Daughter diagnosed with bipolar Posted: 02-18-08 13:16pm
I recently became re-acquainted with my
daughter, now 25, with two small children,
who told me she has been diagnosed with
bipolar disorder. She has therapy once a
week and is on a generic prozac, and after
the baby gets older and sleeping through
the night they will give her something to
help her sleep.
I just don't know how to respond to all of
this information. When she was growing
up, I knew there was something terribly
wrong, and she was admitted to a psych
facility for about a month, and put on
meds, but no diagnose was given. Taking
the meds didn't last as she stated she
didn't feel right on them. As the years
went by she got harder to handle, and
eventually went to live with her father.
She graduated high school with honors and
went off to college only to fall apart.
Wandered the streets for months on end,
and ended back with me. After about 1 1/2
years, she started the same crazy making
crap and I asked her to leave.
Now, finally, she has admitted she has a
problem and is getting treatment.
What, if anything, do I do to help her?
She has quite a handful with two small
children (2 and 3 months).
I don't want to enable her, as she need to
stand on her own, but I don't want to
trigger anything unnecessarily.
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Galaxy
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Joined: 15 Mar 2006 Posts: 514 Location: U.K,
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Posted: 02-18-08 13:28pm
I think there is no question that she
needs help. 'Standing on her own' can
come later. Try to help her for now -
she has a young baby that may be making
greater demands on her than she can cope
with. You should also help her put in
place some support from social services
and anything else she may be entitled to.
Good luck.
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CarolDiane
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Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 2396
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Posted: 02-19-08 11:42am
I would talk to her as a mother with love
and let her know there is hope out there.
She just needs to go get it.
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Georgia59
Moderator
Joined: 11 Apr 2007 Posts: 5557 Location: Along the Mississippi, USA
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Posted: 02-21-08 13:08pm
I agree with the above-
since bipolar disorder is not any type of
addiction or behavior problem, "enabling"
isn't something you need to really be
worried about. Your actions won't change
her illness, for better or for worse. But
your support can help her on her own path
to recovery.
Things you can do: Invite her and the kids
over for meals and such, volunteer to
watch the kids (when it is convenient for
you) on some sort of a regular basis, once
a week, once a month, whatever so she can
have some personal time, offer simple
emotional support with your kind words,
learn about her illness so you can
understand her better, and most of all,
make sure she is getting quality
treatment.
