
Family & Friends of Bipolar Support Group
This community is dedicated to parents, siblings, grandparents, other relatives and friends of someone who is Bipolar. The purpose of this community is to help families and friends develop greater patience and understanding, as well as maintain a positive, caring relationships with those diagnosed as Bipolar.

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Today my wife showed the irritation and anger that a hypomanic/manic state can bring, I guess. I wish I knew if there is anything I could do to help, but I am pretty sure the answer is no, because tying to assist only made her more irritated.
She took her Seroquel and went to bed about an hour ago without saying a thing to me.
I know that as I learn more, I should be able to handle things better. It has only been three weeks since her dx. I just hate to see her in such a state.
She took her Seroquel and went to bed about an hour ago without saying a thing to me.
I know that as I learn more, I should be able to handle things better. It has only been three weeks since her dx. I just hate to see her in such a state.
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I only ask because if i was to try that with my son I would probably have a something thrown at my head.
Sometimes there really is nothing you can do. Someone posted a fantastic post about how their son will throw fits sometimes, in restaurants or in public and she simply had to get to the point where she could take a deep breath and not chase out after him or allow her evening to be ruined.
I totally understand how you feel. My brother was just diagnosed with BP disorder and it can be SO painful to not be able to help him. Nothing I said could help him feel better or even ease his feelings, it just made him irritated. So irritated that he asked me not to call him or email him for two weeks. I was really heartbroken but after speaking to people here I realized I just couldn't have said the 'right' thing to have prevented his anger.
Best of luck! We just kind of need to toughen up and try to stay calm. Whatever you do, try to remember it's her disorder talking, NOT HER. I was so mad at my brother over how he spoke to me, it's been a real struggle to try to separate the two.
Try not to take it personally, she's going through a lot of turmoil & right now it's all about her.
You've come to the best place:learn all you can & browse the boards, the insight from people with bp & supporters like us can help a lot.
short and simple.
"why did you do this like this?"
me- "sorry, can you show me how to do it properly"?
Again, thank you all; I guess I need to thicken my skin a bit more and take it one day at a time.
In my son's case he is fast cycling and suffers post traumatic stress disorder resulting from abuse from his father, complicated by ADHD and epilepsy.
He rarely remembers what he's done when he comes out of it.
The way I handle it is to stay as calm as possible, say as little as possible and intervene only when there is a threat of someone being hurt. Once he is back to a stable state of mind, that's when we talk, trying to find the trigger, trying to figure out that moment when he felt it coming on so that in the future he might feel it and be able to develop a tool to avoid it...an activity that will calm him...saying a montra, playing a video game, running around the yard, etc.
I understand the pain you feel seeing your wife go thru this...it also hurts when they seem so cold and hurtful...I journal about it and try to remind myself of my son's compassion, sensitivity and desire to be so helpful when he is in a stable frame of mind.
It takes time to figure out the right cocktail of meds, behavioral patterns, triggers, etc. Patience, journaling, a good Pdoc and an occassional full body scream into a pillow help me thru the really tough days.
hang in there. best you can do is be there to reassure her that she will get through the episode, and she will feel better.
Also try to limit her exposure to sudden changes and surprises. And if you see her starting to get stressed out, ask her to take a break. this is what i have to do for myself. I call it unplugging and isolating myself.