Hi,

I was watching an episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos the other night, and they showed this one video about a kid who got angry. He had built this big building with colored blocks, and it was really high…But then he got mad…And kicked it!

Then the whole thing toppled, and it was like in slow motion, and the whole thing came crashing down on top of him, and he ran crying to his mother, like it was the building’s fault! Like he just couldn’t figure out what had happened!

Well…You’re not a toddler any more. But you know…There are situations where you still might find yourself wondering why you’re sitting in the middle of a bunch of “colored building blocks”
because of your anger.

Anger can cause us to do things that we later regret. I’m sure that’s happened in your loved one’s case with their bipolar disorder.

Anger and rage are symptoms of a bipolar manic episode, and something that you should look out for. Especially if it becomes a pattern in your loved one.

Anger is an emotion. A reaction to something. Something you don’t like. Something that, say, rubs you the wrong way. Something that hurts you. Especially if it’s been going on for awhile.
And especially if you have no control over it.

That’s when we usually react the hardest. Like you may get angry over your loved one’s bipolar behavior. You may not like what they do. So it makes you feel helpless. And this might make you angry. It might even make you angry at them.

So what do you do with this anger? Do you fight with them? That’s what usually happens when the supporter gets angry at their loved one with bipolar disorder.

The problem is that it’s easy for that to happen in too many cases. Worse yet is when you stuff that anger and it turns into resentment. Because that can actually make you physically sick.

It can cause you to have stomach problems like even have ulcers. It can cause you to have an increase of headaches, or even have migraines. It can cause you to have body aches. It can cause a whole host of problems.

And if you’re not careful…The stress can build up to such a degree that you are even in danger of having a heart attack or even a stroke.

So what’s the answer? It’s simple: Stop being angry.

Now, I didn’t say it would be easy. I just said it was simple.

Just ask yourself if it’s worth getting sick over just to hold onto all that anger, and you’ll see that
the answer is definitely NO! Then choose to put your anger (and stress) away and to talk to your loved one instead. Tell them about the behavior that makes you so angry, and ask them to work on changing it.

Well, I have to go!

Your Friend,

Dave