Lived Experience Forum

[Pitz]

So Im not going to go into allot of detail as its a long story but the brief is I'm the youngest in my family and have always been mentally strong. Last year I was hit with allot of stress and fell into my first episode of psychosis out of nowhere.

1 year later I was so convinced it was just a random episode I was slowly coming off my medication with the advice of my psychologist.

Well with a few rocky nights of sleep I fell into hypo mania but was not admitted as my wife nipped it in the but with my case worker

Now I'm diagnosed with bipolar 1 and have never had a depressive episode throughout my life.

I'm just confused as I haven't had any mental issues in the past. I feel like this condition is a time bomb and rocks your world out of no where.

Just looking for advice from anyone that has gone through psychosis and is now diagnosed with bipolar.

Kind regards

[frog]

Hi @Pitz welcome to the forum. Getting diagnosed with a major mental illness is a huge adjustment. I have had anxiety and depression as long as I remember. Then during a period of intense, prolonged stress, I had a significant manic episode complete with psychosis and ended up in hospital.

At first I tried to see this as an aberation, not really me. When I got the diagnosis it took me a year to come to terms with it. Part of this was the struggle to find medication that helped without totally compromising my quality of life. This took a further year, and no doubt will always be a work in progress.

I would never wish this illness on anyone, but getting the diagnosis was both a shock, and a relief because with time a lot of things made sense. I can look back and see that I'd had mixed episodes before. Because I was coping to a degree they were never recognised as such.

My situation is quite different to yours in that I'd had problems before hand and then there was a sudden escalation. It mush be even more of a jolt to be entirely well, and then have such a situation arise. Either way, 'rocks your world' is spot on.

It sounds like your wife is supportive and it's good you also have professionals helping. My focus is on living well. Self-care was never a priority for me before this happened; I was too busy caring for everyone else in my family and put myself last. Now I'm learning to be compassionate towards myself too.

I read a book: The reality slap, which I found challenging and insightful. It helped me. Moving forward (I don't think moving on is the right term) is a slow process, and given the nature of bipolar never linear, but it's possible for me to have hope.

I hope you find the forum helpful. It's been a great support for me. Take care.

[Chamomile]

Hi @Pitz,

Welcome to the forums and thanks for sharing your story here. No doubt many members can relate to the disruption in your life that you have experienced as well as how hard it can be to process a newly received diagnois. I hope that you will find the forums to be a supportive place for exploring the issues that have come up for you.

[Pitz]

Thanks for all the support. Can anyone tell me what it is like to raise a family with bipolar disorder. I would love to be a dad one day but have doubts now as my triggers are lack of sleep and stress.
Also how do you find working with the disorder and do you tell your boss before starting a new job.
Kind regards