Dealing With Bipolar? Discover These Simple Things

Hi, how’s it going for you today? I hope you’re having a great day.

You know, I’ve heard it said, as I’m sure you have too, that it’s the simplest things that can make a big difference. Have you ever thought of that? Too many of us have a way of complicating things, so that we lose the solution in the middle of all the tumult. When it could be that the solution is staring you right in the face. A simple thing.

Some of our greatest inventions are due to a simple idea. Look at the telephone…The lights…

The car…The computer…

They all started with a simple thought, and expanded on that to become a great invention that helps people.

I’m not saying that it is always going to be easy to solve your problems. Some problems seem almost impossible to solve. But let’s take, for instance, that your loved one is in an episode. It’s not hard to see the solution to that problem – they need to get immediate help, or they will get worse. It’s the HOW that is the problem.

If you’re lucky, your loved one will call their own doctor, psychiatrist, and/or therapist for help.

Or, if it is really bad, that they would agree to go to the hospital voluntarily. But if they are not cooperative, you need to come up with another solution. Especially because they need more help than you can give them.

For one couple, this was a simple solution.

The husband was in a bipolar episode, and saying all kinds of strange things (hallucinations and

delusions). He also wasn’t sleeping. The wife was trying to get him to seek help. The problem was, he didn’t want to. So she very patiently talked to him.

She reflected back at him (one of the communication techniques that I teach) the things he was

saying. When he heard them coming out of her mouth, he could see that they weren’t rational. When she pointed out that there really was no one else there (and showed him), he could see that he was hallucinating.

But when she asked him if he was tired…When she pointed out how nice it would be for him to sleep…That’s when he started listening to her. I’m not saying it will be something as easy as “Wouldn’t it be nice to get some sleep?” like it was for this woman.

But I am saying that sometimes it’s the simplest things that help the most.

Well, I have to go!

Your Friend,

Dave

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