Message Boards
Replies to 'Bipolar Disorder'
|
March 8, 2006, 10:37 am PST
 Quote From: mensan have the same question--how do I get someone who doesn't want to take medication to take it? I don't have an answer for that. I don't think you do. You have to be motivated to be able to manage bipolar disorder and the motivation must come from within. I spent five years trying to find the right meds and in the eighteen years since then probably haven't missed more than 20 doses of medication, this from simply forgetting to take it. (Paid for it by not being able to sleep, too.)
You can talk to the person and explain the alternatives, but if he or she does not want to work on getting better, there is nothing you can do. Especially in a society where people believe that you have a "right" to be mentally ill and the only time intervention is called for is when the person is a proximate danger to himself or others.
I'm sorry. I do not have an answer. First off, I too do not have the answer. It's simply the old cliché, "You can take a horse to water but you can't make him drink". I've spent the past twenty some odd years arriving at the best, I think, med. cocktail but, even still, I have a few cycling periods. I've 'flunked' damn near every profession known to man, but now that I"m on SS Disability, I have the opportunity to pursue my true heart's desire....and that is to write. But the kicker is, my writing is so much more exciting, intense....my 'voice' is unbridled and uninhibited when I'm off my meds....but, I've learned the hard way, it's just not worth it. My third suicide attempt pretty nearly succeeded - I was on a heart monitor for three days - but it was truly a blessing in disguise. It landed me at Menninger's, the mental mecca of the Midwest, and from that wonderful institute, I learned first hand what the consequenses of a bipolar II / borderline personality diagnosis OFF THEIR MEDS can result in. During the three months I was confined to the hospital, two of my close friends/patients upon their release, did in fact, commit suicide. Fantastic, bright, funny people who loved the 'highs' but couldn't tolerate the 'lows'. I still think of them and what a waste...... I'm finally on a med. cocktail that doesn't entirely reduce my creative muse to a zombie but it took a lot experimentation.....Topamax and Prozac has been my saviour.....and it's worth it! That's my story and, likewise, I'm sorry I don't have the answer. |
|
Return to the Message Board
