I have had so many people wanting to know about “bi-polar disorder”, which is a polite way of saying manic-depression, that I decided to share what I dealt with, briefly to say the least. The disease should not be classified as a disorder, as it is a mental illness disease, inherited through genes and set off in adulthood. Not a lot was known about it for years, but as it has progressed through society and more studies have been done, as too many people who inherit this disease are rapidly becoming citizen’s of mental institutions and prisons.
Many parents do not ever want to admit that there is something wrong with their child. They see their behavior as obnoxious and punish them accordingly, but they certainly don’t understand the bigger picture.
A person who inherits this disease can lead a normal life for the most part, as long as they stay away from drugs, alcohol and anything that alters brain perception. The downfall of these people is addiction. Normally, as a child they are a little hyper and do things they shouldn’t or have been told that it’s wrong, but as they enter their teens and hormone changes they become depressed and seek something to make them feel better. Many teens turn to alcohol because they can get it from an older sibling or parent who doesn’t think to much about the effect it will have on their teen.
With the presents of available, illegal drugs, such as meth-amphetamines, more people are using that drug because it’s cheap, available and alters brain perception to make them feel better and more powerful over themselves. The problem with those born with this disease don’t really understand that the drugs and or alcohol abuse may not affect them mentally and physically until they are in their 30’s. It does eventually become apparent to those dealing with that person that something has changed within them and they are acting differently by lying, cheating, stealing, becoming distant and abusive and above all paranoid to normal things going on around them that they blew out of proportion and have fed themselves with unreal situations that really weren’t happening.
Personally, I have had several people in my life who were diagnosed as being bi-polar and a few who are bi-polar that just won’t admit there is something wrong with them. Of course, there is medication for this disease, if they take it, which many just don’t. The extreme of manic-depression leads those to obsess with suicide and or killing others because they have become paranoid and or schizophrenic.
After dealing with my ex-husband’s extreme bi-polar disease that eventually brought him to suicide it really hasn’t been that hard to recognize it in other people I deal with on a daily basis.
The sad part of all of this is my ex’s parents denied there was ever anything wrong in their family, yet his aunt died in a State Hospital from the the same disease. My ex-mother-in-law would never talk about any of it and hid all the facts from her children, because she was embarrassed over her husbands sister who had this disease. My ex-father-in-law Never talks about his past because he doesn’t want to deal with it or resolve it.
What goes around comes around because my ex-mother-in- law was the one who found her son hanging from the ceiling in her garage when she came home from work.
Don’t be stupid and deny the problems in your family history. Deal with it, accept it and help those who just can’t help themselves. Giving from your heart and helping others in need will make you a stronger and more loving person on this planet and it just may save your children from having to deal with ultimate drama that they shouldn’t have in their life. They deserve better. You brought them into this world, it’s your job to take care of them, regardless of the circumstances going on around you.
The Path Beyond 