Excuse the typos. Hope this made sense.

Here's an article on bipolar disorder.

https://www.samhsa.gov/mental-health/bipolar#:~:text=Bipolar%20disorder%20is%20a%20serious,thinking%2C%20behavior%2C%20and%20sleep.

I am 68 years old and started to suffer major depression when I was 23 and later on was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. My mental illness is genetic. Please ask more questions. This group is very slow. I will check back and reply. Please don't feel discouraged if you don't get many responses. There are very few members left here. I happened to see your post. I had not come to this group for a long time too. I hope you can find helpful information on this topic (bipolar disorder). Hope to see your reply.

Hi HopeGrace, welcome to the group.

Sorry to hear you and your family are having such a difficult time. I do not have bipolar disorder myself, but I had a family member who did - though they didn't tell me for decades and until they told me I thought they were doing the mood swings on purpose and didn't understand why. Having a name to put on it can make a real difference.

I found a couple of articles, from a source I usually consider accurate, about the biblical view of mental health. I'll post the links, but basically their main points seem to be that while mental health issues were sometimes demonically caused other times they weren't (and were more like a physical illness), and that all people have the same spiritual needs, whether the person is dealing with mental health issues or not. Here are the links:

https://www.gotquestions.org/mental-illness.html

and

https://www.gotquestions.org/bipolar-manic-depression.html


Anyway, we're all subject to spiritual attack from time to time. When I'm feeling spiritually attacked for any reason in any way I make a point of reading the Bible, praying for myself and others, and making sure not to get too idle...

I forgot to say, never give up. God spoke into existence all that exists. Nothing is beyond His ability to help or heal.

I hope and pray that your family's health will be improving soon.

LavendarC Thank you for responding. I will try and check out that link. I have been trying to learn all that i can without burning myself out.

Do you have any suggestions on what family members can do to help someone obtain the help that they need?

HopeGrace22, There was one instance in which a young man with mental illness who was hospitalized in a mental hospital was visited by a pastor who with good intentions told him he was ill because of his sins. The young man freaked out and got worse. My advice is to try not to talk the "you suffer because of your sin" kind of talk when you try to be supportive of someone with bipolar disorder or any type of mental (depression) illness.

One of the feelings that a bipolar person may feel that contributes to the illness is feeling of guilt and shame. The person would rather be compared to Job. They want to feel you are on their side and that things can get better for them. Tell them it is not a shameful thing to suffer depression illness (use the word "depression illness" instead of "mental illness"). God is the only person who knows why a person with mental illness becomes ill. So try not to talk as if you know it is the person's fault and try to convince the person that taking medications and being in talk therapy is not a shameful thing and that there is hope. Saying the right things (positive talk) from the therapist is important for the patient's mental health. Being treated meanly by other people is one of the causes of bad (angry) moods. Avoid saying to the patient that it is his own fault even though you think it is.

Medications and talk therapy work with me. I saw several therapists. Not all of them were compatible with me. I do better with the empathetic listening kind of therapy. In behavioral therapy, the focus is to get the patients to change their behaviors with the belief that if the persons change their behaviors, their problem (illness) will be solved. It does not always work that way. Love and understanding and being a good friend work better in helping the person feel better, in my case.

Your question is what family members can do to help someone obtain the help that they need. My answer is try to convince them, however you can do it, that medications and talk therapy work for a lot of people and are worth giving them a shot.

In my case, faith in God is definitely an important thing that helps me have the strength to endure the pains. The right medications and a good and competent therapist help.

I hope what I said helps some. I will keep your family member in prayers and will send you friend request.

Beryl367 Thanks for the links and the encouraging words. I cant explain how much it means to go to a safe place to share. I appreciate everyone who has and may chime in on this. It is hard to understand but I am trying. I need to for her sake and all of us

LavenderC I agree with you. I do want to encourage hope in her and encourage her. When this issue with her started up again, I had to remind others in our family that this was her illness and not the real her talking and acting the way she was. I had to redirect many times. I contribute that knowledge to the Lord above. We cant throw our loved ones away for something they do not understand is happening to them. I'd hate to be in that predicament!

Thank you for sharing that. This does help reaffirm some things. Right now, her husband and mother-in-law are not updating me on what they have heard/know. I have tried to reach out to them with no response and it feels like I am being blamed for checking in. I am a worried/concerned Mom, but I am handling it pretty well, considering.

Her spouse is not a believer and her mother-in-law is friendly but they tend to talk about others. So, I am sure it feels safer to leave me out and have their attitudes (although not spoken out loud) towards me because I am a safe person than others, I guess?

Your kindness, your words, and your prayers mean more to me than you know!

HopeGrace22, Thank you for accepting my friend request. I saw your other two posts in two different depression support groups. You are not 23 years old as is stated in your profile.

