X
Xantippe
Guest
Psalm126,
That is really inspiring.
God bless you!
That is really inspiring.
God bless you!
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.
O
oddmaude
Guest
I was married to someone with bi-polar disorder for 18 years. There were days when I wondered if I had vowed my life to the devil himself. I completely identify with previous comments feeling that one’s spouse had disappeared and been replaced by someone else.
Complicating our situation was the fact that my husband decided to quit taking his prescribed medication and to self-medicate with substances (both legal and illegal) instead. In the end my safety and that of my children was at risk - I won’t go into further detail - and I made the difficult decision to get a civil divorce. It’s a decision that came after intense counseling from our Pastor and Sister. I am presently working through and annulment. I only share this so you have a sense that I am speaking from legitimate experience and not practicing armchair psychiatry.
First I would say that a consult with his psychiatrist is definitely in order. With the new medications coming out all the time there is no way he has already tried every combination. If your husband is not willing to see his psychiatrist, I suggest that you can and talk to him/her yourself. Even if the doctor doesn’t have a release allowing him to talk to you, you can say anything you want to him. The doctor needs to know these things for the next time your husband has to come in to get his prescriptions renewed. People with mental illness are often not accurate reporters of their situations. It will be helpful for the doctor to hear from you.
The thing that helped me the most was connecting with our local NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) and participating in a group called Family to Family. It is totally FREE and is not a support group, but an educational format that meets for twelve weeks and covers every aspect of mental illness. You come out of there with a 3" notebook filled with helpful information you can refer back to. I cannot begin to describe how helpful it was in getting a grasp on everything. Although it is not a support group, through discussions about the various topics covered in class the members do learn about each other and become a source of encouragement and understanding. Do an Internet search, find your local NAMI chapter and call them to inquire about Family to Family. My chapter even paid for child care so I could attend. It saved MY sanity at a point when I was feeling very confused and fragile.
I would agree with the person who said that mental health disciplines are not exact sciences. That is one of the most frustrating aspects of dealing with mental illness. If you have some other medical issue, in most cases there are exact ways of making a diagnosis and identifying a treatment. (i.e. a thyroid problem can be diagnosed with blood work, then treated with a drug specific to that diagnosis) With mental illness, it is up to the practitioner to take the report of the patient (that may not be objective or truthful) and match that up with a description of a probable diagnosis. Then treatment usually involves medication trials, which are basically a **** shoot. You can get lucky with the first prescription or struggle for years to find a combination of drugs to control symptoms.
Mental illness is an incredible cross to bear, no doubt about it. I will pray for you.
Complicating our situation was the fact that my husband decided to quit taking his prescribed medication and to self-medicate with substances (both legal and illegal) instead. In the end my safety and that of my children was at risk - I won’t go into further detail - and I made the difficult decision to get a civil divorce. It’s a decision that came after intense counseling from our Pastor and Sister. I am presently working through and annulment. I only share this so you have a sense that I am speaking from legitimate experience and not practicing armchair psychiatry.
First I would say that a consult with his psychiatrist is definitely in order. With the new medications coming out all the time there is no way he has already tried every combination. If your husband is not willing to see his psychiatrist, I suggest that you can and talk to him/her yourself. Even if the doctor doesn’t have a release allowing him to talk to you, you can say anything you want to him. The doctor needs to know these things for the next time your husband has to come in to get his prescriptions renewed. People with mental illness are often not accurate reporters of their situations. It will be helpful for the doctor to hear from you.
The thing that helped me the most was connecting with our local NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) and participating in a group called Family to Family. It is totally FREE and is not a support group, but an educational format that meets for twelve weeks and covers every aspect of mental illness. You come out of there with a 3" notebook filled with helpful information you can refer back to. I cannot begin to describe how helpful it was in getting a grasp on everything. Although it is not a support group, through discussions about the various topics covered in class the members do learn about each other and become a source of encouragement and understanding. Do an Internet search, find your local NAMI chapter and call them to inquire about Family to Family. My chapter even paid for child care so I could attend. It saved MY sanity at a point when I was feeling very confused and fragile.
I would agree with the person who said that mental health disciplines are not exact sciences. That is one of the most frustrating aspects of dealing with mental illness. If you have some other medical issue, in most cases there are exact ways of making a diagnosis and identifying a treatment. (i.e. a thyroid problem can be diagnosed with blood work, then treated with a drug specific to that diagnosis) With mental illness, it is up to the practitioner to take the report of the patient (that may not be objective or truthful) and match that up with a description of a probable diagnosis. Then treatment usually involves medication trials, which are basically a **** shoot. You can get lucky with the first prescription or struggle for years to find a combination of drugs to control symptoms.
Mental illness is an incredible cross to bear, no doubt about it. I will pray for you.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.