Just Me

September 18, 2008

I feel like I need to share my story. I think my brother has bipolar. He was diagnosed with a “chemical imbalance” at the age of 14 after a suicide attempt and a month of hospitalization. It is my understanding this disorder has some genetics involved. My grandfather was mentally ill, and I also have a first cousin from the same side who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

To me his life is just spinning out of control. He is 34 has a beautiful baby who is 10 months old. He has been married 3 times had 2 vehicles repossessed. He obviously spends money he doesn’t have. There are so many things he does and when confronted about them he says “I’m fine” “don’t worry.”

The one thing I have a question about is lying. After all the reading I’ve done, I don’t see a whole lot about lying. He does this constantly. Is this one of the symptoms? My parents and I urged him to get some help, and he did make an appointment to talk to someone. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

2 Comments

  1. HI, i know u left this message in Sept of 08. Well, that’s when i sprained my foot. Tahts when the disorder starting kicking in high gear for me. I have been recently diagnosed with bipolar type 1. my whole life, i would lie to people to make them think i was “normal”. It’s a coping mechanism. Until he is willing to fully accept his disability, the lyiing will continue. When i hurt my foot, mylife seemed to fall apart at the seams. i couldn’t fake it anymor. i had to wear a big boot and hated it. i thought i should get help from a dr since i could not cope with an injury that was physical. I still am in denial and so is my husband. He thinks i should stay off the meds. I do too. but am trying to cope. being honest about this is so hard. u don’t want people to see that the smallest tasks become near impossible for people with this disorder. it is crushing to live with feeling allone. But i can only imagaine it must be horrible to watch a loved one go through it in denial. All i can say is, good luck.

  2. Response to “Just Me”

    Rather belated response, but what the heck. My wife (and I guess soon to be ex-wife) is BiPolar 2.

    When she is manic, she lies about everything. And is very, very good at it. To the extent she is trying to lie to someone that does not know her, she is very credible. Credible at first. Overtime, most see through it, but to a caregiver or spouse, managing her illness becomes much harder because she can surround her self with people that (at least initially) will rally around her.

    At the end of the day, effective treatment needs the mentally ill person to be self aware enough that he/she needs help.

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