My life partner has Bipolar ii

Good morning @Shaz51

Have a brother and niece visiting, busy times.

@Mrsjones I don't have any experience re: insurance claiming, hope it goes ok.

hello and hugs @Former-Member , @Mrsjones , @Jay-e , @outlander , @Determined

after my fasting and ultrs scan this aftheroon

Mr Shaz is talking all about his anxiety, fears, disappointments etccccc

I am tired but

mr shaz is still going on and on about his MI , he wanted more info about bipolar and bipolar 11 ------ awwwwww

ohhhhhh @Former-Member , @Mrsjones , @Jay-e , @outlander , @Determined

after today , I am wishing mr shaz would stop talking about his bipolar 11 xxxx

@Shaz51

When I began talking in a positive way with regard to living well in spite of a diagnosis and doing what we can to manage it, Mr D did have a good grump about this which I just ignored as I understand it takes a looong time for them to come back after their attempts but I did empathise and stress that it takes ongoing management which did start doing (although no longer sees therapist) Ask I know you do, I gently encourage when he does things (survived another night of his dreadful cooking for tea - but hey, he tries). I figure Mr D talks so rarely about it, that l do listen and observe.... will (re ?)tag you in talk re BP - would the swashbuckler be amenable to watching it?

@Shaz51 @Former-Member @Mrsjones @outlander @Determined it can be tiring can't it, when we're going through our own crap as well. Big hugs @Shaz51 I hope you get some well deserved rest.

I have my first counselling appointment tomorrow, feeling apprehensive and have had thoughts of "things are good at the moment, maybe I won't worry about it" but then I check myself and I know that a) it won't always be good but when it is might be the best time for me to improve my coping skills so I can deal better when there is a down cycle; b) I should model good behaviour around managing my anxiety in both good and bad times.

Hope you guys are all doing well today xx

@Jay-e

I feel preventative therapy is good therapy, getting into good habits to manage our own mental health and as you allude to, foster resilience for the not so good times. A bit like servicing the car regularly rather than only having it attended to when it breaks down.

The way I responded to our crisis was textbook stuff for people who had experienced similar life events to what I have and as a result my counselor was able to help me enormously in other aspects of life, even though in many ways it as very much linked to Mr D's MI. I am in the process of finding a new counselor (but have been able to tap into limited counselling with the carer gateway) as I really feel it important to have those maintenance sessions.

@Former-Member that's a great point, my anxiety is my own issue to work on but is triggered severely at times by the symptoms of MsJ's down cycles. It all links together somehow doesn't it?!

It is all interlinked @Jay-e

I know Mr Darcy blamed himself for me needing to see a therapist as he feels if he hadn't attempted that it would not have been necessary. Yes, I did start getting counseling after this but it very quickly moved away from becoming about him and have reassured him that it has been helpful for me in relation to other life matters. Again, along the way the process was interlinked with other life events and I guess that I had the desire to change things about myself that were beginning to happen that I did not like (I did not want to become bitter). Over time there has been a noticeable marked reduction the anxiety I have felt. For me it was a bit like exercise - after one session at the gym expecting immediate signs of muscle tone is unrealistic - but with sustained effort this begins to happen and friends began start noticing that things were gradually changing, I was laughing more and I did get comments as to how much better I was managing. Got over the hump in my grief where I could stop talking about what had happened and began taking an interest in other areas of life.

Thank you @Former-Member , @Jay-e , @Mrsjones , @Determined

I actually like Mr shaz talking about his bipolar 11, he and I are understanding more which is good

He would never tell me anything before

Mr shaz blames himself too for all my problems

Last night he even wanted me to open a new thread on here and write everything he said on it OK

After dinner I was already to start a thread and then he has kinda changed his mind

@Shaz51

Battling kidney disease + diabetes + more whilst running a small business that enables you & Mr Shaz to earn income is no mean feat.

Gentle encouragement Shaz, sometimes we do wish the moments of wanting to talk comes at a more convenient time.