==>>Help with ALL aspects of bipolar disorder<<==
Check out all my resources, programs and information
for all aspects of bipolar disorder by visiting:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp
Hi,
How’s it going? Today I wanted
to write about something that’s pretty
darn sad.
Since bipolar disorder is a mood disorder,
it affects a person’s moods and if a person
is not under the right treatment plan, he/she
can do and say absolutely crazy things.
I have the absolute craziest story. Okay
there is a person on my list that has
bipolar disorder. I know her because I have
spoken to her on the phone several times.
She actually joined my list a really long
time ago and it was at a time that many people
had my phone number. Anyway this lady is not
really a believer in medication.
As a result of her beliefs, her life is in
contact turmoil. Yesterday I get an email
from her demanding that I refund her money
on something that she got from you.
THERE’S ONLY ONE PROBLEM.
She never bought a thing from me. She is even
asking for an amount back from me that doesn’t
even correspond to what I sell. It’s even for
an item that is in know way connected to me.
I tried to explain this to her and she totally
freaked out on me. It was really annoying I
must say.
I decided to simply let her go and she has called
and called demanding money or she will report
me to the police, state senator, attorney
general, “the government” and the BBB.
Here’s the thing. Well I have a few things to
say:
TO THOSE WHO ARE SUPPORTERS
You have to realize that bipolar disorder is a mood
disorder and a person can do and say things that is
not normally what they will do or say. So if
you are supporting someone that has bipolar disorder
and he/she decided to say or do something really mean
to you it’s because they aren’t under the right treatment
plan.
Many people spend days and weeks trying to figure out
why a loved one said the meanest and cruelest things
to them.
Just look at the lady in my story. She wants money
back for a product that I don’t even sell and she
didn’t even order from me. This is the type of
abnormal behavior that a person who is not
under the right treatment plan can exhibit.
It’s not just her either. Since I have 100,000
or so people on my list, I get a whole lot of
people saying and doing a whole lot of “crazy”
things.
Anyway, the key is understanding that a person not
under the right treatment plan. This is NOT and I
repeat NOT all people with bipolar disorder. Generally
the ones on no bipolar medication or the wrong
bipolar medication.
It’s easy to forget this so that’s why I am
sending a reminder :).
And one more reminder. Don’t sit and try
to figure out why someone who is not
stable says mean things to you. You didn’t
do anything. That’s the nature of the illness.
SUPPORTING AN ADULT WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11
SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarparenting.com
HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.survivebipolar.net
TO THE PEOPLE WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER
There’s a good reason to see the doctor
when you are suppose to, to take your medication
how you are suppose to and to do the things
that are in your bipolar stability equation.
The first reason is to do it for yourself.
If you don’t want to do it for yourself,
then the second reason is so that you don’t
do and say things that are hurtful to others.
So if you are thinking about not doing the
right thing with your treatment, if you don’t
do it for yourself, do it for others.
Remember if you have bipolar disorder and
don’t follow what your “good” doctor tells
you to do with your treatment plan, then
you are bound to hurt the ones around you.
If my mom got off her medication or even
didn’t follow what her doctors says, she would
hurt her mother, sister, my father, me, people
at work so on and so forth for sure. She 100%
realizes this and this is a motivating factor
for her to do the right thing each day–according
to what she tells me.
There are people on my list that make absolute
total fools out of themselves because they
don’t take their bipolar disorder seriously
and don’t do what they are suppose to.
I show my mom some of the emails sent or
the voicemails left and she says she is
ashamed or embarrassed. I quickly reminder
her that for every person that makes a total
fool out of themselves, there are people
doing great things with bipolar disorder.
On the other hand, I just shake my head at the people
who don’t follow what they are suppose to and think
there is NO excuse for them. There is NO
excuse for someone who has bipolar disorder,
knows it, and knows exactly what they have to do
to be stable and don’t do it. These are the people
that these days, judges in courts are “throwing
the book” at and they should.
Anyway, hopefully this story will motivate the people
on my list with bipolar disorder that aren’t taking
their medication or listening to their doctor to
do so.
Your Friend,
Dave
P.S. Don’t forget to take a look through the
different programs I’ve put together… each one is designed
to help you with a different area of bipolar disorder whether
you have it or you are supporting someone with it.
You can see them all and get the details by visiting:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp
P.P.S. Check out my F.ree blog with copies of emails
that I have sent in the past and lots of great
information for you:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/supporterblog/
P.P.P.S Check out my F.ree podcast. Hear me give
mini seminars designed to teach you information
you can’t learn anywhere else.
http://bipolarcentral.libsyn.com
Actually, there is a reason people with bipolar disorder don’t do what they’re supposed to do. About half of them have lack of insight. If they don’t understand they’re sick, how can we expect them to do what the doctor says? Another reason is so many of these people get sick when they’re young. My daughter is one of those people. She spent her 21st birthday in a mental hospital. How sad is that? She’s doing so much better now though. We thought she had lack of insight for the longest time but she’s coming around to understanding she needs to listen to her doctor. So some people need to hit bottom, others just don’t understand they’re sick. I don’t think throwing the book at an ill person is the answer though. That’s just my two cents worth.
