Anyone out there with Bipolar two disorder?

Question

I'm 30 yrs old, and was recently diagnosed with Bipolar 2. I'm having problems accepting what is going on. (yes the meds are helping) I'm having problems with my family as soon as my mood changes from happy to sad they feel i'm mad at something. If I get mad at my husband for something he did wrong: he blames my "disease" for my behavior.
Is it me?

Answer 1

No Hon its not you by far,I am also bipolar-manic depressive and it takes alot of hard word to get to learn how to deal with your life now. Ihave struggled long and hard to get to where I am now so dont give up your meds will continue to help they just take awhile . If you need a friend contact me .

Answer 2

Bipolar disorders are extremely hard to deal with on a familial level. A lot of people simply do not understand the disease and most definately do not know how to react/handle someone with the disease. Your family may need to seek some counseling for a short period of time to help each other adjust to this new obstacle, unless your family is wholly willing to do what it takes to be able to handle this. You may also have to try to change the way you react to things your husband does wrong so he can tell the difference between the mood swing and the truth. It is a very hard situation that is extremely complicated. I wish you the best of luck. I would start by educating your family about your disease and what it really means.

Answer 3

I've been battling with bipolar two disorder for about two years now - I've heard it all. Every angry outburst, every sad moment - someone asks if I've taken my meds; if its just the disease. Sometimes, you just are really freaken sad and you have every right to be! Same with anger. Meds shouldn't make you a robot with no emotions who is perpetually happy. Things will still make you sad. Things will still make you elated. Just...not to the same extremes.

There's a lot of support groups for bipolar, or you could take your husband with you to see your therapist or your psychiatrist. Many support groups are now on the internet - my personal favorite is a group called Walkers in Darkness. Though their will be some exceptions, it is usually people with real diagnoses, who have to deal with the same real problems of being bipolar.

Its a struggle at first, but things get better. Good luck.

Answer 4

Yes, it's you, but you're making it that way. You and your husband need to learn to recognize and understand the difference between your getting mad and you're being sick. If there is an action (performed by the husband) that you chose to react to because it made you mad, then you both need to know that this is legitimate. You need to clearly tell him that his action made you mad and why (treat him like you are explaining to a 4 yr old why he had to sit on the naughty mat>.

As far as the happy to sad instant mood swings without control, there is not much to do there. I have been yelled at all my life for not 'smiling' or being okay, then not being okay. I have done my best to remove myself from 'social' situations during such events. I hate the way people choose to feel based on your appearance (facial expression etc.) then blame it on you.

Um yeah, anyway, make sure you husband knows the difference from when you have a down moment to when you are mad about his behavior.

And give the meds time - try as many different combinations/doses as needed - AND stay on them no matter what !!.

Answer 5

I'd say it's half you and half the disease. I lived with a guy with bipolar. We were actually involved. And I have to say he wasn't always the most pleasant person to be around. At the time I didn't understand his mood changes and so that made me even more annoyed with him. He smoked a lot of weed, which helped him sleep and when he did that. He was usually pretty pleasant. But when he didn't... oh boy! The guy also drank a lot which went either way. He'd be a happy go-lucky guy that everyone wanted to be around, or he'd be a real asshole. Once I had found him in the shower trying to kill himself...

Answer 6

One of the blogbaba's 5 daughter's is bipolar. It is very difficult to deal with a person who exhibits the mood swings associated with the problem. You are actually lucky that you found the right mix of drugs to effectively treat your disorder. It is not as easy as one would believe to self regulate the chemical imbalances in ones brain. My daughter is currently attending a college on a honors scholarship, and having mixed success with her problem.

Good luck in the future, your husband must be quite a guy to be able to help you through your situation, and I wish you both the best. Love tends to make adversity tolerable, dwell on the positives in life, and be thankful you aren't dealing with the problem alone.

Answer 7

I have bipolar 2 as well. It took me a long time to come to acceptance of this diagnosis. Just for the fact of wanting to be "normal"...normal thoughts, feelings etc...

I do whats called rapid cycling so in the course of a day my mood changes rapidly. And yes its very hard on loved ones to deal with and I can understand that, but what they fail to realize is as hard as it is for them its twice as hard for us to deal with ourselves. Truth is no one can understand bipolar unless they have it, some people can truly be a support for you and truly want to understand (my best friend is mine) and learn all they can about this illness, but more often I have found people back off because they dont know how to react to us with the mood changes.

My suggestion to you is to join some yahoo groups for bipolar support, research everything you can online and print these out for your family to read, use a mood chart to record your moods daily so you can see when your highs and lows are and see what some of your triggers may be. I have lots of links and would be happy to share them with you, hit me up on yahoo messenger or email with this ID..

Answer 8

It is not just you. I have bipolar 2 disorder, too. Unfortunately, even when you get upset for a legitimate reason, some people in your life (especially your partner) will blame it on your mental disorder which hurts in several ways. For one, you start to believe it may be you and you doubt that you have any right to get upset about anything because you start to doubt your own perceptions. It also hurts by repeatedly throwing your disorder (which you did not choose to have) in your face and making you feel even worse about yourself. Don't believe it is always just you.

Answer 9

My husband is also Bipolar. I use to blame his "disease" for his angry outbursts. He is on medication. He sees his psychiatrist every 3 months and a counselor once a month. I went with my husband a few times to his counselor sessions. The counselor gave me literature on bipolar. He also explained a lot of things to me on what's going on in my husbands head. It made me realize and understand what is bipolar. Maybe you and your family need to go to counseling so they can understand what you are going through.

Answer 10

people find it easier to blame someone or something else instead of looking at what they did wrong. its not fair. sit down with your family especially your husband and talk about your disorder.