How can you tell someone they are making your bipolar worse without seeming mani!
Question:
How can you tell someone they are making your bipolar worse without seeming manipulative?
How can you tell a person that what they are saying or doing is making your bipolar worse without seeming manipulative or always talking about bipolar stuff? I have bipolar disorder pretty bad, and it's now just a little bit controlled with medications. Every morning I am in hell, for 7 days of PMS every month I am in hell, and then randomly other times, but mostly OK. So then my husband will start chewing me out for forgetting something (a symptom of bipolar, my memory is very very bad) or not thinking right (another symptom) and I tell him to lay off because I am getting suicidal, then it's me being manipulative? I don't know what to do, I really CAN'T handle criticism most of the time. I take my meds, go to counseling, go to support groups, and force myself to do stuff as much as I can. But it's never good enough, because my meds make me sleep 11+ hours a night, and I have such severe symptoms all the time. How can I get the break I need and be fair to my spouse?
Answers:
It seems critical that your spouse go the doc and counseling appointments with you so he can begin to understand how to be a real partner in your treatment. You shouldn't have to deal with this all alone. He did sign-up for better or for worse. If he is not willing to do that I would begin to ask myself what kind of partner he really is.