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my mom and dealing with her disorder
okay for a while now my moms mental health had been droppin drastically...dillusions and constant mood swings and tons of other sypmtoms that go with bi-polar disorder. today she went in and explained to the doctor what was happening to her...after we all told her we thought she was bi polar she wanted to go see for herself. Well as we all thought she is bi polar and she has been put on medication...but we as a family really don't know how to deal with this. She will be on medication to help her but things seem different now that we truly now what is wrong. What can we as a family do to help support her in the drastic change in our lives?
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Maybe give some free advice about: Mental health?
I'm glad she went to the doctor. Family
may suspect but only doctors can diagnose
and treat a person for bi-polar disorder.
You and your family can do your best to
support your mom. See that she takes her
medicine. If she has just been put on
medicine, be patient. It takes a while
for it to get into her system and start
working real well. It may take a week or
possibly a little longer. Don't let her
get discouraged and stop taking the
medicine.
Things WILL seem different once the medicine
starts working. It should be pretty much
normal around your house for a change! Let
her know how happy it makes you that she is
doing so well. :)
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Big changes like this are bound to throw even the most well-functioning family into disarray.
The most important thing is to find out as much information as you can on bi-polar (also known as manic depression) and use that information to help your Mum.
It might be worthwhile seeing if there is some family counselling available to help you all through this. If you have a word with your doctor, they should be able to make some recommendations.
Finally, remember that changes like this will have an impact on the way you all live your day-to-day lives. As long as you are well armed with as much information as you can (forewarned is forearmed and all that), any obstacles you face will be easily overcome.
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I'm bipolar, pretty severe type 2 bipolar as a matter of fact. I've been on meds for over a year... what I can tell you is that it's going to be harder for her than you could ever understand. She's older than I, that I assume, so it'll probably be even harder for her than it's been for me.
I've switch meds three times and now they have me on three different meds at once. Each one makes things different but I was never sure if it was better. I'm still not stable, a year later, and things are up and down and that is what you have to be prepared for.
I know I've forgotten what NORMAL is... I'm only used to up and down and up and down and she probably is too. She might have trouble with the changes, not being able to get back to that maniac high happy really upset me when I started meds. It was my happy place.
You need to realize that bipolars live in a different world than you do and the normal range of emotions doesn't feel right. I pray your mother responds well to the medications they have her on, unlike me. I pray she doesn't have to change and experiment and get frustrated, but if she does all you can do to support her is bare with with her and support her. Be there for her when things get hard and be there to celebrate with her when things are good.
She might say things that are cruel without knowing it. This happened to me a lot when they first started me on meds. I didn't understand, and she might not either. Just realize that your mother needs you, now more than ever and that it'll be hard. I know that if people had known this for me, I would have been thankful... so very thankful.
I wish her the best of luck and pray she does better than I, with all of my heart.
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Best thing you guys can do as a family is retain a sense of normalcy and be supportive when she gets into a slip up.
Come together as a family unit and help each other out around the house or in general.
cheers,
stargirl
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