I got an email from someone yesterday that asked me about lyingand bipolar disorder. She asked if people with bipolar disorder lie.
First, people who don’t have bipolar disorder lie, as evidencedby a number of people I know
that do not have bipolar disorderand lie all the time.
But seriously, I understand what this person is asking.
Let me tell you what happen to me.
When my mom was really sick, she would say stuff that wasn’ttrue. She said my dad did things to her that he didn’t do.
She said one day he threw a fork at her. He did NOT do this. Howdo I know? I was standing there watching. She said that I saidso many things about her that weren’t even close to the truth.
It use to drive me crazy. I would start spending hours defendingmyself.
You know in my course, I teach, don’t waste your timeon this. If only I knew this before I invested like 50 hours ofmy time telling my mom I didn’t say or do the things she saidthat I was doing and saying.
The bottom line is this is one of the worst symptoms of bipolar disorder. That’s right I believe this is a symptom of the disorder. My mom doesn’t lie, misrepresent the truth, leaveout the facts or whatever you want to call it, when she is stable.
But, I could really tell my mom believed that certain things happenwhen they didn’t. So is that a lie? If you think something happenand really believe it, and you say it happen is that a lie?
Well not really in my book. It’s more like not telling the truth.But hey, I am not a lawyer and don’t play one on TV so whoknows?
I just know that it happens and it’s so difficult to deal with.
I just know that if your loved one is not stable he/she could start imaging things, or saying things that are not the truth.
I’ve heard horror stories from people that have gotten into BIG trouble because a loved one said something was done thatreally wasn’t but “the authorities” thought it was.
You know, when I first had my course up, I didn’t really have a lot about lying and bipolar disorder. Then peoplestarted asking me for information on what to do about the lying.
If you got my course at http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11you notice that: FREE Gift #9 is “The Pattern Of Lying In Bipolar Disorder.”
In this report, I outline a strategy that I use to deal with thelies that come from bipolar disorder. I truly have an entiremini system of dealing with lies from bipolar disorder and fixingor cleaning them up.
I had to use the techniques myself because my mom wound up saying so many things that were not true that created huge problems for me.
Actually just thinking about it starts making me sick.
That report does NOT however explain why a person with bipolardisorder who is unstable may lie. I have yet to find someonewho can tell me this.
I was so confused about this issue, I have asked severaldoctors over the years why this happens.
NONE have given me an answer.
Actually now that I think about it, tonight or tomorrow I am meetingwith a $650 a hour doctor so I might as well ask him this question again. (I say tonight or tomorrow because I forgetif the meeting is today or tomorrow, I have to check the olddaily planner.) Nevertheless, if he’s getting $650.00 an hour, you would think he would know right???
Well I have to run. I will report back to you later on what he says.
Your Friend,
Dave
Why do bipolars lie? I guess I should ask, is it a lie if we are convinced it is the truth? I’ll give you a couple of examples from my own life.
Example 1: I bounced about 8 checks, but I wasn’t worried because I had the money in savings to cover it. The bank pulled out the money, but charged me $25 each time. I screamed and swore at the bank teller and accused the bank of negligence and stealing my money. My husband dragged me out of there before I could embarrass him further. Was this charge for moving funds clearly stated in my bank paperwork? Yes. Did I bother to read it? No. Was the bank negligent? Well, I still think the charge is a rip-off, but I was the one who chose to use that bank, and I was the one responsible for finding out about the hidden fees. It didn’t matter. When you’re manic, you’re God. You can do whatever you want with no consequences, and anyone who gets in your way is a criminal or worse.
Example 2: I had 2 wisdom teeth that my dentist told me needed to be pulled, even though they were only partway through the gumline. I accused him of making it up just so he could get my money. This time my mom dragged me out of there. Did I know I had those wisdom teeth? Yes. Did they need to be extracted? Yes. But once again, I was God. I read his mind, and he was just a greedy S.O.B. who wanted to rob me blind. Soon after this, I was diagnosed with bipolar II. I went back to the dentist, told him about this, apologized, and had the teeth taken out.
These are pretty embarrassing examples, but I think they illustrate what I’m getting at. There’s a whole other reality in your mind when you’re manic. You’re all powerful, you can do whatever you want whenever you want to whoever you want, you can read everybody else’s mind and see what they “really” mean which supersedes what they actually said, and you’re more in control than you’ve ever been in your life. To call this lying is like calling a skull-shattering concussion a little bump on the head. It supersedes lying; it’s a psychotic break with reality. Does that clear it up for you?
haha the comment marae made is halarious examples of what us Bipolars do when were manic! I once accused my husband of not going to my brother’s funeral with me! He was surprised and said he did attend with me but I flat out believed he was not there with me! When I did think it thoughrouly through he did attend with me! Did I believe my lie? Yes I did! That is the mania taking over completely! The thing is Bipolars do believe their lies until somebody brings it to lght!
I want to know if ADHD and Bipolor has anything in common a friend of mine has bipolor and his daughter was diegnosed with ADHD I have read your comments on bipolor saying people tell things that don’t happen to them and I wonder if my friends daughter has done that she’s 8 years old is she too young to be tested for bipolor she told something on her step granpa that he touched her but that was never proven because it was never investigated it was turned over to the police but they never did anything obviously they didn’t believe anything happened please let me know if there is any simularities with ADHD and Bipolor? thanks Jane