Bipolar Depression

during a manic epison how does a one make decisions?.from the conscious mind or somewhere else.durinjg manic times my wife seems to make rational ,conscious decisions about unrational things.i can elaborate if needed,hopefully some one knows what i mean.

From personal experience, my decisions during a manic episode come from "somewhere else". The person taking over and making the decision is not me, but deep down, I know the decision is wrong - more time than not. Is your wife on medication? My husband has been very supportive since I was diagnosed in Feb 2007. The main trigger for my episodes was stress so I quit my job last month. Have you or your wife been able to identify her triggers? Knowing what they are is very helpful in dealing with the episode and/or lessing the effects.

tahnks for responding,i wasn,t sure if anyone understood my question.alot of it just doesn,t make sence though.yes she is on meds,just dx'ed in sept,she is on lithium and zyprexa.was on depakote and geodon,was,nt working to well.she was rapid cycling daily.still does,but not as bad.its all still new and still sinking,actually i,m still dealing with the aftermath of the mania that resulted in the dx.
short version of that is ,I guess the normal for bp,cheating,suicide attempts,2 baker acts,1 arrest,loss of job,destroying items in house.oh did i mention it was all my fault!.
anyway as far as triggers,well stress of course,however being dx'ed with boarderline personality disorder also,alot of her stress is self inflicted.

thanks for the help.

Well, just remember it's not your fault, it's not anyones fault. When they are able to find the right combination of meds for her, I'm sure she will be thankful for you sticking by her side and encourging help for her issues. Have you contacted any local help groups for spouses dealing with a BP loved one? Researching the internet, I have found a few online too.

I know you probably do not want to hear this, but if she continues the behavior described (suicide attempts, cheating, arrest, destroying things) it might be a good idea to speak to her doc about inpatient care. The last thing I'm sure anyone wants is for her to seriously or fatally hurt herself.

Regarding her self inflicted stress, when I was diagnosed with BP, I sunk into a deep depression. I felt like I was abnormal and a freak BUT the more I got on the internet and read up on BP and what causes it, the better I felt about myself. I realized I did not "catch" it and it is a medical issue.

Good luck.

thanks again,
as far as the nasty behavoir,its stopped due to meds.she just had another adjustment today.i was seeing more differences in moods from day to day,so dr adjusted.i guess what i feel guilty about is not pushing the issue 8 years ago when similar events happened.perhaps this latest episode could have been prevented.but we'll never know,so just move on.

what really makes it hard is she quit her job,so she lost medical insurance.all this expense is out-of-pocket.not much help seems to be available for us with bills.i make too much income to get medical assistance but not enough to live.just cant win.
the closest support group i,ve found is 50 miles away,but still looking.

i guess it all works out,just right now i cant even see a light at end of the tunnel,even if its a train coming,atleast its something.

Rob,

In my opinion, the definition of a true mania is psychosis. In my case I lose touch with reality. I will know I'm getting more and more manic, but when I get to the point I no longer recognize it, it's full blown mania. When manic I can slide in and out, even experience depression, while not being able to control my racing thoughts and distorted thinking. This is a long way of saying that any decisions made during a period of mania are suspect. A person's mind is not always working right, and so many of the things we do are in pursuit of relief - "self medication". This can include the obvious drug and alcohol abuse, but also many other things that feed a manic need.

On the positive side, we're often a lot of fun to be around, and like my wife says "it's been a hell of a ride".

All the best to you and your wife.