Understanding My Ex's Manic Depression

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-09-2003
Understanding My Ex's Manic Depression
3
Fri, 04-02-2004 - 2:00pm
My now Ex boyfriend has Manic Depression and I would like to get some reading material on Manic Depression and how it effects relationships or how partners can effectively deal with a manic depressive partner. I feel that understanding more about his disorder may help me answer some lingering questions and help me to move on without him. I would like to ask for any suggested reading on this topic or any personal stories that people would like to share about how their disorder effected their realtionships.

Thank You

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2003
Fri, 04-02-2004 - 2:15pm


Hi my name is Erin welcome to the board....

I am sorry to hear about your situation with your ex but I do think that it is great that you want to educate yourself on bipolar disorder.

I suffer from rapid cycling it is called cyclthymic disorder (I spelled that one wrong) it is a form of bipolar disorder but my moods shift alot but not as severe as someone who is bipolar it has made relationships very strained but with medication it and therapy it has evened me out alot I can handel things much better my moods are not as extreme as they used to be.

Before I was diagnosed with having bipolar I thought that the way I was , was just my make up the way that I was meant to be but after learning more about the disease and seeing a shrink and therapist I now know that it has to do with the chenicals in my brain and that I do not have to be that way anymore.

There are alot of different froms of bipolar disorder and there is a message board for bipolar disorder you may want to check it out and ask as many questions as you can think of they also have articles or in your seach engine just type in bipolar disorder and it will give you a ton of info that is what I did and I made me feel releaved that I was not enetering a life sentence after I educated myself I was able to educate others.

I ruined alot of relationships before I knew what was wrong with me and before I got on meds I was mean evil I would yell scream throw fits ect.. i MADE LIFE HELL FOR EVERYONE AROUND ME AND NOW i AM WORKING ON REPAIRING THE DAMAGE.

Sorry for the caps didnt mean to do that, but anyways is your ex on medicine is he seeing a therapist a shrink?

I hope that I was of some help to you.Good luck I admire your desitre to gain knowledge on this disease.

Erin

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-09-2003
Fri, 04-02-2004 - 4:48pm
Thank you for your reply. He is on medication (it was recently changed but I don't know what it is now because all he said was they changed it because of some side effects the other one had) I have many times suggested he return to therapy (he use to be in therapy about 8 years ago but stopped because he therapist retired and never started up again) and although he acknowledges he needs therapy he says he doesn't have the money for it and when I suggested a low-cost clinic (where I am going in order to help me heal from the break up) he says that he would not feel comfortable going to someone he does not know and if he did return to therapy it would be to someone he knew (I'm not sure if that means someone his old therapist recommended or not). But he just tells me time and time again he isn't ready but I'm not really sure what that means and right now I can't really talk to him about it because he refuses to let me into his business and plus my own therapist advises me not to talk to him anymore because I need to heal and get over him.

I have been looking into material on the internet about his disorder but I was posting on this board (and the bipolar board) to get some recommendations about what would be the best readings for me given my situation. Thank you once again.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2003
Fri, 04-02-2004 - 10:10pm

Hi Loveadvice,


You might want to visit the Bipolar Disorder message board for more information on this topic:


http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-bhbipolar


Overview:


http://www.ivillagehealth.com/library/nwh/content/0,,215912_269239,00.html


Symptoms:


http://www.ivillagehealth.com/experts/emotional/qas/0,11816,242102_175043,00.html


Mental Health topics:


http://www.ivillage.com/topics/health/0,10707,166182,00.html

IVHealth Ruth Ann
Assistant Community Moderator/Health Librarian
rjohnson@mail.ivillage.com

IVHealth Ruth Ann
Community Leader/Ask the Health Librarian