Advice and support - husband just been diagnosed with Bipolar 1

Hi @Cloud9

It is an awfully confusing time when bipolar enters our loved ones lives and things change.

There is a lot of grief in a diagnosis both for the patient and their loved ones and as with a lot of chronic conditions can put a strain on the most resilient of relationships.

I am assuming as his in in hospital hubby is in an acute episode and as it is "early days" in relation to his diagnosis. He may as not yet see the benefits of including you in his care. (It is well documented that appropriate carer support leads to better outcomes).

Hopefully he has given his permission for you to be contacted and the treatment team are in communication with you. They should be able to provide you with information about supports available to you. Even without permission, as a caregiver, you are still entitled to generic information. If he is in a public hospital there are rules about working with caregivers, particularly if he is involuntary.

In very remote areas the Flying Doctor provides mental health services in conjunction with GP services. (https://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/what-we-do/mental-health/

There are online and over the phone support services available. Carers Australia offer a number of free counseling services which can be done over the phone ( http://www.carersaustralia.com.au) and I believe GROW are soon to have online meetings (https://www.grow.org.au/join-a-grow-group/). I am not sure if these will be for patients only or for carers but perhaps worth checking out.

Tele consults are often used for specialist or psychology services and ramping up your own care might be helpful. A lot of us carers do see counselor or psychologists to help us cope with the ups and downs of our loved ones and to provide psych education so we provide appropriate support.

Other organisations may also provide services, if you let me know what state you are in I can send you a list.

My husband has a BPii+ diagnosis (more depression, less mania), some of us seasoned travellers, feel free to ask anything at all.

Darcy

Hi,

Thankyou for your reply. I am going to give carers Australia a call and see how I go for a bit of support.

When I went with my husband for admission to the hospital he told them I have permission to talk to anyone there about his meds, treatment, how he is going etc. He has been there 2 weeks now and nobody is keeping me updated with how he is going except him and I am not sure if I can believe some of what he is saying. Every time I have called I get a different nurse who most of the time appears to not know what is going on. I have been trying to get in contact with his treating Psychiatrist but she has not phoned me back. He is also not getting any one on one therapy in regards to living with bipolar and is only going to group which is revolves around anxiety and depression. I am worried for him. This is all new to me so I don’t know what to expect from him being in hospital.

I am heartbroken. I just want my husband back. I feel like I have lost him forever. I have barely seen the husband I know in many many months. I’ve had a couple of moments but then he is gone again. He told me this morning “I miss being me”. Will he ever come back? He has been on his medication now at a therapeutic level only for about a week or so. How long can it take until he starts to become stable again?

@Cloud9

Meds can take a while to work (varies between patients) and it is important to understand that they are not a cure but rather the goal is to reduce the severity of mood swings enabling a patient to function better. Not all meds work for all patients either so it can often be trial and error to find something that works and is acceptable (a lot of trial and error in our case 😬.) My Mr Darcy has a paper mood chart to monitor his moods but there are online apps available too. Mr D is not at all medically literate and I am the one that keeps an eye on interactions for the meds he is on - i.e. should the need arise for pain relief (NSAIDs are out), antifungals are another potential problem for us - you can check the CMI for this.

Meds are not without side effects and this can lead to non compliance in a lot of patients. While the risk.v benefit should have been explained to your man (along with the necessary monitoring needed) it is important to have open communication on the subject as there are a few options available. As you are possibly aware the word 'recovery' is used in MI whereas 'remission' is probably more reflective of what is achievable.

Whilst one on one therapy sessions have not been started, hopefully the premise of taking responsibility to take steps to manage ones disorder is being instilled. Having a safe place whether it be group or individual counseling where learning how to move forward and not be stuck in the dysfunctional responses as a result of childhood trauma is an integral part of the recovery process and hopefully psychology sessions will be set up prior to discharge.

BP is a bit like diabetes in that to maximize wellness it takes more than just meds to manage the condition. Lifestyle factors such as sleep hygiene, alcohol restriction, exercise, stress reduction etc. all make a difference. Looking at what can be gained from these changes rather than focussing on loss can be helpful.

There is a lot of grief in a diagnosis both for the patient and their carer. Accepting the new reality can be difficult. As you say we want our old husband's back. The approach that worked best for was reassuring my husband I was there for him, I would support and encourage him to live well in spite of his diagnosis, tackling issues together as they crop up. It is not all doom and gloom and there is still enjoyable life to be had.

