Okay so my girlfriend of 5 years has found out she now has bipolar, Can anyone help me understand what it is?

Question

My girl friend told me she has bipolar 2 weeks ago and im finding to very hard to understand. She tells me i dont understand what is wrong with her but she dosent explain it that well. What is bipolar? She now lives at the other side of yorkshire and i cant keep tabs on what shes doing while she is there all week as i only see her on weekends. The things she told me she did in summer worry me so much. Like waking up with only her knikers on, on a bench with 3 guys around her trying to wake her up and not knowing how she got there. She told me she had no shame about it ether and she just walked home and laughed it off. A part of me dosent want to accept that she has it but i want to stand by her. A part of me is angry at her for doing the things she did in summer and she tells me she wishes she never did them but she cant turn back time. And just blaims it on bipolar. Dose bipolar make you do things like that? How can i understand my girl friend without getting upset with her?

Answer 1

Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that causes severe mood swings. Think of the "mood continuum" as having two ends, one end being mania and the other end being depression. Depression is characterized by profound sadness or apathy, loss of interest in activities the person used to enjoy, crying spells, irritability, insomnia, appetite changes, weight changes, lethargy, etc. People who are severely depressed may have thoughts of suicide. If your girlfriend tells you she does, then you need to get her to a doctor right away.



Mania, on the other hand, feels like the total opposite. Mania is characterized by extreme euphoria or irritability, tons of energy, having no desire to sleep, being very talkative, racing thoughts, a rush of productivity and/or creative ideas, reckless behavior such as speeding, drug use, indiscriminate sex, etc., poor judgment and spur of the moment decisions such as spending lots of money on things the person doesn't need, feeling "untouchable" like nothing can hurt them, etc. Mania can escalate into psychosis, meaning the person will start having hallucinations and/or delusions.



There is also such thing as a mixed episode in bipolar disorder, meaning a person has the symptoms of both mania and depression at the same time. That might seem counter-intuitive, but it's not, it's an extraordinarily unpleasant situation to be in for the person experiencing the disorder. It feels like having your mind and body torn in half, because in some respects you are so deeply depressed that you want to die, but in other ways you are bouncing off the walls, unable to contain yourself.



Mood swings do not happen "at the blink of an eye" like so many people wrongly suggest. Mood episodes have to, by definition, last for at least a week (mania) or two (depression) to count as actual mood episodes, according to the DSM-IV-TR. Manic episodes may last for several weeks, and depressive episodes may last for weeks or months on end. These are not Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde mood shifts we are talking about, these are long-standing patterns of shifting mood over time.



I can't say whether or not your girlfriend's behavior over the summer was related to her bipolar disorder or not, nobody knows for sure but her. But it is totally possible that she did the things she did during a mood episode and was not really "aware" of her actions, or able to control them, because she was beholden to that mood state. Sometimes that happens to people who are not being treated for their disorder, even though it sounds like "just making excuses" to anyone else who has never experienced bipolar before.



That's not to say a person who has bipolar disorder has license to just do whatever they want because they have bipolar disorder, not at all. If your girlfriend has bipolar disorder then she has a responsibility to get herself treatment so that she does not have these severe mood episodes anymore. Medication can help a lot, it won't make the mood swings go away entirely but it does make them less frequent and less severe. Therapy can also be quite helpful in dealing with depressive episodes.



Here are some good, reputable websites with information about bipolar disorder:



NIMH: Bipolar Disorder

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/complete-index.shtml



Mayo Clinic: Bipolar Disorder

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bipolar-disorder/DS00356



WebMD: Bipolar Disorder Center: Symptoms, Types, Tests, and Treatments

http://www.webmd.com/bipolar-disorder/default.htm



NAMI: Bipolar Disorder

http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=54&ContentID=23037



I hope some of that information is also helpful to you. The best way you can help your girlfriend is by educating yourself about the illness. That way you know what to expect and what you can do to help make this as easy as possible on both of you.



Good luck!

Answer 2

Being bipolar can make you do some very very stupid things, but you must understand that it isn't all the time that she would be in the state of mind that causes behavior like that. People with Bipolar go through extreme mood swings for an extened period of time. So lets say on a scale of 1-10(1 being severely depressed and 10 being extremely happy or a Mania) normal people stay between about 3-7 and never go higher or lower. Someone with bipolar will stay between 3-7 for periods of time but they will also fall to a 1 or during their Mania's they will go to a 10. It is when they are in their Mania that they will do the very stupid things. Spending wreaklessly, sleeping with lots of people, drinking or doing drugs ect... They have racing thoughts, can't sleep, have a ton of energy, they talk excessively, have a short temper and can often turn phycotic (not everyone does though) They can also have Manic Depressive moods where they have both a mania and be depressed at the same time. This is the most dangerous stage because they have the will to kill themselves and the energy to do it. When they are in a depressed stage they are well you guessed it, depressed. They don't do anything, will sleep for days, eat a lot, will often crave sugar like crazy, be depressed with no reason for any of it. A mania will last up to 4 months without treatment and a depressed state will last up to 9 months if left untreated.



Bipolar does not mean they will be happy one second and sad the next, they do not have mood swings that quickly. They can however be very irritable where things will set them off easily during their mania. If she gets treatment she can control it and live a mostly normal life. If she leaves it untreated you could expect a world of drama.

Answer 3

Bipolar Disorder is a term from psychiatry. It is also called manic depression because people who have this disease are sometimes manic and at other times have depression. It is a kind of mental illness.

Sometimes, a person can experience something called mania. Mania is when a person's brain goes into a high-energy state. The other extreme is a low-energy state that is depression. "Bipolar" literally means "two poles" or two extremes in how much energy the brain has. When in a high-energy state, mania can cause extreme emotions such as panic attacks or extreme happiness such as euphoria.