WOW!It’s like your’e in my head or life. My God, all his nastiness, the horrible things he says and a few minutes later acts like nothing happened and then gets incredably angry if I try to talk to him about it.I have given up. He’s just too cruel to take and acts like nothings wrong with him, it’s me! I’m staying because of the kid and trying to hang on. This blog really spoke to me –Thank you, I’m glad I found you.
I read the story and it all sounds familiar to me. I have bene through 3 serious psychoses with my fiance and it’s true that one cannot believe the cruelty that a person in that state is capable of. I mean verbal cruelty. Thank goodness the good days outweigh the bad, and he is committed to taking meds and i monitor them daily. With this monitoring and working as a team, we have had stunning results. Thanks Dave for the daily newsletter. it helps me to remember i am not a lone bipolar supporter. the supporter needs support too. I thankfully have the most amazingly supportive friends who have been able to pick me up when i needed it. thanks again!
I did and do that a lot. I am not medicated yet.
DAVID: I HAVE BEEN SO HESITANT TO COMMENT TO ANY OF YOUR POSTINGS…..BUT..TODAY..A YEAR AGO…THE 23 OF AUGUST..MY DAUGHTER,MY ONLY CHILD, COMMITTED SUICIDE! SHE HUNG HERSELF! SHE HAD STOPPED TAKING HER MEDS!! APRIL132006,GET ON THE MEDS,NOW! ALTHOUGH I HAVE NOT RESPONDED TO ANY OF YOUR LESSONS,I HAVE REALLY BEEN AMAZED AT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE BELIEVE ABOUT BEING BIPOLAR. WHEN IT GETS SO BAD THE SEIZURES TAKE OVER YOUR CHILDS LIFE AND ALSO TAKES OVER YOUR OWN, YOU SEARCH & SEARCH FOR AN ANSWER. I RESPECTFULLY BELIEVE THAT THERE IS NOT..NOT..NOT…AN ANSWER. AND, I ALSO KNOW THAT I NEED THERAPY BAD…BUT WHERE> SURVIVORS OF SUICIDE IS NO HELP…NO ONE IN MY AREA HAS LOST A CHILD!!!!TO SUCH A NASTY,NASTY, DISORDER!!SHE WAS JUST CRAZY!
Today’s newsletter is AWESOME – thanks! I just wish I’d had read this years ago when my husband told me to leave – and I left. Later I found out that he didn’t know what he was saying and didn’t know why I left. Anyway, that’s what he says and I know he was manic at the time. Wish I would have known that then.
He’s on medication now and has cycled so that he is more in depression now that he is older. I’m bipolar too and as I get older the more I cycle towards the mania – at least now I know what it was like for him all those years he suffered – we suffered.
thx for the daily emails… ill comment more later…just good to have these to forward to my family so they can better understand me..
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Thank you for the insight. It’s been a long hard road with my bp partner & although I’ll never understand the cruel things he’s said & done I’m trying.
Your emails seem to come at just the right time, you helped me to be strong enough to push him to get help & he’s in hospital now, slowly getting better. He told me to have faith & that he could deal with it but he couldn’t. Your emails convinced me to step in & do it for him. I know one day he’ll thank me.
Thank you for all the valuable information Dave, it’s given me great strength & comfort 🙂
Thank You, my meds are important to my recovery. Without them my family would suffer, so would I.
when these bi polar people go off on others and get them in trouble
Why doesn’t the law help the innocent?? I’ve been thru hell because my exwife is bipolar and has decided to make my life a living hell , 6 years out of our marriage she accuses me of writing letters to her daughter , who I adopted and who lives with this monster , and now is acting like her mother , I’ve been to jail for nothing , just because she said I wrote letters to our daughter and she says I touched our daughter
she had no proof and the judge takes the side of the female every time so this bipolar woman has been empowered to go on and destroy her childrens life right along with mine , even the kids threatened to have her committed
I feel so sorry for them having to live with this shrieking screaming
crazy woman, at least I’m away from the mess , I’m now remarried
living in fear of the next attack from her [WHAT NEXT]??????????
Just breaking up with a guy who is not taking medication for being mildly biopolar, he has alot of anger issues and constantly critisises others in a nasty way. He provokes fights because of the way he verbally attacks others and has now been beaten up for the third time. TO him everyone else has a drink problem, or a mental problem. In fact in reality he does not have the ability to see that it is himself who has the problem. Rather than having grandioso ideas,which he feels is the definition of bipolarity, he is highly egocentrical. Tried my best to support him but too hard to do when you are being used as an emotional punchbag. This latest attack will leave him with a large facial scar, which is very sad. When in a good mood he is wonderful,witty and great company- and highly intelligent. Cognitive therapy was recommended but I hope his depression/bipolarity? is properly treated otherwise he will never be happy or achieve the great potential he is capable of.
