Today is a much calmer day for me. I saw my psychiatrist in the morning. He gave me good advice. He recommended I write up a timeline and summary of concerning behaviors of my Dad that my siblings and late mother observed over his lifetime. I really want to be sure my dad gets a very well thought out diagnosis, finally, in addition to the whole addiction counseling thing. My siblings and I believe strongly that my father has bipolar disorder, but my father is unwilling to even allow that to be considered. However, he may be taking the wrong medication. No matter what the final verdict is on his diagnosis, he must be taking the right medication.

I sent a first draft of the above to my sister. Her reaction wasn't that great, at first. We argued a bit. I compromised a bit. I called the IOP and left a message asking if I could send my finalized document to the doctor Dad's meeting with, beforehand. If I can't, I may just put the thing in an envelope and slip it to the doctor after Dad's meeting with him.

My psychiatrist suggested I tell Dad's upcoming IOP doctor that we all think he has bipolar disorder. I'm a little reluctant to do so very directly. Instead, the document I created includes the family history, which is all bipolar disorder, and numerous "concerning behaviors" that are clear bipolar.