When a person with Bipolar Disorder is manic, they might not think as hard about the choices that they make, and sometimes may do things like give things to people, or spend lots of money. This is because during a manic episode, a lot of people start to believe things that aren't really true, or get confused about what's real and what's made up. People can also become aggressive and possibly violent while manic, but this only happens in very, very bad cases, so it's not as common as some people think.



There are a few things that a lot of people start to believe when they have manic episodes. Sometimes, they might think they have lots and lots of money, when they really do not. Other times, the person who has a manic episode might think that people they knew are alive, even though the truth is that these people have died. Every person is different, so it's important to remember that these things do not happen to all people with Bipolar Disorder.





Like most mental illnesses, there are ways to treat Bipolar Disorder. Sometimes taking medicine or getting therapy can make it easier to control. The same treatments and medicines do not work for everyone, and it is not rare for people to have manic episodes when they stop taking their medicine because they feel like they can control their disorder. Things like this can make Bipolar Disorder a difficult illness to live with, but when people are educated about it, it is not quite as hard.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Bipolar would not explain what she did. I have several friends who have bipolar. One, whom I dated, was not medicated. From my contact with these friends, it is a chemical imbalance which causes severe mood swings. For example, the guy I dated had bipolar and was not medicated. I would talk with him in the morning and we would be laughing and happy and just enjoying life. The next minute he could just crash and be sad for no reason or at least one that made sense to him.

One night he called and we were conference calling another friend and we were laughing and making stupid jokes and having a good time. Then I had leave so that I could get my homework done. Not five minutes later I get a text from the friend we were conference calling that said he's all depressed now and he's got a gun and he wants to shoot himself. In a matter of minutes, my boyfriend went from high off of a happy life to severely depressed and wanting to end it. It can be exhausting dealing with someone who is bipolar and is not medicated.

I think it's great you want to stand by her. I think the most important thing is to let her know how much you care. Also, is she medicated? cause that may factor into understanding what she's going through. because if she's not it may make it harder for her to explain and you not get upset.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 5

Im bipolar, she isnt bipolar, she is a lying ****. she is using that for an excuse, she needs a way to explain the reasons for her actions, and therfore she blames being "bipolar" I cheated on my boyfriend first week we were together, and he forgave me... 7 months later! we have been together for 3 years now. happy as ever, he moved me to a different town, I did so much better so this probably is a good thing or she will end up in the shitty end of the stick... maybe im wrong idk just personal experience seeing it from a womans point of view! -- UPDATE , okay well the meds arnt that bad, I have no health plan and it barly makes a indent in my budget, and as far as them making her feel like a robot they should change it. And fck that psychiatrist **** its all lies, they make you feel worse and make you think you have more problems then you really do lol uhmm okay well i never told my boyfriend what happened, its just one of those things where your going to have to let it go, there is nothing you can do about it or it will eat you alive inside and you wont be able to have a relationship, just tell her, one more fck up and were done. thats what i was told, i think im a great girlfriend now!

Answer 6

First, let me commend you for wanting to stand by your girlfriend! It takes a lot of pacience and understanding of bipolar to be a "supporter". Bipolar disorder is due to chemical imbalances in the way that a person's brain cells communicate with eachother. It is usually inherited from a blood relative, but never chosen. It causes severe mood swings-from high and energized (manic) to low, sad & unmotivated (depressed). When someone with BP is in a manic state, they can do things that are pretty outlandish, to say the least; things that they would not normally do. The results of their actions during manic "episodes" or during depression (sadness, iritability, etc.) are what makes this disorder so debilitating.



The good news is that there are treatments, in the form of medication and counseling, so not all hope is lost! As your girlfriend gets the medication and counseling that she needs to fight this, she (and you) will learn that there are symptoms of when she is going into a manic or depressive state. The causes of these symptoms are what are called "triggers" and hers will be unique to her (usually they are due to positive/negative stress). In addition to medication and counseling, the key is for her to track her moods and learn what triggers affect her mood swings. Having a structured social schedule and structured sleep-wake habbits and avoiding (or not using) alcohol & drugs as self medication also helps emmensely!



Step 1 is for her to get proper medication/counseling and stick with it! Step 2 is for you BOTH to research BP as much as you can - the more you know about it the easier it is to deal with it. Step 3 is for both of you to find a support group(s). Both of you can beat this!



Good luck to you both!

Answer 7

here are numerous reasons why a once committed relationship would degenerate to one partner asking for a divorce. how to save your marriage https://tr.im/CEl6R



It could have been:



- an affair

- having been separated by a long distance for lengths of time

- conflict

- behavioral issues or psychological problems of one spouse

- even unmanaged addictions.



Whatever of these problems may be what is seen on the surface, the bottom line is that usually, barring any abuse or psychological problems that are best handled by a professional, a couple find themselves in danger of divorce when there is a loss of:



- communication,

- love

- and intimacy



in the marital relationship.

Answer 8

ummm hah i dont think being bipolar makes you do what she did in the summer . Being bipolar means you go from happy to sad then to pissy at the blink of an eye , even if nothing was done to that person . hope i helped , good luck ( :

Answer 9

My dad and brothers have the same thing my boyfriend did too they just switch moods at any random time so they could be sweet and nice then they could switch to being anger believe me it aint fun seeing bipolors when there mad ive gotten injured so many times

Answer 10

People with bipolar usually are happy one moment, and then sad the next, without reason. sometimes they do unexplained, crazy stuff out of stress/depression but laugh it off, trying to tell themselves they are fine.