Once again you are speaking the truth, David. I am bipolar and my fiance’s sister, who lives with us, is also bipolar. My fiance is starting to understand the condition a little better, thanks to your articles. We still get on his nerves A LOT but he understands why a lot better now. Thanks so much, David, for everything. You may be saving my relationship. :0)
When my partner was going thru a really bad episode after the death of his dad, I found your site. Your daily emails are of great help to me. My partner is currently well and working full time. I have learned to watch for the signs and your emails help me a great deal. Thank you.
Thank you so much Dave for being here for us supporters as well as the victims of bipolar. I am sure I would have gone crazy with worry by now if it had not been for your letters coming to my inbox. My daughter has refused meds for a long time, tonight she called me after she had destroyed her house, and decided to call a friend to take her to the hospital for meds. I thank God and your letters, (as I know she gets them too) for giving her the courage to finally get some meds. God Bless you and all your work, you are a wonderful man, helping your Mom and all the rest of us. You have a God given gift in helping us.
I have been receiving your newsletter for about a month. I was looking on the net for BP info. My spouse and some other family members are BP I am sure but the family has never admitted this only that they are very difficult. They are functioning and hold down full time job over achievers. But most people avoid them if possible because you never know when they will lash out at you, very negative, my spouse drinks daily
I wonder about the effects of this on BP disorder. I see no way to get them to a Doctor or treatment since they are functioning.
The problem some bipolars have (myself included) IS what was mentioned in the blog: a lack of insight. Right now, I don’t THINK I’m borderline manic; I have been sleep-deprived for several weeks now (through choice, not through insomnia),and am functioning so much better than when I get 9-12 hours of sleep a night. The only side effect, if you can call it that, is a lack of feeling, or having “blank affect.”
When I pull an all-nighter (like tonight), I sustain myself with coffee and tea, and sometimes take a painkiller, that perks me up even more. Does this sound like someone “in trouble?”
If I don’t stay up all night (or get up at 4 in the morning), I can’t get all my emails done (some of my income is in doing surveys over the Internet for cash), the laundry doesn’t get done, I don’t do the grocery shopping, and everything comes to a stand-still.
I take my Depakote at Midnight, but not my antipsychotic, which would surely put me to sleep. I WILL take my morning meds, however, and shower and have breakfast.
My psychoanalyst is on vacation until after Labor Day, and I don’t see my psychiatrist for two weeks. I don’t FEEL “crazy,” and don’t say hurtful things to people, nor do I make late-night phone calls to friends, like I used to do in a manic episode. I show NO signs of hypomania, either. I just feel – nothing. I am NOT depressed. The lack of insight also produces contradictions in my behavior; I can say I function better on little sleep, but actually, being sleep-deprived is probably contributing to some bad social behavior – like smoking too much, and “wigging out” on morphine.
I say ALL of the above in the hopes it can help another bipolar out there understand what a lack of insight CAN do to our personalities. We rely on our supporters to recognize aberrant behavior, and get us some HELP when we absolutely need it. I don’t need outside help NOW, but if I continue to get little sleep, it COULD lead to something worse…
God bless you, Dave, for your INSIGHTFUL emails and course. The opportunity to share on your blog page takes the place of complaining to those who DON’T understand.
following up on my daughter going to the hospital. well, it did not go well, as the doctor told her she is NOT bipolar, and that she is just having marital problems. what a loser! now she is really screwed up. she wants to die. I cant wait to get her phychiatrit’s report as soon as I can get her in, just to take it to him, and rub it under his nose, and kick is butt. He has no idea what he did to my girl tonight. Talk about being MISDIAGNOSED!!!!!!
Don’t forget through all of this that a lot of people WITHOUT bipolar disorder say and do hurtful things…we all make mistakes and we all need forgiveness. What anyone with bipolar needs is to be seeing a well-qualified professional who provides insight into behaviour patterns without judgement. If you get this (as I did) you become far more willing to accept your diagnosis and stay on your meds.
Hi Dave
Just a quick note to thank you so very much, without your daily emails I may not be sitting where I am today! I have bipolar disorder and it sure has been a rough go but I have a great doctor and I follow his directions to a “T” with your help I now know just how important that is!! I Live in Vancouver, Canada where a fellow was recently shot by police it turns out he was bipolar and had been going through treatment for 20 years or so but one day his illness took over and he became very violent, the police had no idea, my heart goes out to his family and friends and to the officer that really had no choice but to shoot. HAD THEY ONLY KNOWN!!! I made sure that my daughter and friends read the article and asked them to PLEASE inform the police of my illness should they ever have to call on my behalf ( I hope that will never happen but one must be prepared!!!)Well this is a bit longer than I had intended but I just wanted to say Thank you Dave for everything you do!!!! You are a life saver!!!