Bi-polar disorder

Phoenix said:
All of us have mood swings. Mine are caused by fluctuations in blood sugar. How is being bipolar different? I've always been curious.
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My middle grandson was diagnosed when he was a teenager. When he doesn't take his meds, he has psychotic episodes. He's had to be hospitalized then transferred to treatment programs twice. When he's taking his meds he's the most charming, thoughtful, caring young man. He is also highly intelligent. More about bi-polar disorder here.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bipolar-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355955
 

OneEyedDiva said:
My middle grandson was diagnosed when he was a teenager. When he doesn't take his meds, he has psychotic episodes. He's had to be hospitalized then transferred to treatment programs twice. When he's taking his meds he's the most charming, thoughtful, caring young man. He is also highly intelligent. More about bi-polar disorder here.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bipolar-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355955
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Wishing you so much love, hope, and sincere caring regarding your grandson. It’s an unbearble thing to watch, helplessly😢

I had the honor of working with a bipolar ER doctor . He admitted he was only a doctor because “he could be.” He was that intelligent and it showed in his treatments and diagnosing.

How I loved that man. We had the same type of sense of humor and would break out into gales of laughter when no one else in the room got it.
I used to pray that if me or any of my family had to be in the ER, he would be the doctor working that day.

When he was off his meds, it was the saddest thing to watch. Someone that kind and good and intelligent didn’t deserve such demons. No one does 😢

prayers, many of them, for your grandson, and for you and his family ❤️🙏
 
Kathleen’s Place said:
Wishing you so much love, hope, and sincere caring regarding your grandson. It’s an unbearble thing to watch, helplessly😢

I had the honor of working with a bipolar ER doctor . He admitted he was only a doctor because “he could be.” He was that intelligent and it showed in his treatments and diagnosing.

How I loved that man. We had the same type of sense of humor and would break out into gales of laughter when no one else in the room got it.
I used to pray that if me or any of my family had to be in the ER, he would be the doctor working that day.

When he was off his meds, it was the saddest thing to watch. Someone that kind and good and intelligent didn’t deserve such demons. No one does 😢

prayers, many of them, for your grandson, and for you and his family ❤️🙏
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Wonderful story about your ER doctor! For your kind, caring words....
TY Flowers & Purple butterflies.gif
 
The above are all good answers on the topic of Bi-Polar syndrome. As I am someone who has analyzed and studied various conditions over the years, the Bi-Polar syndrome was one of them. I have always felt sympathetic towards anyone trapped in mental problems. Many people with Bi-Polar can live perfectly normal and productive lives, as indicated by the Bi-Polar ER Doctor example above, as long as their symptoms are managed properly by suitable medication.
 
My daughter in law was diagnosed while very young and when she went off her meds it was terrible. She had to be gently coaxed back onto them and life would be ok for awhile. When she went off them, we were all crazy as loons and needed medicating ourselves according to her. She was a very intelligent and sensitive girl. That she was struck down with that cancer only made it sadder, but she handled it like a pro, I must say. Love it about your doctor friend, Diva. I am sure you were delighted to have known him. Thanks for sharing that.
 
Sometimes if a person is on medication and wants to get off, they need to do it gradually. Going cold turkey is hard and unwise. Plus, sometimes the medication creates a need for itself. All medications have negative side effects, even the ones I take for high blood pressure.

The mind altering drugs my cousin is on ruined her.
 
The high level of intelligence in Bi-Polar patients has been medically noted...the problem in some cases is that the patient in question does not believe he or she has a problem...therefore, trials via meds, therapy, patience, and love are all needed in hopes of a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel...or, first, a proverbial "lightbulb above the patient's head" moment!
 
Is it inherited or can some traumatic event trigger it later in life?
I was reading where researchers have found that children who experience severe trauma are three times as likely to develop schizophrenia in later life so could it also apply to bi-polar?
 
mellowyellow said:
Is it inherited or can some traumatic event trigger it later in life?
I was reading where researchers have found that children who experience severe trauma are three times as likely to develop schizophrenia in later life so could it also apply to bi-polar?
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There can be genetic factors but early childhood trauma can cause many mental illnesses including bipolar disorder.
 

How Norway is offering drug-free treatment to people with psychosis​

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………..Like Malin, Mette Ellingsdalen was given anti-psychotic drugs during a period of 13 years when she suffered severe depressions - as a result of bipolar disorder - and was unable to care for herself. Unlike some of her fellow patients, she wasn't physically held down and injected with the drugs, but she still felt coerced; if she had refused the medication, she wouldn't have been admitted to hospital.

Eventually, after five years of trying but failing to live without medication, she was able to successfully taper off her drugs and in 2005 she joined the movement to change Norway's mental health system and is now chair of the patient user group, We Shall Overcome…..

https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-56097028
 

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mellowyellow said:

How Norway is offering drug-free treatment to people with psychosis​

View attachment 150882

………..Like Malin, Mette Ellingsdalen was given anti-psychotic drugs during a period of 13 years when she suffered severe depressions - as a result of bipolar disorder - and was unable to care for herself. Unlike some of her fellow patients, she wasn't physically held down and injected with the drugs, but she still felt coerced; if she had refused the medication, she wouldn't have been admitted to hospital.

