Hi,<\/p>\n
How are you today? I hope you’re doing fine.<\/p>\n
Let me ask you a question: What is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do?<\/p>\n
I asked this question to a woman one time, and she said, “To give birth to twins, before they<\/p>\n
gave you anesthetic!” LOL I certainly didn’t expect that answer!<\/p>\n
I asked a man one time, and he told me it was to build his home with his bare hands. I thought that was admirable.<\/p>\n
I’ve gotten answers such as:<\/p>\n
\u2022\tTo watch my mother die slowly of breast cancer.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tTo raise 3 children all by myself.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tTo go back to college at age 35.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tTo get divorced after 30 years of marriage.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tTo forgive my husband for having an affair.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tTo start my own business and make a success of it.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tTo start over after having been homeless for 2 years.<\/p>\n
Wow. Some pretty serious answers, don’t you think? But some pretty great success stories, too!<\/p>\n
Some people have accomplished some pretty hard things!<\/p>\n
And so I asked you: What is the hardest thing you have ever had to do?<\/p>\n
Now, compare it to this.<\/p>\n
This may not seem like much to you, but for someone with bipolar disorder\u2026<\/p>\n
Did you know that, in a bipolar depressive episode, the hardest thing for them to do sometimes<\/p>\n
is just to get out of bed? It can be.<\/p>\n
If you are a supporter to a loved one with bipolar disorder, you may have had to deal with this very situation. And it may have been hard for you to relate to. Because for you, getting out of bed may be no big deal. But when a person with the disorder is in a depressive episode, they can<\/p>\n
feel so overwhelmed, that just the simple act of getting out of bed can be something that they just cannot face.<\/p>\n
I know a woman who was in a bipolar depressive episode so severe one time that she spent an entire week in bed, so overcome with sadness and despair that she couldn’t even get out of that bed, no matter how much she knew that she should.<\/p>\n
That’s how much an episode can take control of them. It can be very frustrating and disconcerting for a supporter to watch, when their loved one gets that bad. It can be very hard to understand as well, but it is part of the disorder.<\/p>\n
Obviously, it is imperative that your loved one get out of bed, or they will just get worse. But how? Either they or you need to contact their doctor for help. If you can’t get them to see their doctor, you need to at least get hold of them on the phone and tell them what’s going on.<\/p>\n
The doctor may be able to prescribe something over the phone or increase their medication so that they are able to improve and get out of bed. Bipolar depressive episodes, as bad as they can be, can pass, but not without help.<\/p>\n
Well, I have to go!<\/p>\n
Your Friend,<\/p>\n
Dave<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hi,<\/p>\n
How are you today? I hope you’re doing fine.<\/p>\n
Let me ask you a question: What is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do?<\/p>\n
I asked this question to a woman one time, and she said, “To give birth to twins, before they<\/p>\n
gave you anesthetic!” LOL I certainly didn’t expect that answer!<\/p>\n
I asked a man one time, and he told me it was to build his home with his bare hands.<\/p>\n