I knew a person that had bipolar disorder; his disease impacted him in various ways. He would frequently call in to work when he was going through a depressive cycle. When you saw him in his manic phase or his depressive phase, it was like seeing two different people. When he was manic, he would lock himself in his apartment and write stories that he claimed would be the greatest thing that you ever read but he would always end up throwing them away in the end; when he would go through a depressive phase he would sleep for long periods of time and become quite reclusive. I have learned several things about mental illness by knowing this person. I know that there is no easy fix when it comes to mental illness, that the person’s commitment to treatment has a lot to do with their recovery and the impact of such a disease is devastating to relationships. Knowing him was a constant roller-coaster ride, the only consistency that was apparent was the cycling from manic to depressive, but you never knew how long each cycle would be and you could never trust his reactions because they would be different each time.
Tara,
ReplyDeleteI knew someone that sounds similar to this person you're referring to. The way you said "you could never trust his reactions" really hit home to me. It's difficult to watch anyone you care about deal with mental illness. My acquaintance refused treatment, and thus lost several friends and family members that were close to him. We all hated to see him slipping further into his own world, but it's tough when the person refuses any form of help. What a vicious, lonely cycle it must be.
Melissa
Hello Tara,
ReplyDeleteMy former co-worker's mood swings used to very unpredictable and everyone just chalked it up to her being unpleasant, She, nor did anyone know this is what she was going through. She didn't find out that she was Bipolar until she had a phsycotic episode. She would be as nice as pie one day and the next day she would be a holy terror to those in her department. She was self taught linguist. She spoke 12 different languages. When she would be going through one of her episode she would be yelling in different languages. It was kinda frighten to some to say the least. You wouldn't know what she would saying.
Once she was diagnosed and explained it to us her mood swings it all made sense. It was just so sad to me to see her battle this condition alone and so far away from her family in Brazil. It's enough to have to cope, but to go it alone is unimaginable.
Carla