Managing Bipolar 1

[Dadcaringalone]

@eth 

I hear where you are coming from re family. Have blocked my parents completely from my son as they were major triggers for one of my son’s major psychotic breakdowns, combined with my brother who they enable as an alcoholic, even though I warned them he was extremely fragile!! My dad seems to believe u can force, from lectures or pressure, someone to instantly get over ( as he puts it) from an acute mh illness. It appears he took a similar attitude to his own sister who has had bipolar almost her whole life. It’s amazing how destructive family can be to mental health deterioration, and boundaries are the only way to go. Take care today. Best of luck with everything 

[eth]

Yep @Dadcaringalone   "Aren't you over that yet?" is one of the most insensitive, in fact cruel, things anyone can say to us.  So many people just don't get that bipolar is a life-long condition requiring constant management and monitoring.  We are better off without them as it's possible to waste a lot of time and energy trying to educate them, as I know only too well.  

[Dadcaringalone]

@eth They will never get it and from past experience its much better to just keep a very wide berth from these type of toxic people even if they are family! Take care

[eth]

Hi @Dadcaringalone  hope your week has gone well.  I thought you might be interested in this :   being a male in a caring role  which is a discussion that will be held on the carers side of the forums in Topic Tuesday next week.  The details should show up if you click on the link.

[eth]

Hi @Georgie1  this is the thread I mentioned.  Hope it's helpful.  Feel free to join in.

[Minnie64]

My problems start when I don't have support people around me. I my own mind I am fine but I display such poor judgment and when i come back from space I am left to deal with the consequences of my actions leading to deep depression. Such a vicious circle. Change of seasons also seem to be a trigger for me.

[eth]

Hi @Minnie64   Sorry I didn't see your post til just now as I only get a notification if I am tagged.  The early pages of this thread have quite a bit of info about managing with bipolar.  But I'm happy to answer questions too, if you tag me by putting an @ and typing my name, which will show in a box where you can click on it.

I definitely agree about how it can be a vicious cycle at times and there are often consequences to deal with when we come back down to earth or re-emerge from deep depression.

Welcome to the forums.

[eth]

@Pitz  tagging you here and hoping you find it helpful.  Probably worth going back and looking at the first couple of pages too.

[Magenta]

Thank you so much for sharing your insights! I found this super helpful.