Replies to '08/01 Extreme Highs and Lows'

Unless a person with bipolar disorder takes responsibility for getting help, having children may not be the best decision for them to make.  Most people don't know they have the disorder and they aren't medicated, but still have children.  Cathy gave up on Doctors and meds. and that is totally out of line and a poor excuse in my opinion because she KNEW she had this disorder.   I used to have mood swings like her and did some emotional damage to my daughter in her younger years and was undiagnosed and didn't know what in the heck I was doing or what was wrong with me.  

 My daughter found out she was bipolar before I found out I am.  Neither of us were diagnosed when both of us were younger.   Her diagnosis was the first we heard about mental illness and that it is probably genetic.  But my mania isn't like hers, mine is like Cathy's  Her's is elation, spending sprees, wreckless driving, life of the party, the euphoric kind and we knew she wasn't like that in her childhood or her teens.  It was in college when it manifested in her.  It shocked the entire family as she was a straight A student, on the Dean's list but dropped out of college because of her depression and missing classes in her sophomore year.   

Bottomline, if a woman is screaming "I hate you and I wish you were never born"  the kids need to be cared for by someone else until she gets her butt on medication and proper medical care.  I would break a mother's heart, and it would have mine because I love my daughters.  I have two.  The other younger one is fine and I was seeking help when she was young.    I wish someone had stepped in to help me when I was in my 20's.  I wasn't quite as bad as Cathy, but I was similar.   

I'm pushing 50 now.  I can't undo the harm that I have done to my ex husband and my daughter, but she and I are fine now and I am happily remarried for going on 13 years.   My daughter and I are able to talk about our disorder openly and honestly and we bring humor to our situation sometimes just to lighten things up.   I am stable and have been for five years.  Cathy, if you read this hon, get some help.  Please do it for yourself and your boys.  They will come around if you care enough to get help.  They want to love you, but they are scared of you right now.  Please understand the severity of your situation.