Why Do You Stay in Your Bipolar Relationship?
Husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends of partners with bipolar disorder are the overlooked and underserved mental illness support network of the Bipolar treatment world. Why do you stay in your bipolar relationship?
First, we are never secure about our own emotional needs. Are they more or less important the needs of our mentally ill spouse? If we choose to take care of our own needs first, we often suffer, then punish ourselves with guilt, then get angry toward our sick partner that he or she has caused us such misery.
But if we choose to put our partner s emotional, physical and mental health needs ahead of ours after all, he s the sick one our quality of life diminishes.
...flaw or personal weakness. It is not caused by anything you or anyone else did. It is a genetic disorder.Though it may not show up till many years later. 7.Do Not demand that your friend or family member "snap out ...
Second, husbands and wives are alone in coping with our spouses Bipolar Disorder (also known as Manic Depression). Besides managing doctor visits, medications, decisions on whether to hospitalize or not, well partners must fight for our relationships. The line between partner and caregiver is thin and often non-existent. It can make for a lonely and often devastating life.
You cannot share your feelings with your partner; he s the sick one and the cause of your distress! Your parents are empty nesters; you can t burden them with your problems. Your siblings have their own families to worry about. Unless mental illness runs in your friends families, they
...your depressed partner.One group, The Depression and Bi-Polar Support Alliance (DBSA), sponsors numerous in-person meetings and also provides an on-line support group for people with depression or bipolar disorder, as well as separate groups for friends and family members. You ...
The pressure on us from friends, family and professionals is unrelenting. Those who ask, Why do you stay in your relationship? are not supportive. And neither are the ones that imply that it s your duty to stay married to your bipolar husband or wife. Bipolar disorder runs roughshod over relationships. The divorce rate is three times higher in these marriages than in the general population.
In my personal story, when I did find a spousal support group, there was one man (divorced) and 16 women. A third of the women s
...you live in the US and suffer from social anxiety disorder then you might wish to contact Social Phobics Anonymous (SPA), which runs free 12-step support groups for people who suffer from social phobia, social anxiety disorder, shyness problems or ...
The last third were widows their bipolar husbands had committed suicide. (The suicide rate for bipolar disorder is 12 times higher than the normal population.) Everyone in the support group thought I was in denial for having a goal to stay married.
Why do you stay in your bipolar relationship?
Elizabeth Atlas is the author of Married To Mania, a book that helps spouses and
...not occurred. Occasionally man made events can be preventive but by and large the event phase is inevitable. Immediately following the event begins the response phase. It is this acute period that determines whether an event becomes a disaster. Disaster ...