[x_BabyG_x]

Normally I'm really chilled out with The Boy, we have a very comfortable relationship and we are quite open towards each other. I have good days and bad days with my bipolar but this week has been very harsh on me.

Its like any single emotion I experience is on the extreme end of things!! I got upset at him as its our anniversary this weekend and there is no indication of him even making the effort to do something with me. We already cancelled our little short break away at the Lakes as hes started a new job and can't get time off work to go - perfectly understandable. I said I still want to celebrate and now its like hes not even arsed!

So I have been pissy and grumpy this week with him and the other night I just went full blown psychopath on him and turned nasty!

Now I don't know whether these feelings inside me are justifiable (as I know any girl would be upset of their partner made them feel unnapreciated on their anniversary) but the rage inside me about the situation just feels ridiculous.

How do you seperate normal emotions from bipolar emotions??

I feel like crap.

[sorand0m]

I can only speak for myself but I find it really hard to understand what a "reasonable" response to something that irks me is. Bipolar is emotion based and it is going to be struggle with a reasonable response to situations that elicit emotion. I would imagine that even without the bipolar I would be pissed at a similar situation. As for the all out rage, that's probably the illness. I'm a ticking time bomb when it comes to something that irritates me.

[Capriciousness]

I agree with sorand0m

I don't know. I get so sick of trying to understand myself! I often try to ask friends if my reaction seems healthy or too much. In general yes I think I take it over. I've worked to try to keep it in check though it is def a work in progress.

But I have to say that my husband doing nothing at all about our anniversary would really set me off. I obviously don't know exactly what you said and did and I am a Bipolar chick too so maybe not the best to say what it and isn't normal ha! But I think A reaction was appropriate. Was yours over the top? Probably maybe.

I try really hard to not say anything "mean" but I do not always succeed.

I always thought I just had an um fiery nature but it seems like a lot of us with Bipolar do.

Will he be cool if you tell him all of this?

I told me husband I didn't need to do anything big for my birthday and he took that as an okay to not do ANYTHING for my birthday. And my whole family was puking anyway so I had to suck it up but I think I had a frustrated tantrum at some point. Totally justified.....

[Disorder7]

From my bipolar point of view, it's okay to get angry and have emotions. I think it's okay to express them. "Normal" people express anger all of the time.

What's not okay is what I do when in a rage. I break stuff and physically attack people. Hitting someone is never okay. So, if you only spewed out a few nasty words and didn't put your hand on him, I'd say you're doing better than a lot of others. If you ended up punching him, then yeah, you went too far. You were wrong.

But please take my opinion with a grain of salt. I have psychotic episodes, so my opinion may not be the best one.

Originally Posted by x_BabyG_x

How do you separate normal emotions from bipolar emotions?

You don't. That's why the disease is so insidious and difficult to accept.

[Row Jimmy]

I wasn't able to separate my emotions - that's why I went to get help. There was *obviously* something wrong with me when I flew into a rage over the smallest issues.

[Homeira]

In your situation I would have been pissed off. As far as overreacting goes, well, that is part of the illness I think.
But just because one has BP, doesnt mean that every emotion we experience is a symptom. Yes, BP causes overreactions, and sometimes irrational anger, but there is also something called healthy anger.
Most people (at least women) I know would be really upset by that. So I would call it healthy anger.
Anger is a normal emotion, and it is healthy to let it out. It has to be room in a relationship for that.
I find that sometimes every emotion I have gets related to BP. But people who do not have BP can get royally pissed off as well...