[cutenotcrazy]

Ok, so how did everyone else's family respond to your diagnosis? I Hid my problems so I guess it was hard to believe, but my whole family stopped talking to me, one friend completely cut off, one talks less to me, and everyone else kinda faded away. My family is coming around now, but I don't get it.

[(JD)]

OH my. I don't suffer with bipolar disorder..but I do have PTSD and all the stuff that goes with that (depression, anxiety etc)

No one in my family understands yet. I was disabled in an accident 19 1/2 years ago... and they still don't "get" it.

I know my "friends" disappeared for the same reason. Plus, the frustration of the friendship, well it was just too hard to be friends with me. (I also suffer with chronic pain.) I am "high maintenance."

I do my best, and keep going. Worrying about their ignorance, or being angry would only hurt me...

Welcome to PC!

[darkeyes]

I guess I was lucky, my oldest brother was DXed back in the 60's, so after my parents were educated, and my dad accepted it,they had no problem accepting it and me, but after all my ancestors have a history of it.
Mom accepted my brother's DX, but it took dad awhile, the fact that it was due to chemical imbalances and meds adjusted that, dad lost that old fashioned mental pic of some sort of early century assylum thing.
If possible try to educate them, above the posts here are some references/resources that may help.
If your medical center(s) in your area have a behavioural health dept., they can even help with literature, and even some group support meetings for the families of those who suffer with a mental disorder.
I wish you luck, and patience, it takes time.
Sincerely,
DE

BTW
Welcome to PC's Bipolar forum, as well as PC.

[Eleora]

My dad doesn't believe there is any such thing called "mental illness". He thinks it is something you can fix yourself. He's accepting of me and my issues as long as I am making steady improvement - set backs are not welcomed.

My mom has clinical depression so she is very accepting. Everyone in her family has some kind of mental health issue.

Everyone else in my family doens't know. They just think I am a little bit "off".

Best of luck with your family.

[cutenotcrazy]

My mom is actually doing pretty well, before she acted like I was just moody, now she understands its not my fault. My dad is weird about it, I swear hes bipolar, he thinks he is, but he wont do anything about it and acts funny if I say anything about me being that way. I sent everyone books and stuff but since I hid everything so well, they just wont believe it and give me the "oh, everyone gets a little sad or mad, or thinks that way" crap. They have NO IDEA!!!!!!! Even my husband is a little insensitive about it, but hes one of those that knows everything .... I just pray my kids aren't bipolar. Theres no problems in my husbands family and only four bipolars in mine and thats it for mental illnesses. Thanks for the responses. Ive been looking for someone to chat with who would understand all this. Its nice to have finally found people.

[TXMeme]

I found out I was Bipolar last year and having to tell my family was the most horrifying thing I'd ever done. My mom is a Psych nurse so she sort of understood, but everyone else just sort of said, "whatever" and went on with their daily lives. Now, one year later, I'm still fighting daily to get them to understand how I feel. Sometimes I think that trying to get them to understand and support me is worse than being Bipolar. I have absolutely no one to talk to when I'm down and no one who tries to understand and be there for me. I'm hoping to find some support here. I wish you all the best and thank you for listening.

[cutenotcrazy]

Its so frustrating how people can be about it. My worst thing is just having everyone think Im blowing things out of preportion, like Im just being a baby about something and Im not really bipolar. Why would I take these meds, go to doctors, why would I do this to myself. I even went and got a second opinion, went to two therapist and still people treat me like Im just over reacting to everyday life. I gave up after two months of trying to get people to get it. I dont tell anyone so if they dont know, they never will. Its too hard to explain it to people then deal with how they react and treat you. I actually had a girl compare bipolar to mental retardation. Like they were similar!!! But, I move on, its not too bad now. I have accepted how people can be. Its just hard sometimes dealing with my husband and best friend. They just dont get it and I dont think they ever will. And ever day I just wish they would. Ok, well, now Im getting down, so Ill perk things up a bit. I am doing better though. I was so miserable for like the age of 11 to 23 and now for the first time I am actually happy and can finally enjoy life. Its amazing. I can honestly say Ive never been happier. I now enjoy my kids so much more, am happier, and majority of the time am normal, which I never was before. So without the "life sentence" I never would have been fixed. To all of you I appreciate your responses and posts.

[TXMeme]

With some people on my father's side of the family I get alot of, "You're crazy!" I think when my aunt found out she was literally scared of me. Sort of like she thought I would snap any minute. I just always tell myself that people fear what they don't know. After I received my diagnosis last year I went out and ordered all sorts of information to give to members of my family so they could attempt to understand what goes on and just some suggestions on how to react to it all. I think they were caring and almost understanding for the first week and then it's like they expected my meds to "cure me." I have some of the same problems with my husband also....He is really trying harder and it's getting better slowly. His mother is very insensitive to the issue...It's like every little tiny mistake or even a big mistake I make she is the first to come forward and say, "Well, she's Bipolar she can't make good choices." I don't ever want to get to the point that my being Bipolar becomes a crutch for me. I have never used it for that and I see no good coming from starting to do that now. But after a year of trying medicine after medicine my doctor and I have finally found a combination that works for me. So I'm thankful that I'm getting to experience a "normal" state of mind for a little while...if it's actually correct to say "normal." I've been having a hard two weeks...I'm manic right now, all brought on by stress and lack of sleep. I've slept for roughly 60 hours in two weeks. And that's broken up into about 2-3 hours at a time. I'm temporarily taking two meds to get me through this and back on the right track. My husband has been supportive through this and my mom has been wonderful and caring.

