Building and maintaining your marriage when your spouse has bipolar can be challenging. Check out the articles below for personal stories, practical advice and tips on maintaining healthy relationships with your husband, wife or partner.
Having a partner over-involved in your recovery plan can result in frustration, resentment, and confrontation. When you collaborate though, you can work as a team on your recovery. I couldn’t stand my spouse “helicoptering.” It was part of his over-involvement in my care which disempowered, discouraged, infantilized and enraged me. I admit that at times...
READ MORE
Parenting is tough even without a bipolar diagnosis. However, there are strategies that can help you maintain healthy family bonds through the challenges. I am the proud father of two daughters, age 23 and 20. My girls are each the “apple of my eye” and anyone who knows me understands that this is the...
READ MORE
Sometimes it helps to trust that our loved-ones can provide valuable insight into our behavior to help us cope with symptoms. By Julie A. Fast My mom is by far my biggest support. She has always been here for me even when she had no idea how to help me. It has been...
READ MORE
My husband could say I am “worth it” despite my bipolar illness, but he does not. Instead, we both say that is a question that should never be asked. When it is below zero and I am ice fishing on a frozen Alaskan lake, I concentrate all my energy on catching fish. Each time...
READ MORE
When you have bipolar disorder, no medication can truly change your attitude or thinking, as I learned from my late father. It takes hard work. My dad was the first person I knew who had bipolar disorder. It was back in 1975 that he had a “nervous breakdown.” For months he battled severe depression....
READ MORE
I often wondered what parenting with bipolar would be like, but nothing could prepare me for the reality of having a new baby to love and to care for. On March 2, 2017, I became a new parent to our first living child, Pablo Phoenix Wise. It’s been a whole new adjustment ever since....
READ MORE
Even in a great marriage, handling major life changes while also managing bipolar disorder is challenging. Step back, take a breath, persevere! The return to our beloved Colorado last spring after 17 years happened quickly, though we had been planning it in our hearts for some time. It was a matter of my husband...
READ MORE
As a new mom, I think the key to maintaining mental health postpartum is vigilance – whether it’s by taking your medications, seeing your therapist, or whatever else you find works. I am a new mom, and I have bipolar disorder. There may be nothing particularly unique about this, but let me rephrase it...
READ MORE
Damn stigma. I am still ashamed. And I really don’t understand why. I told my now husband weeks into dating, nine (9) years ago this summer, that I was Bipolar. I was totally open. Now I am hiding that I am currently winding down the road of depression as I am now off my wellness...
READ MORE
Here are a few ideas to keep you and your sweetheart in synch when living with bipolar disorder. By Robin L. Flanigan Cultivate connection: Even during severe depressive episodes when she wants to isolate herself, LaRae of Maine can deeply feel her husband’s love in one of his hugs or an offer to clean...
READ MORE
