My X manages his bipolar very well. Because we have kids together and it is often inherited, we have educated them on the disease. He recently felt the depression coming on again so he made an urgent appt with his doctor and his meds were adjusted. His depression improved with the adjustment. With the advancements in this illness and his good doctor he does pretty well. The problem again for many is 1. Not having the where-with-all to get to a good doctor immediately. Had I understood this first time around, I would have forgotten the stigma of mental illness and got him into a good pschiatric hospital. 2. the affordability of a PSCHIATRIST. When I hear of someone taking PROZAC, i squirm. I think it is a generic type medicine. (not sure tho) The first medicine prescribed to my X, had no affect, then he got onto lithium (21 years ago) and it was like a miracle drug. He could not focus or do any work due to his depression but after a few days of lithium, he was able to do work. Being able to focus and do work, at least gave him something to do, other than think about how terrible he felt. This was the beginning of recovery.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jst...@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, m2smart4u2000 <no_reply@> wrote: > <snip> > > With bipolar illness, a person may seem very enlightened with > > the high (or is it manic depression?)... > > Same illness, different terms for it. > > Great post. > > One thing's for sure, if a person is clinically depressed > (whether as one pole of bipolar disorder, or just by > itself), they're not likely to have much in the way of > good spiritual experiences (if they even have the > motivation to do their practice). So they're most likely a > lot better off taking the medication (if it works), even > if it does interfere with spiritual experiences. If the > practice is effective, it should be doing the person some > good even if it feels flat. > > > anyway the mania, or good experience makes it appear that > > they are very evolved and nothing bothers them. > > One of the big problems with bipolar disorder, in my > understanding, is that the manic phase feels so good the > person may stop taking their medication, thinking they > don't need it any more. And then the mania is likely to go > completely out of control. It's difficult to get the > dosage balanced so it keeps the person in between mania > and depression. > > > then depression can set it and this is very contrasting. > > My X had his first depression in his twenties. I think > > the lack of having prior experience of depression can > > leave one ill-equipted to know what to do. I was at a > > total loss the first time I saw him go into depression. > > Education is key to knowing what do to. > > Good point. How is your X doing now, do you know? >
