Hi,
Do you remember back in school… There were some things that were easy to learn… And you understood them very easily. But there were other things that were harder to learn… And you didn’t understand them as easily?
It’s the same thing as you get older. As you learn new things, some things are easier to learn than others. Some things are easier to understand and some things are harder to understand. Especially when it comes to bipolar disorder.
But sometimes it isn’t easy. You may even try to be understanding and have it backfire on you.
For example, you may tell your loved one, “I understand how you feel.” And your loved one may get angry with you and say something like, “How can you say that? There’s no way you can understand how I feel, because you don’t have bipolar disorder!”
And that may be frustrating for you, because you’re trying your best to be understanding. But the fact is that you’re not always going to be able to understand everything when it comes to your loved one, because you don’t have bipolar disorder. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to be understanding, though.
If your loved one has bipolar disorder, things are sometimes going to be very difficult for them.
And they will look to you to be understanding of them. Whether that is easy or hard for you,
it is something that they will expect from you.
Like I said, some things will be easy for you to understand, but other things will be harder. For example, it may be easy for you to understand that it’s frustrating for them to have to take medication every day. But it may be harder to understand how they cannot control their mood swings. Especially if they are the type of person who likes to be in control.
Because the mood swings associated with bipolar disorder are not always easy to control, so this can be frustrating for your loved one, and they will need understanding from you with this.
Another thing they will need understanding from you about is their anger. That’s another thing they may not always be able to control. They may want to be in control of it, but may find that they’ll be feeling fine one minute, but the next minute they are fighting with you for no reason at all, and it can be frustrating for them (as well as for you). So they need you to be understanding of this as well.
But the thing they need you to be the most understanding of is when they go into bipolar episodes. Especially since this is something that is usually beyond their control. They may have done everything they know to do to keep from going into a bipolar episode, yet find themselves
in one anyway, and this can be totally frustrating for them. So they will need you to be very
understanding of this.
It takes more patience and grace to be understanding when your loved one goes into a bipolar episode than it does for most of the other things associated with the disorder.
Well, I have to go!
Your Friend,
Dave