Should i marry bipolar

Far too late for my marriage, I came across a fantastic set of questions to help with this. You can read about them here.

This might be where I failed the hardest of all. Remember the words of every flight attendant ever: In the unlikely event of a loss of cabin pressure, make sure your mask is on and working before helping others. The folks over at the Family Caregiver Alliance give some great advice about self-care:. Besides being insulting, this leads to two kinds of enabling:. Both are bad for your marriage and for the person you love. If you keep these things in mind and learn how to apply them to your relationship and mental health condition, you have a good chance.

Jason Brick is a freelance writer and journalist who came to that career after over a decade in the health and wellness industry. When not writing, he cooks, practices martial arts, and spoils his wife and two fine sons.

He lives in Oregon. Bipolar disorder runs in my family, but I didn't know that when I had my first manic episode. Well, mania and maybe episodes of depression, too, are putting your vows to the test. With the right tools, you can cope with whatever comes your way. You and your spouse may have knock-down, drag-out verbal matches.

They might go from feeling sad to feeling elated; from wanting loads of sex to having none; from having fun times filled with energetic activities to being unable to take out the trash. Or perhaps they go from saving money to wild spending sprees. Bipolar disorder , previously called manic depression, is a mental health condition known for sudden or intense changes in mood.

Someone with bipolar disorder may experience highs — mania or hypomania — that involve high energy, an increased sex drive, impulsivity, agitation, and even anger or irritability. Some people may also have lows, known as depressive episodes. There are three types of bipolar disorder: bipolar I, bipolar II, and cyclothymic disorder. Each type comes with its own set of similar symptoms, patterns, and cycling phases.

What might bipolar disorder look like? In an episode of mania, your partner may drive too fast or recklessly, overspend , act out sexually, or even become emotionally or physically abusive. On the other end, in a depressive episode they may be too depressed to get out of bed, work, or just perform everyday tasks around the house.

A small study in found a significant increase in marital distress among partners of people with bipolar disorder, including issues like:. The good news is that if your partner is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and moves forward with treatment, you can work together to make your marriage healthy and successful.

Another way to determine if a person has bipolar disorder is to consider his or her childhood. Keep in mind that adults with bipolar disorder may have experienced a childhood in which they were aware that their moods and behaviors were different from their peers, resulting in a sense of being different, disconnected, or outcast.

As a result they are likely to develop poor coping skills that do them an injustice as adults. Some of these coping mechanisms include:. Control is a subtle art, and often controlling people have been practicing it for decades. Examples of controlling statements include:. A significant proportion of those who abuse alcohol and narcotics have an underlying mood disorder, particularly bipolar disorder and depression. Overspending : During mania or hypomania, someone with bipolar disorder can find all sorts of reasons to rationalize spending gobs of money on whatever their hearts desire.

Some people who know they struggle with this choose to let their spouses control the money, particularly when they recognize a manic episode coming on.

This may involve the other spouse keeping the credit cards or even the car keys. When things are tough, take a deep breath and step back.

Build support. Caring for someone with a disease can keep you focused on his needs, but you also need your own sources of support. Joining a support group for family members of bipolar patients can help. Working with your own therapist may also be a good idea. Support from understanding family and friends is also invaluable. Mary has never joined a support group — and says she probably could have benefited from one — but she does find support in her friends.

Get away. Mary says part of what keeps her sane is her job, for which she occasionally travels. Despite the fact that her business trips often coincide with times when her husband stops taking his medications, she values her time away.