller towns. It’s lovely of you to take her out and about sometimes to the neighbouring communities, I am sure this really brightens her day. I’m wondering are the rest of the siblings quite united in supporting her? If so, I imagine it’s a real blessing to have your twin sister and some of the others to lean on while going through it all.

I recall fellow members @lololili  @SimpleAsThis and @Jes_riot are also caring for their own mothers who struggle with mental illness. In particular, member @Impala is caring for her mum who lives with bipolar and you can read a little bit more of her story here. I wonder if these members can offer some support or advice to you right now. I recall @too-supportive  @Annie2  and @mountain have all had partners with bipolar disorder. You might find reading the experiences of others on here helpful.

Thanks again for posting and please keep us updated with how things are tracking with your mum. 

[NikNik]

Hi @Insmalltowns

Welcome to the Forums. @Mosaic raises some really good questions.

Additionally, I'm curious to know if you have a sense from your mother whether she is keen to leave her home and move elsewhere or whether she feels her home is a safe haven for her?

Again, welcome to the Forums

[davevirgo]

Hi there,

Yes the challenge of insight. As someone diagnosed with bipolar 1 back in 2011, it's been an interesting journey and one which I have written about and published - being diagnosed at the age of 44 was a little surprising and also being the first in the family - though I am sure was father definitely should have received a bipolar diagnosis and his mother too.

So what to do? Well, I have been on a journey of self-education to try and calm my mind and deal with both head pains and exhaustion/ ebbing and flowing energy levels. It is not easy. But I have learn about our multiple brains - see www.mbraining.com - and I check in moreso nowadays with my heart brains to explore how I am feeling and my gut brain to check I am align to my path, my values and my gut instinct. This has changed who I am, what I do and what I achieve in life. This has taken almost 50 years to achieve. Thank goodness I have a healthy sense of humour and do not take myself seriously.

The challenge I find is to focus on the longer terms goals and explore the options I can achieve in the short that best serve going forward on the journey of healing and recovery. I ask myself - what to do for maximum value and minimum effort. That helps. So maximum value and minimum effort, stay on my anti-psychotic medication to ensure I avoid psychosis (once is enough in one lifetime for me) and maintain good sleep patterns. I have a fitbit with which I monitor sleep, exercise and I am on the way to regaining a healthy weight. This takes time and I have developed, I guess, a healthy compassion towards myself.

Hope this is some value. Thank you. Dave.