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Originally Posted by BethRags
How incredibly kind and decent your post to me is, fern. Of all the possible situations in life I never dreamed that my daughter and I would ever be anything but the dearest of friends - as we always were (in addition to being mother and daughter).
Your experience is interesting...that your mom cut off contact with you, not vice-versa. I thank you for sharing your experience with me.
I continue to send things to her by post, since that's the only way I have to communicate with her. She has never responded. It's been 11 months, so far. I am shattered and grieving every moment, even in my sleep. But one tremendously wonderful thing that's come from our estrangement is that my son and I have become much closer. So perhaps that's what this is all about, ultimately.
Thank you 
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You're welcome. It was interesting for me to experience. I was a young adult when it happened, but it was very disturbing for me to be abandoned by a parent. She was going through an incredibly difficult time and she didn't want to accept she was bipolar. I was very scared for her and begged her to seek treatment. I triggered her and she asked me to let her go. It turned out she was most likely right. She was manic, but that was over 15 years ago and she has been stable ever since. It is likely that she is not bipolar. She could have fought to prove that differently, but I understand why she went out 'kicking and screaming like she did'. She felt like she was fighting for her life and anyone who got in the way was pushed aside. It was incredibly desperate, but her mind and her life completely fell apart. I can now appreciate the choices she made even though I wish things had gone differently.
Fast forward 16 years and I lose my own mind in a psychotic episode. Many of the things that happened to her happened to me. I was scared of falling apart the way she did and my exact fears were realized. I too was diagnosed as bipolar even though a lot of it didnt fit. I went with it though and sought treatment. I did my best to be as healthy as possible and changed my life without pushing everyone away. My doctors noticed something about my case was different in time and they now question my diagnosis. They are taking me off meds and I hope to be stable for a long time the way my mother has. My mom supported me the whole way even though I made very different choices than she did. Same road, but she took a car and I learned to fly by watching her. I'm very grateful to her. She did the best she could and she inspires me to do the best I can all the time.
She and I were very good friends when this all happened. I lost a mother and a best friend. Like I mentioned I was very afraid of getting sick myself. Part of me wonders if your daughter is atruggling with that herself. Give it time. There's still a tremendous amount of love there. It morphs, but it doesn't die. Hold onto hope Beth!