Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
my husband has bipolar 2. He was diagnosed a year ago. I have been with him for 8 years. I felt so pushed away that I was close to leaving which prompted him finally reaching out for help. So, he’s “new” to help still since it’s only been a year. He’s on medicine, seeing a psychiatrist, and a social worker for Cbt. I have researched a lot but sometimes I feel so helpless. He’s an amazing guy. Typically, he’s more or less stable. But, every few months (now that he’s on medication; it was more frequent before) he “snaps” for lack of a better word and endangers himself or his children somehow. Often it’s with wreckless driving. He gets so overcome with anger, he just impulsivity reacts and somehow this tends to happen during transitions to/in a car... I guess because driving daily is inevitable. How can I help him? He isn’t completely honest with his psychiatrist because he’s scared and wants her to see him in a certain way (he’s told me this). He’s honest with his social worker but she’s not managing his medication. His psychiatrist feels he doesn’t need an increase in medication and he tells me he wants an raise. I tell him to talk to her bc I can’t help in that area at all... it feels like he has help around him but somehow it isn’t effective or enough... aside from these really aggressive episodes, he’s so wonderful.
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I haven't written in my diary on my computer since May because I thought that my computer was dying. I got away from writing but my computer is hanging in there. I think that I will start writing in it again. It's so therapeutic.
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First, I hope everyone is doing well, and continuing to fight that good fight! Keep up the great work on yourselves; I'm rooting for all of you!So, I started doing therapy at the beginning of the year, when I was in my most depressed state, but with my therapist, I made big changes and steps in the right direction. But, over a month ago, she couldn't take my insurance anymore, and I had to stop...
He cannot endanger you, your kids or himself.
You sound like a good wife and a fine woman. Bipolarity is very difficult to live with. Its terribly hard on him and you. But it sounds like you both care enough about each other, to go the distance. So many men would not see a therapist due to pride.
Be firm.... But make sure he knows your asking him to be more up front because you love him.
You said he's an amazing guy. And he must be, for you to have picked that word out to describe him. Make sure he knows it. Most people that are bipolar have low self esteem.
He's trying, and so are you. Sounds like a winning hand to me.
God Bless.......
Are you getting help for yourself? I've been on both sides of the Psycho Help Desk and find that loving someone with mental illness can be as hard as going through it myself. It helps to have emotional support to stay stable through the trials and tribulations.
DS is a big site. I hope you'll take the time to surf around and see what might be a good fit for you.
Welcome aboard. Hope you find steadying support here.
Question? You've used the words "Social Worker" and "Therapist" in conjunction with your husband getting CBT, which is it? Is he seeing a Therapist/Psychologist or a Social Worker, because those are 2 very different things.
If you're going in to your husbands Therapy Sessions, then you can mention the issues with the anger/impulse control so that the Therapist knows what to work on since he doesn't seem to want to tell her.
With BiPolar Disorder, until he's decides to fully accept his Diagnosis, and fully accept his Treatment which is Medication Management and Honesty about such with his Psychiatrist (Pdoc) and being honest and working on Therapy with a Therapist, he's not going to be able to maintain stability. So those things need to be worked on.
Apart from him, your children should be your main concern and if they are not safe in a vehicle with him, then they should not be allowed to be in a vehicle with him, it's that simple. When he decides to fully participate in his BiPolar Treatment and become more stable then perhaps that can change, but allowing your children to be put in unsafe situations should not be happening.
I'd also make sure than when you ask advice about BiPolar Disorder, the people giving you advice actually have the Disease.
With BiPolar Disorder it doesn't matter whether your male or female, seeing a Therapist is part of the Treatment, it has nothing to do with pride. As for whether he's "trying hard enough" this Disease is just like any other Disease, but it's a Disease of the Brain, it's not curable, but it has to be treated, and if you don't manage it and do the treatment, then its almost impossible to reach stability.
Take care,
Kat
Take care,
Kat
As for therapy, he’s seeing a clinical licensed social worker who specializes in treating bipolar disorder. He was seeing his psychiatrist for medication management and weekly CBT but he was not willing to do the work with her and found this LSW to work with instead. He’s been with the LSW for about 6 months and he definitely made more progress with her verse the psychiatrist. He seems so concerned about the way people view him. He told me this. He also always blames not being honest on “forgetting” to tell critical issues that arise that week. Just as of this week, he opened up and told me lying is so compulsive for him. He said he will lie immediately before he has a chance to even think it through just so he can immediately escape the situation, not caring about dealing with the ramification about lying.
I don’t think he’s fully accepted the diagnosis because he teeters on blaming it on ADHD, which the psychiatrist thinks he may have (our son has it.). She doesn’t think it’s his core diagnosis. He also still blames his upbringing a lot for it.
I feel really stuck because I love him so much but I’m starting to become concerned with the reality of his impact on our children. His “outbursts” are unpredictable, though definitely less frequent. I know he is the only one who can do this for himself. I also feel he hasn’t “accepted it” so I’m not sure he takes it seriously. He’s not very open about his personal thoughts or therapy sessions with me until I happen to be involved that week. Sometimes, it feels like he’s so far away from me. When he’s “himself” he is the amazing man I fell in love with. 8 years and 1 year of therapy/medication and he still is resistant to it.
Yes, I did! :) The reason I posted here is because I want advice from people who “get” it. Not just people who can relate. Like OlderCPer said, it’s best to get advice from someone with the disease. I don’t know what the makeup is on that support group and really want insight from personal experience. Thank you for your recommendation. ♥️All help is appreciated.
I said what I did about making sure you get advice from someone who actually has BiPolar because we have people popping up on this site who love to give advice but don't have BiPolar Disorder and I don't believe they have a right to give advice about it or how to deal with it.
So sorry for the confusion, and I hope you figure out how to work your situation to the best for your whole family.
Kat