Spouses of bipolars: does your spouse drive you nuts?!
Question: My husband is bp and when he goes on a down he drives me nuts. He always thinks I am cheating at these times. He will not tell me what is wrong, and this makes me upset because I think he should be able to tell me what is wrong. When he is on a down it is like this. When he is up or on level everything is fine. Does any one else have this problem and how do you deal with them when they are down and crabby?
Answers: I'm the one with bipolar. Have you thought about getting some counselling for yourself? We sometimes can be difficult. I mean, it's never intentional, and I know I do all I can to spare everyone, but sometimes it leaks out anyway. Just because you are not the one with the illness does not mean that you couldn't benefit from talking with a therapist about the impact of living with it. There also are some support groups. DBSA seems to have something in almost every city. Friends and family often show where I go on occasion. Maybe give it a shot to meet other spouses in your area. Oh, and you probably know this but, when he starts to get down, that's when to get him to see the pdoc, not after he's already there.