Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Bipolar seems to be an inherited thing.
I did know a man who was bipolar and had 2 sons who were also afflicted.
I haven't watched this video, but this Dr. usually has very good info. Do take a look.
I'm also bp2. I hit mainly the depressive side, with notable slips into manic. At least when I was on meds it worked out this way. I only absorb some uncertain portion of meds so its a toss up if the effect was as I took none to too much. I've redone my approach, using suppliments (especially magnisium and D2) and being more aware of things starting and cutting them off before they get bad. But while type 2 *sounds* easier, its not. The shifts and moods can be very fluid, or on the edge, feeling any time you might fall off that cliff, somewhere in the twilight zone inbetween. After the huge strain got removed from life, and a little security, I can still feel the space inbetween, but its not so prolonged. But mostly I took myself away from all the old triggers. I rarely see people mention triggers, but sometimes, even *often* its those triggers which catch a fairly ok mood and sink it. Most of us with some sort of bipolar have them ready to leap out and catch you. I can barely put some into words. But I've learned to be aware of the first signs of a 'shift' and can at least minimize them. But when I get 'quiet' it generally means I just want to be left alone.
Living alone has been this wonderful things for me since minus those triggers I feel like a much stronger me.
I have a question. You say that your moods are fluid. Is it possible to say or do something in the moment that you just didn't mean? Even after my ex moved away, we kept in regular contact and she would frequently tell me how unhappy she was being back home. But the last time I talked her, she said she was comfortable there. Do you think maybe those times she told me she was miserable, it was just a mood swing and that she was saying something she didn't really mean?
I have a question. You say that your moods are fluid. Is it possible to say or do something in the moment that you just didn't mean? Even after my ex moved away, we kept in regular contact and she would frequently tell me how unhappy she was being back home. But the last time I talked her, she said she was comfortable there. Do you think maybe those times she told me she was miserable, it was just a mood swing and that she was saying something she didn't really mean?
It's not so much saying something you don't mean as the shifting/flowing perception of a situation with me. There were times I really felt alone, and more than anything wanted to go back to socal and find my old friends. And fandom, where I do feel like I'm with family. I just wanted to be with people like me. But I couldn't afford it there and couldn't go most of these places because I didn't have a way to get there. And when I gave up fighting the fight I'd always lose, I started to see that I had found things here I do love, and as time goes on, more and more I value them. Life's a gamble, and a compromise. When you can accept that, then you can find satisfaction in ways and places that you hadn't looked.
It's entirely possible your ex had let go of the unhappiness, and given the place a chance. And when you leave home, and then come back, its easy to feel its not quite home anymore. Even if the house is the same, and the people are all there, they've changed too. You can be even lonlier that way, missing things which have already changed. But if you stick it out and try, sometimes, not *always* but sometimes, you find new things and renew the relationship with the people you knew as they are now.
This last summer, my son and his wife came out to visit. He was looking for a house, and her mother lives with them and was to continue to, and he thought it would be cool if they could find a place nearby for me too. This would be in a different state. It was actually very tempting. But I started looking around at this house and what I have with new eyes. It felt like MY house, walls my color, layout set up for my comfort. And its small. I really liked the idea of being closer to him, but then he's just starting his working life, and going to school at the same time, and he and the wife were both busy. Unless I wanted to live with them, which I didn't, it would be now and then. And he was expanding his classes so there would be less chance.
And suddenly my house, with its large beautiful row of trees, and the possibilities I hadn't done anything with seemed a lot more cherished. Yes, maybe later, when they aren't in a hurry and I could find a spot near but not with them. But his life is also too unpredictable right now. He's going after his degree, now working nights, and barely sees my daughter in law. When the system he's working on is done it will be easier, but I'm very proud of him and how he knows what he wants, and is seeking it out.
I think its harder to go *back* to a place with memories and try to fit in again than it is to go to a brand new place. You have the memories and expectations. New places are something of an unknown. Both can be hard if mood swings get triggered by the situation, but you aren't used to the new, and its harder to deal with how people you cherish aren't quite the same. The unhappiness is real though. The bp can just send it to deeper depths.
If she's comfortable now, she's found a way to let go and accept the now. And you don't have to be bipolar to have a hard time accepting. That's the thing with moving on, and embrasing new experience. You have to choose to take the chance. That's the first step beyond comfort. And you have to close a door and open a new one. And that's scarey. With bp it can be harder, but it sounds like she has opened the new one and is really home now.
