Does anyone have a family member with bipolar?

Question

My cousin has been diagnosed. She lays in bed all day, up all night on the computer. She gets on a chat room and harrasses the crap out of people when they kicked her off she tried to call the FBI, she doesn't bathe. She is really mean to her mom, she's been in a pscyh hospital before, she can't hold a job. Any experience with meds or other help?

Answer 1

I have bipolar disorder. I can also relate to your cousin. She does need to have a psychiatrist if she doesn't all ready. My experience with meds includes Lithium (a mood stabilizer), Lamictal (another mood stabilizer), Abilify (an antipsychotic), Propanolol (for anxiety), and Adderall (for concentration, which is taken away by all of the other meds). My meds work when I take them, but it is hard to stay on them because when I feel better, I doubt that I even am bipolar. My psychiatrist says this is very common. After this last episode, I think I will always stick to my meds no matter how bad the side effects are.

Answer 2

You respond with, "Family member, you are hypomanic. Either see your pdoc and deal with your episode, or get out of my face." Discussion over. There's a difference between being amped up with your thoughts racing, and attacking another for fun and the sake of argument. You should not have to take being made to feel bad. At the same time, being overly wired w/o putting others down needs some compassion. I am bipolar. What you're describing sounds like subthreshold mania, and a clear indication that meds need to be adjusted. If the person is BP type 1, s/he is probably on the way to mania. The obnoxiousness is not the person's fault per se, but not seeking treatment is. Don't bother arguing. Don't expect genuine rationality. The former is futile, the later an unrealistic expectation. The best you can do is recognize the signs, and tell the person when s/he is obviously swinging. The truth is that as the person gets older, s/he will learn to recognize the initial signs of an episode. When younger, this isn't always such an easy thing to do. Whether or not the s/he chooses to do something about the episode once recognized is a different matter. Btw, if your family member always is an argumentative jerk regardless of mood, it has nothing to do with being bipolar.

Answer 3

I have bipolar disorder and can relate to the unacceptable behaviors your cousin displays. Please understand that your cousin has little to no control over the behaviors. Stress makes the behavior worse.

A combination of healthy eating (cut out processed foods, sugars, fried foods, etc.) , a good whole food vitamin supplement, exercise (such as Yoga) , and possibly medication will show a marked difference in your cousin's behavior. With any introduction of change, results could be at least 3 weeks away. Any form of treatment takes a little time to work.

You need to make sure your cousin knows she is loved no matter what she does. This helps ease the guilt once she gets better. Bipolar is a lifelong struggle with pitfalls like getting off the medications against doctors orders. And bipolar individuals seem to be of above average intelligence.

I hope this will encourage you. I struggle but control my behavior by all the things I listed above. I am trying it now without medication and am having problems. (not too big) I take St. John's Wart and am going to try a new "feel good juice" that should arrive on Wednesday. If it works I would like to share the information with you.

I hate to see anyone suffer like your cousin is suffering! I can control my depression but I am still working to control the "manic" part. I will keep your information and send you things as I try them and am successful. Good luck. I know you probably have a wonderful cousin that really doesn't deserve this.

Answer 4

Wow I think your cousin is my girlfriend! You describe her exactly!

Meds have not seemed to help here although there probably are a few she hasn't tried yet. Try to interest her in something other than the internet, even if gets her away from it for a few hours it does seem to help. I wonder if people were bi-polar before the internet was available.

Answer 5

your cousin needs a psychiatrist as GP usually don't have training to treat this. combination therapy ( a mood stabilizer , low dose Antarctic and an anti depressant) has been getting a lot of good reviews . an antidepressant alone can cause highs in bipolar. group therapy and cognitive therapy can help her to gage her behavior better . don't give up this condition is treatable and lots of bipolar work have families you have probably met some before and never noticed

Answer 6

My dad is bipolar and I got to tell you it won't get any easier for your cousin. She has to want to get help or else she'll continue her downward spiral. I think the best thing for her to do is just talk to someone...not necessarily a therapist in a hospital, but just someone. Maybe you can be that someone.

Answer 7

Sounds like she is using her bipolar to behave however she wants. She still is responsible for her actions. It is up to her to get her life straightened out with medication or whatever.

Actually, she does not have the mood swings associated with bipolar. Where are her HIGHS? Maybe she needs anger management or something else. I would have her tested again to be sure of what is going on.

Answer 8

i dunno what the exact med is called but its like sodium something they give to people with bi polar i was diagnosed with mild bi ploar i did crazt things like run away from home go to strangers home i put myself in danger people with bi polar seem to do that i dunno why im better now iwas a teenager at the time of crazy life but i think she lacks attention as well....

Answer 9

yes. I mean no. I mean yes. NO!!!