Need advice

I'm new here and joined to have access to more info about bipolar disorder and hopefully get advice about how to handle things my daughter does. She is 21 and was diagnosed 6 days ago with bipolar disorder. She was hospitalized during a manic episode and is still there. She is on Geodon and Zoloft. Her mania has calmed somewhat but now she hasn't taken a shower the whole time she's been there and is still wearing the same clothes. She says she doesn't have any other clothes but I know she does because I took some to her. (We live an hour away from the hospital). This is so unlike her. She has always showered and washed her hair at least once a day. She won't go out of the house without showering. Is this typical of someone who's bipolar? We can only visit on certain days so I've not seen her but twice since she's been there and she doesn't seem to be overly depressed. She just wants to get out of the hospital. This has been her first manic episode so I'm not sure how to handle it. Do I just not say anything about taking a shower or should I encourage her to? I think I'm going to need a lot of advice in the future!

Hey Sadiepup,

Sorry to hear about your Daughter.

I would say she was maybe slightly Depressed. I tend to become "unhygienic" when I am in a Depressive state. I am normally one of those people who overly showers but I have tendancies to not shower if I am feeling low.

I know from my experiences my Mum tends to say "you having a shower today?" if I have missed a few days or so. Guess we do need maybe "reminded" that we need to shower especially if we are in a Depressive state

Ditto - I didn't shower one time, for a few days, when I was in hospital for depression - and my mother told me to

BB

In my opinion it's typical, I've went for 4 days before, being in a manic depressed state. Had to be coaxed to do that. Best wishes to you, you have came to the right site, there are good people here who will do their best to assist you.

I can understand how helpless you might feel in this situation. I'm surprised the hospital staff has allowed her to go so long without showering. The places I've been wouldn't have allowed that. One question about her clothes: when you brought them, did you give them to her or to the staff? The staff will usually need to go through the clothing to make sure there aren't things like belts or drawstrings in them. I would call the nurses' desk and find out whether or not she actually received the clothing. You can also ask to speak to her nurse and voice your concerns about her hygeine. Unfortunately, since she is 21, the nurse won't be able to give you any information unless they've been given permission to talk to you by your daughter. But you can talk to the nurse about your concerns.

This is a trying time for your family right now. I hope the hospital is having family meetings, so you can come together to learn how to help your daughter once she comes out of the hospital. Best wishes to you all.

I have talked to her nurses. they remind them to get their toiletries out of their "cubbyhole" for showering but evidently if the patients don't shower they don't make them. I do have permission to talk to the staff and I have been keeping in contact with them every day. The hospital she's in is an hour away from where we live and she can only have visitors for 1 hour 3 days a week. We have visited every time we could but the visit didn't go well tonight. She seems to have calmed down some from the manic state but is now very angry at us and blaming us for putting her in there. I told her social worker tonight that I'm afraid when she gets out she won't let me know if she's having problems because she will think I will put her back in the hospital. Social worker advised us to get temporary guardianship so we have the authority to do what is necessary for her. Has anyone else had to do this?