I'm very happy to hear that things are looking better for you and you've gotten to where you are happy. It's amazing what time and prayer can do.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

[cutenotcrazy]

It was funny, I expected my family to be good about it and my in laws to be bad. But it flip flopped. Turns out my in laws have a friend thats bipolar. So they are very understanding of it. More so than my husband. But my mother in law gets a little weird about it, like she tears up if you talk about it and I think its about if the kids will be or not. She asks a lot of those type questions. My family at first ttreated me like I was nuts. All my relatives were like "hi, how are you? Are you ok? You doin' alright" and would like talk slow. And I remember I told my mom about this book about other bipolar young adults and she says "and theyre all ok? They have jobs and are normal?" AHHHH. Everyone keeps asking if Im gonna be able to work and do stuff and its like I stay home to take care of my young children, not because Im crazy. Im going to get a job once theyre in school full time. Ive got the depressed end of this fun stuff. I sleep. Alot. I shut down emotionally for months. I cry for no reason. I cry at everything. I get mad at everything. and so much more. Which I understand can be hard for my husband but it just irritates me when he says "and Im supposed to just put up with that?" Hes only 24 though, and Im 23, hopefully he'll mature, soon... Well, Ive rambled on long enough again. Thanks again for youre time. I hope you get some sleep. Thats gotta be rough.

my nurse aunt said " You don't need that stuff everybody has stress. just get over it, you still have to work"

I held my tounge but man was I upset.

[JHoughsPrincess]

Well I did lose my very best friend when I became BiPolar. I don't think she knew how to deal with having a sick friend. My husband has been my tower. He is soooooo understanding. My family has been extremely supportive but sometimes I think their expectations of how I should be doing are not balanced.

[sublime71137]

I don't have any extended family to tell, and I stopped seeing friends before I was even diagnosed because I got tired of trying to pretend I was ok when I wasn't. My inlaws have been good, they know but don't bring it up all the time, and are never ugly about it. They just roll with the punches and are glad they know WHY I get weird sometimes. My husband is wonderful, all he wants to do is help. He makes sure I stay on my meds

[Topher]

It was hard for my family not to accept my diagnosis 30 years ago because I was in and out of the hospital a half dozen times. They were relieved that I had Bipolar (I) because they said I had schizophrenia after my first manic episode (manic -depression , as it was called at the time, was far more treatable than schizophrenia). I was the one who fought the Dx for years, needlessly causing hospitalizations and ultimately the ruination of my marriage because I was too frickin proud to accept a MI diagnosis. I am cool with it now - even feel fortunate somehow that lithium allows me to lead a "normal" life with a condition undetected by those I choose not to disclose my brain chemistry to.

[cutenotcrazy]

I guess it just shows who really cares about you and who doesnt. My family is doing about the same . My mom has really become my major support, my best friend and I had it out and made up (in like an hour ) so now everything is back to normal with us, but everyone else is just in their own little worlds. My husband trys, but he thinks he knows it all so he tends to be pretty stupid and insensitive about it, but he was that way before so nothing changed hes a lazy bum, my therapist isnt so fond of him. Its kinda funny. But, yea, so I accepted it all now and moved on from the people who checked out.

[Polar]

I feel cutenotcrazy on so many levels.

[chooky]

hi cute,My darling partner of 19 yrs is having trouble understanding that I need the manic or at least semi manic to have any motivation,especially to succeed at a business I believe I can make happen,he was for a while getting pretty upset when I was up all hours as you do in the manic times,but seems to be coming around with that,He understandably is concerned that this could turn inot type 1,(I'm type 2)but he is really hacked off that I wont take meds for it,I want the manic and have virtually no motivation for anything without it,also of course the natural high is great,but I do take sleepers and am trying to manage this myself.Mother in law hasn't told anyone,friends have been great,I've explained to them the score about this,one of my brothers doesn't think I have anything wrong,I'm also sure I have and had adhd or at least add,think the Hyperactive has come out in the form of bi-polar.It is a big thing for family,partners to come to terms with,and overall my darling is going well with it.good luck to you all.

[chooky]

cute,I tell a lot of ppl,but only the ones who I think will listen and hear me out,I believe in education,and a lot of ppl just don't understand,sounds like your'e having a lot of that trouble.hang in there mate.It with luck is just going to take ppl time to get used to it,or learn and understand what it's all about.

[Ziggymuzik]

I am unsure of the family (I used to have accepting all this mess that has become my life) . I am trying and that is all that matters to me at this time is that if I don't "GET IT" , neither will they ..... Good Luck ,Cute
and hello again Chooky.

[cutenotcrazy]

Things have been going ok, the only thing was a few weeks ago I had my first major manic episode. I think the funniest part was everyones reactions yet again. I took it fine, it was just interesting. My father in law like totally stepped up and helped me out, but he had to step up, cause my husband stepped down. He chewed me out for being irresponsible for asking his dad to come and get the kids and for being a burden because of my moods and episodes and having to put up with me when Im like this. Then he calms down and I told my mom what happened and of course the rest of dwains family found out and now theyre all worried about me like im ill or something. Then they found out that my pdoc wants me to take another med on top of my two now and I wont. Its a sedative, Im not that bad, it was just a lot of stress and lack of sleep, and going to my therapist a week later than I should have gone. I forget to go as often as I need to. But I handled it all in stride this time. I won't lie, it was upsetting at times, but I didnt let it get to me like before.