Eventually, after five years of trying but failing to live without medication, she was able to successfully taper off her drugs and in 2005 she joined the movement to change Norway's mental health system and is now chair of the patient user group, We Shall Overcome…..

https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-56097028
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Thank you, mellowyellow for sending me this report. I hope others read it; it brings to light what really happens to people who have been submitted to medicine-regimens. Patients (and their families!) should be made of all the possible side-effects and especially from long-term usage. One of the long-term side effects of Lithium treatment for Bi-Polar, for example, is extreme kidney damage which in turn can lead to kidney failure, dialysis, and death.

Also, it must be really hard to rebuild your life after a serious and extended bout of psychosis or other mental illness. Such things can alienate family members and friends, leaving one even more alone. It never gets easier to read such reports...stories on these cases.

Many years ago, I was on staff in a psychiatric hospital, as the editor of a quarterly in-house magazine for and by the patients. I was presented with a ring of keys in case trouble broke out and I had to unlock a door to escape, making me feel like it was a prison...which, of course, it was. I was shocked and unprepared to see so many drugged patients, some in straitjackets, shuffling like zombies down the halls, never in groups, always alone, one behind the other. It was dispiriting and left me with an intense sadness to see this. I invited the patients to participate in this magazine that I deemed their magazine for thoughts, poems, and even sketches, and they came through with these. It was giving them a necessary outlet. I think about it often and will never forget these lost souls.
 
mellowyellow said:
Is it inherited or can some traumatic event trigger it later in life?
I was reading where researchers have found that children who experience severe trauma are three times as likely to develop schizophrenia in later life so could it also apply to bi-polar?
Click to expand...
In my family it is in the genes. My dad had several blood relatives who were severely mentally ill. My daughter had bi-polar disorder and it led to her suicide. She would not stay on her meds because she didn't believe they would help her. She didn't know how ill she had become. A therapist told me the disorder will skip a generation and show up in the next.
 
Ruby Rose said:
Thank you, mellowyellow for sending me this report. I hope others read it; it brings to light what really happens to people who have been submitted to medicine-regimens. Patients (and their families!) should be made of all the possible side-effects and especially from long-term usage. One of the long-term side effects of Lithium treatment for Bi-Polar, for example, is extreme kidney damage which in turn can lead to kidney failure, dialysis, and death.

Also, it must be really hard to rebuild your life after a serious and extended bout of psychosis or other mental illness. Such things can alienate family members and friends, leaving one even more alone. It never gets easier to read such reports...stories on these cases.

Many years ago, I was on staff in a psychiatric hospital, as the editor of a quarterly in-house magazine for and by the patients. I was presented with a ring of keys in case trouble broke out and I had to unlock a door to escape, making me feel like it was a prison...which, of course, it was. I was shocked and unprepared to see so many drugged patients, some in straitjackets, shuffling like zombies down the halls, never in groups, always alone, one behind the other. It was dispiriting and left me with an intense sadness to see this. I invited the patients to participate in this magazine that I deemed their magazine for thoughts, poems, and even sketches, and they came through with these. It was giving them a necessary outlet. I think about it often and will never forget these lost souls.
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Thank you Ruby Rose for sharing your insight into this heartbreaking mental illness.
 
I’m diagnosed as having schizo-affective disorder depressive spectrum. It’s a mood disorder with occasional psychotic features. Medications: Geodon, methylphenidate, lithium, trazodone, hydroxyzine, and Effexor.
Daily chemicals help me be myself? Am I the drugs or are the drugs me?
 
Phoenix said:
I've studied this stuff. I know what they say about. I just wonder how it feels, how it's different for the person experiencing it. I am so wary of all mind altering drugs. They destroyed my brother.
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I am so very sorry about your brother😢.
But they have saved, and continue to save, my Grandson
Robert59 said:
The problem with my girlfriend that her own family doesn't want her because of her bipolar. So I'm taking care of her. She does have one family member that wants her for her social security check but that's it and that's her sister. She wants to add it to her 1700 a month.
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That is so sad to hear. Thank God she has you in her life. I swear there is going to be an extra special place in heaven for you care givers. When things are hell like, they are triple what anyone can possibly imagine. And when the times are good, you can’t even relax because you are constantly waiting for the other shoe to fall. Thank you for being such a caring soul💕
Mr. Ed said:
I’m diagnosed as having schizo-affective disorder depressive spectrum. It’s a mood disorder with occasional psychotic features. Medications: Geodon, methylphenidate, lithium, trazodone, hydroxyzine, and Effexor.
Daily chemicals help me be myself? Am I the drugs or are the drugs me?
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i don’t know, Mr Ed, but if you are happy, and as nice as you seem on here...then it’s ll good!
 


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