I have a friend that lives with me that has Bi-polar and now after a year it's getting to the point of not getting along with her. She has lost all her family because of her bi-polar condition and she is now going to lose me as a friend. At first she wanted me to contact her family so she could get back in with them but that never happened and now she blaming me for contacting them. She's forget's everything for some reason.
I have a friend that lives with me that has Bi-polar and now after a year it's getting to the point of not getting along with her. She has lost all her family because of her bi-polar condition and she is now going to lose me as a friend. At first she wanted me to contact her family so she could get back in with them but that never happened and now she blaming me for contacting them. She's forget's everything for some reason.
Yep, living around or allowing a bipolar person to be in your life is usually draining at best. I mean, this doesn't mean they are bad people - it just means that they seem to try to force others to dance to their tune which doesn't make sense to most of us.
Yep, living around or allowing a bipolar person to be in your life is usually draining at best. I mean, this doesn't mean they are bad people - it just means that they seem to try to force others to dance to their tune which doesn't make sense to most of us.
My wife, who was bipolar type 2 never, ever did that, nor did I ever feel drained. You have to remember, we're all individuals. There is no "one size fits all." I tried my best to eliminate, avoid or cushion "triggers" for depressions in her life and it was not hard work or even demanding because I did so out of love for her and, miracle of miracles, it usually worked very well and that brought me comfort, not stress.
How can I love this friend when she just walks off for know reason without telling me where she's going and doesn't even take the time to call me. Then she will just return a day or so later. She also likes taking trips to other states for no reason and then returns in a day or so she has told me. I think it's something to do with her bi-polar. She here lately wants to die but then want's to live also. Back and forth every day. Her children has told me she would tell them she want's to die every week when they was growing up.
Yep, living around or allowing a bipolar person to be in your life is usually draining at best. I mean, this doesn't mean they are bad people - it just means that they seem to try to force others to dance to their tune which doesn't make sense to most of us.
Her doctor's have told her she needs to live alone because of her bi-polar.
Her doctor's have told her she needs to live alone because of her bi-polar.
I'm type 2, and after living with the boyfriend, renting, living with husband, roommates, etc, I now live just with pets. I don't live alone since my cats keep my lap busy and the dogs follow me around so they can stay near. The other thing is, if I'm not sleepy and I just want to stay up until I am, nobody gets bothered. It also makes the triggers easy to see. And its an environment you can control.
Being 'on my own' has been a blessing since I have control of my space, but also since I have learned the internal clues that something is coming. Some quiet, some distraction, or something I just need to do can fend it off before it starts. I live in a kind of constant 'watch' mode, but I'm very sensitive to small clues I have a down on the way.
Type 1 is very different. It can flip without warning, and wipes out self will, and perception of danger. Sometimes people seek it since its so intense, and don't want it to stop. Some meds work okay with lower levels, if they take them, but not with an all out high. When they come down, they crash. Type 2 has smaller, more gradual ups and downs, and even without meds, that you control your space can smooth things out. Control means a greater sense of security. The rational mind is running interferance. Having your own space means you can deal with it in your own way. Maybe you read a favorite book, watch a movie, make brownies and eat half of them before they get cold. Whatever works. But you can. Type one is so absolute that there is no 'inbetween'.
Sadly, most of the type 1 people I knew fixed things with street drugs. One woman was seen getting on a city bus looking stoned out on meth. She took a sack full of meds, when she took them, but it didn't stop the highs, or the drops. Meth probably felt better.
The woman in this post might do well living alone, but if she is type 1, her doctor needs to amend the reccomendation too. Just living alone won't help. She needs to be checked on. Type 1 bp episodes can be very risky. Nobody can make her do as she needs, only she can decide to. but someone needs to be checking in case she really needs help if things spiral out of control.
I'm type 2, and have found sans meds my calm place, but sometimes I do feel like an alien among all the 'normal' people. But I know its okay to be 'different' even if some don't agree. And there are places, like fandom, where I am at home. I've heard that a lot of creative people are bp, probably 2. I think that it also matters that those who follow a little different path shouldn't feel they have to be 'fixed' if they are not self destructive.
It is refreshing that BP is actually talked about now, but the attitude seen even here that if one is, just stay away isn't going to help anyone and if one IS having trouble, may make it less likely to get help.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
