The article titled “Doctors can be great or awful” caught my attention. My dear man has been complaining about this for a good while. The mental health service has been hit hard by the recession. His psych appointments have been cut by half from once a fortnight to once a month. The helpful and genuinely concerned psych who knows him well, is rarely there. So at every appointment he sees a new face, usually someone not yet fully qualified and just practicing. That can’t be a good thing. Last month he noticed some worrying signs himself which could develop into an episode. These were dismissed by the student psych. A few weeks ago he went through an upheaval (won’t go into details here) which I felt then could be the trigger for an episode. First he did all the right things. He immediately stopped drinking, made fun of the situation and for a week he was cheerful seeing the silver lining on a dark cloud. Now and then he showed signs of instability and aware of them himself, dealt with them well. i knew this type of upheaval could trigger a manic episode. His last big episode was 3 years ago, which developed over a couple of months before it got really bad and he ended up in the psych ward. This time he has shot up into an episode within less than a week and I am very concerned. I know the signs too well: talking about God all the time in a certain way, preaching, seeing religious messages in everything, talking very fast so no-one gets a word in edgeways. This time he didn’t go through hypomania first, but straight in at the deep end. For now he is still “happy.” But I can already see the bipolar demon in his eyes. I hope and pray that (if he’s telling the truth and still taking his meds) and stays off the drink he will get through this without the psych ward. He is not listening to anything I say. He asks questions, then answers them himself. I will speak to his psych when I see him and ask to organise an extra appointment with himself and hopefully he (the real psych)will recognise the signs and help him effectively as an out patient. i don’t think there is anything else I can do for him. The last episode 3 years ago knocked the stuffing out of him and took over a year to fully recover. He is in his 50’s and really can’t afford another such episode.

FINE YOUNG MAN INDEED!!!!