Hi,

Many people are into WWE wrestling. It’s one of the biggest watched shows on TV right now.

You may or may not watch it, but if you do, you’ve probably heard of one wrestler called John Cena.

Well, in case you haven’t, let me tell you about him. There are good guys and bad guys in wrestling, and John Cena is one of the good guys – kids love this guy, and he is a great role model for them.

Well, there is this group called the Nexus that is all bad guys, and there was a match where John Cena had to fight one of the guys in the Nexus, and if he lost, he had to become a part of the Nexus – In other words, if he lost this match, he would have to become a bad guy.

Well, he lost. And as much as he didn’t want to, he had to become a bad guy.

So how does this relate to bipolar disorder? Well, sometimes as a bipolar supporter, you have to be the bad guy, no matter how much you don’t want to be. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t necessarily want to do for the sake of your loved one.

You want to be the good guy all the time (we all do, naturally), but sometimes you have to come off as being the bad guy.

Just like when your children were little and you had to discipline them. You didn’t want to spank them, or to yell at them or to be the bad guy, but you had to, so they would learn that there are right things to do and wrong things to do, and that there are consequences for doing wrong things.

It’s the same way with bipolar disorder. If your loved one crosses a line with their bipolar disorder, they need to learn that there are consequences to their actions and their behavior, and they can’t just get away with doing anything they want.

They need to learn to accept responsibility for their actions and their behavior like when they are in episodes. Especially when there are legal and/or financial consequences to be paid for those actions and behaviors. And sometimes you have to be the bad guy and enforce those consequences.

It wouldn’t be fair to you to pay the consequences for your loved one’s actions and behaviors when they were in an episode, even if you wanted to – they really should pay their own consequences. It’s part of learning how to manage their own bipolar disorder.

If you do it for them, you are enabling them, or bailing them out, which isn’t good for either of you. If you enable your loved one too often, they will never take responsibility for their

own actions and behavior, and they will never get better.

So sometimes you do have to play the bad guy, especially in the area of getting them to take responsibility for their own actions and behavior. After all, you do want them to get better,

but they won’t do it any other way. And they definitely won’t do it if you keep enabling them (being the good guy).

You may not like being the bad guy, but sometimes it’s just the best thing for your loved one.

For example, you may have to remind them to take their medication. You may think it comes off as being nagging and not the nice guy you want to be, but it is really helping them to be compliant, and could even be saving their life!

So, even though you may not like being the bad guy sometimes, in the long run, it could be the best thing for your loved one, and could even be saving their life.

Well, I have to go!

Your Friend,

Dave