I read your posts and realized how your troubles are so huge compared to mine even though I don't feel mine is light. My husband and daughter are not Christians. I think they are more open to it compared to thirty years ago.

My daughter, our only child, will be 37 in August. She is single, always lives with us and has been getting SSI since she was fourteen for depression illness. My concern and worry for her is how she is going to be after my husband and myself are gone since she never goes anywhere without someone with her and has very little human support.

Just to give you a little bit more information about myself, I was born and grew up in Thailand and came to and live in the U.S. when I was 25. My husband is white American. I was Buddhist and accepted Jesus when I was 20 when I still lived in Thailand. I was very disappointed and surprised when a doctor told me I have a "mental illness" after my dizziness condition that went on for about ten days. I was 23 at the time and life started to be very difficult and painful. When my daughter was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety disorder at 12, I felt very bad.

What brought on my daughter's mental (depression) illness is something I understand well since I am familiar with the illness. She didn't have the kind of adventure your daughter had but is quite handicapped physically and emotionally and can't live independently.

I felt I am too old for talk therapy but tried two therapists during the covid time because of my anxiety over my daughter's future but quit with them after a short period of times partly because pg my fear of catching covid (which I later caught anyway once) plus feeing that talking with the therapists didn't help much at the time. I just started to see a new therapist two months ago because some crisis happened unexpectedly. He looks to be younger than me but I can't tell his age and have not asked him. I saw him three times so far and has a fourth appointment coming up a week from now. I was debating whether to quit (again) but he will be a rare friend I can have due to my lack of social life so I think I will continue to see him and hope it will last for a while. I feel God brought him to keep me company during this time. I will definitely keep you and your daughter and other family members in prayers. I hope you and everyone have a nice and safe July 4th.

LavenderC That is correct. I tried to change the age on my profile and probably need to figure it out later. I am glad to make a new friend on here and appreciate your perspective, experience, and insight. I am sorry that you and your daughter have been through so much.
I agree that any support that looks to be beneficial is a good thing. I hope it all works out for you and that you find a solution for your daughter, for later on.
I hope you have a good and safe Fourth of July, also. I will pray for you and your family also

Hi! I'm the original founder in this group. I had a diagnosis of bipolar disorder for years. I was also on meds for years. I was able to get off 15 years ago, and have been stable.

My bipolar was triggered by hormones. Bipolar disorder is an illness of the brain. It is caused by chemical imbalances. I know many strong Christians who take meds for bipolar, who love God. It is not demon possession or demonic, esp. not in Christians.

It can be treated by doctors, just like diabetes, autoimmune disorders or cancer. But, if she is in denial, is it really bipolar disorder? Bipolar is a mood disorder. Depression is one part., most people don't deny depression. Mania is easily identified. Look up the symptoms. But hypomania can be deceptive. The person seems happy. Maybe talks too much. Or doesn't sleep a lot. But not hallucinating or ranting. But a good psychiatrist should be able to identify that.

The other possibility is a personality disorder. This is what we traditionally think of as mental illness. It's a result of an improperly developed personality. Growing up in trauma, without love or abused, can all cause a personality disorder. It's a distorted way of dealing with life and the world. And those are hard to diagnose. And treat. In fact, almost impossible to treat.

God can lead people on a healing journey. But most often, that will mean taking meds for the rest of their lives just like a diabetic meds meds to live, so does a mentally ill person.

I also have severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. At times, I have been totally bed ridden when my meds have failed. Right now, I'm in a great med. no joint pain. But, I have a lot of damage in my joints. Deformities that mean I can't walk far. I'm limited by damage. The disease has done its worst.

Mental illness is the same. You can find meds that help control mood swings, hallucinations. But, there is damage having gone through these things. God can comfort, but often, he chooses not to heal.

I had Word Faith friends when I first got RA. They told me I needed to pray harder, and God would heal me. They said my faith was not big enough. But Jesus said if you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can move mountains. I was never healed of RA. But, I have learned to help others with the same disease. But those people who told me I needed more faith? Well, I one died when her breast cancer metastasized, because she refused treatment, "because God had healed her." The other person had an enlarged prostate l, and almost died, but a friend took him to the hospital where he had surgery and it was fixed. So much for that false doctrine.

Mental illness has so much stigma. But anyone can be one mentally ill. We live in a fallen world, with disease & sin.

I hope your friend will look to God to walk with her, I don't know how I would have made it without Jesus in my life. He is my comforter. God didn't make the suffering go away, but he did change me as a result of the pain and suffering. I was a very shallow person before I got sick. God used my pain to change me into his image.

"More than that, we rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. And hope does not disappoint, because God's love has been outed out by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:3-5