Setting boundaries around what is and is not acceptable behaviour might be necessary to help protect ones heart. Things done in depression are often easier to forgive than the excessive spending, sexual transgressions or other offences done in mania.

Coming on the forum to vent is one of the ways a lot of us carers deal with the negative emotions. There are also social threads as we often need things to lighten things up a bit as the cares we have can be a bit heavy duty, are you a dog or cat person?

PS @Cloud9

On Friday evenings they have a "Friday Feast" on the lived experience side. They usually pick a travel destination for a virtual visit.

Hello @Cloud9 and welcome to the forum

My husband has Bipolar 11 and inherited depression and anxiety

when my mr shaz was in hospital he only wanted me and his daughter there , no one else

we live 60 kms away from the hospital so I was able to stay atthe red cross accodation which was nextto the hospital

and they also had a family meeting which is was just meand mr shaz

@Former-Member

How are things going @Cloud9

Hi,

Finally back after a little bit. My husband became somewhat stable on his medication and left the facility he was in after 6 weeks. The place he was in is terrible, he recieved no education about bipolar the whole time he was in there, I heard from the treating psychiatrist ONCE in the whole time he was in there. He came out with no new knowledge on his illness and no management plan. I organised for him to start seeing a psychologist that specialises in bipolar so hopefully that will help. He has seen her once now and has another appointment Monday.

The last few days have been terrible. I found out some more of the things that he did while manic and I am devastated. He has lied and lied and lied the whole way through the mania and was Very convincing. I cannot remember if I said in the original post that we had separated for 2 months and that is when he went into a full manic episode, when we got back together I asked him if he had any sexual contact with anyone while we were separated. He swore up and down that he hadn’t. It was very believable. I have come to find out he hired prostitutes and slept with a random person off tinder during that time and I am just so shocked and upset. I understand it was a product of the mania and just shows how extreme things can get and we also were not together at the time, however I made choices to have sexual contact again with him when we did reconcile based on what he told me at the time which was that he hadn’t been with anyone. If I had known he had I would have insisted on an STD test. He took away my right to an informed choice with his lying, I am deeply troubled by that.

Since he he has become more stable he is now very embarrassed and ashamed of what he did during his mania but I am just so hurt about all the lying. He was extremely convincing during that time and I fully trusted him. He volunteered some of this information to me about what he had done which I recognise as he is trying to be honest now but I’m just so confused by everything. Some of it I found out myself and he had just been hiding it from me. Is lying common during manic episodes? He told me all sorts of stuff that wasn’t true, he was living two lives almost. It is heartbreaking to know he could look me in the face and openly lie so easily to me at the time like my feelings and emotions as a human and his wife meant nothing to him. He only cared about himself.

Thngs are still messed up as the past week he has spiralled into a depression now and was having some dark thoughts. We had no option but to call the psychiatrist that treated him in the mental health facility that I feel is useless and he has had to go back in there today. I am currently working on him getting a referral to a better psychiatrist who works out of a different hospital which is apparently better but it all takes time and he needed to go somewhere immediately. They are adding in another medication for the depression apparently.

i am having thoughts that this is just too much for me in regards to the relationship. I’m at this horrible place where I logically understand he was manic and not himself yet the lying is still lying and do not feel I can ever trust him again. There has been a lot of damage done to the relationship due to the manic episode, it is basically destroyed. If we continue on it will have to try be a full rebuild of a new relationship, the old one is gone. I feel disgusted when I think about all the things he did during the mania, I feel sorry for him though cause he also feels that way. I don’t know if he could ever gain my trust again, if I can handle being in a relationship where I feel like this could just happen again anytime and if I can get over the thoughts about what he did while manic.

Im lost and confused and I wish none of this ever happened.

I forgot to mention that in his first stay in the mental health facility he was also diagnosed with mild autism. Little bit of a shock but when thinking/reading about it, it definitely fits.

Our lives have totally turned upside down, a year ago he had a very successful career in a high paying job for a global company. Today he is unemployed, in a mental health facility and has been advised to never work in that profession again as it is too dangerous for himself and others. I am working to keep everything going. It is tough

I can't offer you any advice but I feel for you and hope you get some answers. xx

Thank you so much. Just feel incredibly sad.