Dealing With People Who Have Bipolar Illness

2008-02-18 12:47:29

( Pharmeceutical-Medical )



Characteristics and Symptoms of Bipolar Illness

Bipolar illness is an often misunderstood mental disorder, mainly because its symptoms are so highly similar to mood swings that normal people experience. It may even take years to detect bipolar illness in a person.

The most obvious sign that one has bipolar disorder is the intensity of the mood. Whether or not the bipolar person is at the high or low point of his emotions, the behavior he exhibits lasts too long and may be inappropriate for the surroundings. For instance, he may be laughing too hard at church or feel very suicidal during a party.

Difficulties with Bipolar People

The effects of bipolar disorder are disturbing not only to people who have it but also to the ones they live and work with. If the bipolar person is your spouse, parent or child, you would often have to take the blame and responsibility for any trouble or damage that was caused by the person's mood attacks.

Bipolar people also cause their loved ones to feel ashamed or embarrassed for their drastic actions. You also feel uneasy knowing that your bipolar loved one might decide anytime to take his own life or even harm you due to his deep depression.

Helpful Advice About Bipolar People

While it is not easy to deal with someone who has bipolar illness, you need to understand that it is just like any other critical illness which needs medical supervision.

You need to consult a reliable psychiatrist who specializes in the disorder. Find out all the alternatives you can get and their costs, especially if your loved one needs to be confined in a mental health facility.

If your loved one does not have a serious case of bipolar illness, you should still get him to consult a competent therapist regularly. If this is too expensive, see if you can enrol your loved one in lower cost group therapy sessions. Many religious and academic groups do have these sessions for much less, or even for free.

You will also benefit from attending the group sessions either as an observer or active participant. The sessions will teach you how to cope with manic or depressive stages of the disorder, as well as how to administer first aid and where to find help for extreme situations.

Perhaps the best thing you can do is to acknowledge the existence of the disorder in your loved one and that you are willing to do everything possible to help him or her.


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