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shutterbug · 02-26-2008, 01:22 AM

sorry if i came across harsh....i'd just woken up and was feeling pretty ill. I should prolly hold off on giving out responses until i've had my morning java! LOL

Barb makes an excellent point in that most of us here are not docs. I personally try to take my own health into my own hands as much as possible and read/research as much as i can about things on my own and that way i have a better idea of things that might be going on with me on a daily basis. I personally don't understand why monthly visits with our psych docs is acceptable....especially considering we only spend a few minutes with them during that monthly visit as it is!

I think the thing to understand with a lot of this mental illness stuff is that nothing is really consistant. By that i mean....I had my first major depressive episode in college and should have been diagnosed with bp then, but wasn't so i didn't stay on any anti'ds or anything (especially since i've always hated pills)....and i lived my life totally fine, just like everyone else for the next 7 years!

So i spent about a year showing signs, symptoms and then suffering greatly from my illness....and then *poof* everything was back to normal and i thought nothing was wrong and hadn't a clue that i'd end up eventually going through the same thing sometime in the future.

I guess i'm saying that because all of those in your family who have been diagnosed with bp may not even know that entirely themselves either, but major episodes come and go.....and so even if medicated properly now...we can think we are good from here on out, but usually that is not the case. With bipolar I, it IS much easier to stay stable longer and without the severe trip-ups that bipolar IIs tend to go thru much more often, but the fact remains that nothing is ever a "for sure thing" with this stuff...unfortunately. So they may not be on anti-psychotics now, or haven't been thus far, but that absolutely does not mean that a time won't come when one is needed in the future.

As for your son....if he had a break in reality, however brief, then an anti-psychotic med is quite apropriate in my opinion. As for your question of a week-long mania....they can easily last that long....and longer. There have even been people on here who have logged on to ask questions about how to get help for loved ones who were totally in complete psychotic mania for long periods of time and refused help because they were sooooo not in reality.

My suggestion would be this....educate yourself and your son as much as possible and continue that education in the understanding that it's the most important thing he can do to ensure his future health and happiness on the basic level. If he's not mentally healthy then everything else isn't going to go according to plans he has for his own future. Right? I'm not trying to scare you, or him, just emphasis the importance of making this a priority in his life...it has to become a basic self-care part of his life that includes daily meds, weekly theapy and monthly pdoc visits (and that's the minimum). But it's really no different than if he had diabitis or anything similar that required regular attention for healthy daily living.

My next suggestion is this....there are many sites like NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness-The Nation's Voice on Mental Illness-Formerly National Alliance for the Mentally Ill that offer not only tons of information, but also contracts. They have a specific name, but i can't recall it. Basically, it is a contract that you and your son sit down and fill out together where he makes some decisions about how he wants things to be handled should he loose touch with reality in the future and become in need of hospitalzation again. It's a contract that he basically signs for you and himself giving permission for you to step in should he get to that point again.

There are a ton of resources out there to help you both through this and NAMI is a great place to start.

Also....it would be beneficial if you and/or him find and download a "mood chart" and fill it out according to how his moods seems to be each day. That could DEFINETLY help get him diagnosed quicker and also help with med changes and such. You should also be able to find the mood chart at nami.org and also at www.dbsalliance.org

I don't know if i've answered your specific questions or not, but feel free to ask again if i haven't. And remember....this is all just my own personal opinion and i'm not a doc.

lov and hugs,
Jenna

02-26-2008, 01:22 AM	#6 (permalink)
shutterbug A picture's worth a 1000 words Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: With any luck, I'm lost in a view finder Posts: 2,947 Blog Entries: 5	sorry if i came across harsh....i'd just woken up and was feeling pretty ill. I should prolly hold off on giving out responses until i've had my morning java! LOL Barb makes an excellent point in that most of us here are not docs. I personally try to take my own health into my own hands as much as possible and read/research as much as i can about things on my own and that way i have a better idea of things that might be going on with me on a daily basis. I personally don't understand why monthly visits with our psych docs is acceptable....especially considering we only spend a few minutes with them during that monthly visit as it is! I think the thing to understand with a lot of this mental illness stuff is that nothing is really consistant. By that i mean....I had my first major depressive episode in college and should have been diagnosed with bp then, but wasn't so i didn't stay on any anti'ds or anything (especially since i've always hated pills)....and i lived my life totally fine, just like everyone else for the next 7 years! So i spent about a year showing signs, symptoms and then suffering greatly from my illness....and then poof everything was back to normal and i thought nothing was wrong and hadn't a clue that i'd end up eventually going through the same thing sometime in the future. I guess i'm saying that because all of those in your family who have been diagnosed with bp may not even know that entirely themselves either, but major episodes come and go.....and so even if medicated properly now...we can think we are good from here on out, but usually that is not the case. With bipolar I, it IS much easier to stay stable longer and without the severe trip-ups that bipolar IIs tend to go thru much more often, but the fact remains that nothing is ever a "for sure thing" with this stuff...unfortunately. So they may not be on anti-psychotics now, or haven't been thus far, but that absolutely does not mean that a time won't come when one is needed in the future. As for your son....if he had a break in reality, however brief, then an anti-psychotic med is quite apropriate in my opinion. As for your question of a week-long mania....they can easily last that long....and longer. There have even been people on here who have logged on to ask questions about how to get help for loved ones who were totally in complete psychotic mania for long periods of time and refused help because they were sooooo not in reality. My suggestion would be this....educate yourself and your son as much as possible and continue that education in the understanding that it's the most important thing he can do to ensure his future health and happiness on the basic level. If he's not mentally healthy then everything else isn't going to go according to plans he has for his own future. Right? I'm not trying to scare you, or him, just emphasis the importance of making this a priority in his life...it has to become a basic self-care part of his life that includes daily meds, weekly theapy and monthly pdoc visits (and that's the minimum). But it's really no different than if he had diabitis or anything similar that required regular attention for healthy daily living. My next suggestion is this....there are many sites like NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness-The Nation's Voice on Mental Illness-Formerly National Alliance for the Mentally Ill that offer not only tons of information, but also contracts. They have a specific name, but i can't recall it. Basically, it is a contract that you and your son sit down and fill out together where he makes some decisions about how he wants things to be handled should he loose touch with reality in the future and become in need of hospitalzation again. It's a contract that he basically signs for you and himself giving permission for you to step in should he get to that point again. There are a ton of resources out there to help you both through this and NAMI is a great place to start. Also....it would be beneficial if you and/or him find and download a "mood chart" and fill it out according to how his moods seems to be each day. That could DEFINETLY help get him diagnosed quicker and also help with med changes and such. You should also be able to find the mood chart at nami.org and also at www.dbsalliance.org I don't know if i've answered your specific questions or not, but feel free to ask again if i haven't. And remember....this is all just my own personal opinion and i'm not a doc. lov and hugs, Jenna __________________ I'M FINE!! Fanatically Insecure Neuratic & Emotional Bipolar/Depression support: 1-800-950-NAMI(6264).