Learning the disease also helps. You can watch cycles and medicate at the right time to prevent disaster. In twenty year or so of doing professional therapy I have known more sucessful bi-polar people than not. I have seen some real tragedy too.
=z= The novelist, journalist and psychologist Michael Zangari http://zangarijournalism.com --- On Fri, 1/30/09, Dianne France <dianne_fra...@hotmail.com> wrote: From: Dianne France <dianne_fra...@hotmail.com> Subject: RE: CS>Bipolar disorder To: "silver-list" <silver-list@eskimo.com> Date: Friday, January 30, 2009, 9:41 PM #yiv271237649 .hmmessage P { margin:0px;padding:0px;} #yiv271237649 { font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;} I have been reading with much interest the threads about bi-polar. My husband has wanted me to find more information out about the condition. My husbands father was bi-polar. At one point he was trying to sell the family home out from under everyone. He was going to take the money and run. They finally were able to get him treatment but if he went off it he went back to his paranoid exsitence. He would call us in Florida and would only talk to my husband. When he was on medication he was much more normal. He lived to be 95, married to my mother-in-law until she died at 83. To me she was a saint to go thru what she did for years. We also have a good friend who was married to a bi-polar. They bought a large thoroughbred farm in New York. She appeared normal but wasn't. We would go visit and one day she would be warm and cordial and the next wouldn't speak to anyone. He came back to Florida to visit with his sons from previous marriage and when he called to make arranagement for her to pick him up at the airport she told him not to bother coming home. She moved the farm manager into the house to replace him. She was off her meds. He lost millions. Knowing someone has this problem up front and considering a relationship is playing with fire. RUN. Dianne > From: bernade...@pa.net > To: silver-list@eskimo.com > Subject: Re: CS>Bipolar disorder > Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:47:21 -0500 > > I have to agree with Indi. Been reading and waiting, but now will step in. > > My EX-SIL, is bi-polar. What a terrible disease. We all know he has it, > the doctor's diagnosed him as bi-polar, but of course no one was telling him > the truth and he wouldn't listen to anyone. He was fine and we were all > wrong. > > He is extremely manipulative, even to the point of calling everyone and > saying he is ready to commit suicide so that he can again get his way. > Everyone else is wrong and he is not. I told him he could stay with us if > he took the medicine prescribed. He was wonderful with the drugs in his > system, but he stopped within a week because he didn't like the way he felt. > He used every excuse to stop taking the pills. We tried another but again > he didn't like the results. Finally he just wouldn't take them anymore. > He can look you straight in the eye and tell you something, which we all > know is an absolute lie, but he believes only himself. I know it is a > foul-up in brain chemistry, but he has to help himself which he is neither > able or willing to do. My daughter told us horror stories, but only having > him live with us did we see firsthand about this disease. She hung in there > for 5+ years, but finally gave up the good fight, and this was the only way > to save herself from years of misery, and even death. She now has a PFA > against him. > > This bipolar person struggles. He is either flying so high and moving so > quickly that it is impossible to calm him down or he is so low that he needs > recreational drugs to pull himself back up. What a terrible way to have to > live. He may be an extreme case, so I can't say if there is a bi-polar > person that isn't like this. > > But I have to agree with Indi - RUN, DON'T WALK. We tried to help him, so > we have no remorse. > > Bernadette