Hello everybody,
I was just thinking today it must be so tough on spouses of bipolar patients to lead  normal life. My husband is bipolar and we love each other very much. But there are time he does things which are stupid and meaningless and hurt me. Even he doesn't realize why he is doing it.

I would like to offer mental support in any form that I can for people who need to endure the effects of this illness.

do share your views and hope we can help you help your dear ones.

Regards,
Swetha

Kudos to you Swetha.. and a great big hug.

Im the daughter of a bipolar mother, grr one who chooses self medication instead of a path that would have made all our lives easier.
what pisses me off the most is that they hurt themselves in turn hurting us to the core.
I honestly don't know how you cope.. Thou I have seen your husbands love for you and how proud he is to be your husband just once when he posted on the forum not long ago. It was just a simple post in reply to the meeting of soul mates, but I just caught a glimpse of the smile on his face when he posted it.  You are a lucky lady in that regard... yes I can see how being with him  is worth it.

yea yea I know it not politicly correct to come out with a "what cheeses me off" about someone who is suffering a condition.. but ahhh..
OO and then there is that that that there is help channels available to the sufferers of the condition but they forget that the whole family suffers with the condition, not just the direct patient. lol.. ever tried calling a help line with "someone I love suffers with bipolar...is there any medication that I can take that will help..."

My husband does not suffer bipolar.. instead he's an egotistical control freak who is frustrated with his life .. hmm lol..
can we just send them ( men ) all to the moon?

swetha I would love to offer support to you with perhaps some insight because I have schizo-affective disorder (which used to be called a manic-depressive schizophrenic, or in other words a bipolar schizophrenic).
If you can get someone's insights who used to be in extremes of a similar situation who is now stable under medication/therapy it can be helpful for many, that's why people write books about their life and/or childhood/adolescence for people to read for help!

I used to be diagnosed as a strictly bipolar patient in my early to middle teens when my clinical team (therapists, psychiatrist) started to reconsider that I actually had schizo-affective disorder. In my late teens it was finalized I am schizo-affective, but it seemed to be bipolar so accurately that it was misdiagnosed for years. Sometimes disorders develop over time in puberty and late adolescence so it will change the diagnosis when things like hallucinations and thought disorders show up, that's what happened to me. I "became schizophrenic" or something, but before that happened I really only experienced bipolar disorder symptoms. Anyway what I mean is that I really hope and want to offer insight for you on what bipolar disorder is and can mean for you/your husband on a basis of how I personally experienced it and am still experiencing it. OR, if someone else knows someone who is schizophrenic, it'd be considerably more difficult but I can attempt to offer insight into that too (because I've lived with it for less time).

It is different for me than for someone who is a different diagnosis, but I have had such extremes in my life that I want to offer insight to yours. I also went to a therapeutic day school during my high school career so  I knew a lot of people who were also bipolar/borderline personality disorder/Asperger syndrome/phobias/obsessive-compulsive/etc. and I want to offer online support to people dealing with family/spouses/friends who have things like this because I grew up around it. It's intense to be in a community like that and I know how it feels with teens, but not as much with adults (personally I'm guessing teens are more extreme in some ways, and much more subdued in others, so I have to talk with you or another about it to find out how!). I want to offer sort of a chat-like support for you, if you'd like.

Maybe even tell your husband that you met someone online who has a form of bipolar disorder mixed with schizophrenia (or don't, it depends on what you feel like) and they (I) offered to talk you through some coping skills together or just you alone. It's up to you. But I'm NOT a therapist! *disclaimer* Maybe just a Peer Mentor?

I would love to chat about some things either on this thread or privately. My arms are open! I've experienced many extremes myself and witnessed the rest from other students at my school.

I also had a weird experience with OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). What happened was that I had it while I was in bipolar extremes, I was literally diagnosed with it by several specialists. But as I grew out of puberty into young adulthood, the disorder just vanished with therapy. OCD is a disorder for life... but apparently if you develop something more extreme (such as schizophrenia) you can actually grow out of OCD, which happened to me. Schizo-affective disorder is so much worse though, lol, so it's totally an indecent trade off! But anyway... So I can also offer some insight into someone's life with OCD, if anyone would like that?

Please let me know how I can help you, meaning, any reader, not just swetha

I just changed the thread name....yes it is hard on the family to see ur dear one suffer. here in India mental illnesses are still not thought of as an illness but a state of mind and labeled mad. but now people are slowly understanding and it helps talk about it. please feel free to talk about your feelings...so we van help each other lead a better and happy life.

My mother is a bipolar patient from ages.. nearly 30 yrs .

Its difficult to deal with such people. Best thing is when they say ya its night .. you shud say ya. Never argue with them.

They might hurt you unknowingly but let it go. They will never mean it .

From past few months my mother has done a bariatic surgery and she has stopped the medicines. Becoz of the medicines one needs to eat a lot which inturn leads to weight increase. and since she has done the surgery she cant eat much.


So I also dont know what to say much on this topic.

just a few minutes back my mother has hurted me.

and I am crying and crying. Cant stop weeping..