Cue the stress

My wife is flipping into an elevated state. Meaning I get to try & protect a bipolar person from themselves. Especially hard since part of the deal is insomnia. Since she is somewhat unstable on her feet in the first place from a brain hemmoeage years ago this is really a problem. Her sleep is very much connected to what physical coordination she has.

She tries really hard to keep the mania at bay, takes her meds, eats properly but sometimes it rears up anyway. Usually that means I'm a wreck, too. Like most illnesses, it effects the whole family. Not looking for sympathy or condemnation, just want to vent.

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Queendragonfly · 31-35, F

I'm also dependent on good sleep. Can I just say. This doesn't sound like mania at all. Bipolar mania is when someone cleans the whole house dancing naked and then goes out clubbing or buy 1000 random things on amazon before the low hit and they're suicidal depressed and wants isolation and don't leave bed for three weeks.

Can you describe more in depth what she does during this episode because to me it sounds like trauma and PTSD.

ineedadrink · 51-55, M

@Queendragonfly I've been going to her therapy sessions for almost 20 years now. She was first diagnosed with severe post partum depression then bi polar 1 then bi polar 2, based on symptoms. During an episode she sometimes goes for a week at a time with no sleep, truly horrible.

Right now is very early stages of an episode. She slept 3 hours last night, been awake since midnight with a short nap this afternoon. She is now in bed laughing heartily at a podcast she usually finds amusing, not uproariously funny. Like the happy drunk, only in a room full of sober folks. What is worrying me is how high & out of control she may get. I really hate the shrill, brittle & obnoxious part of the cycle. God's lips to her ears when she is obviously not thinking as clearly as she usually does is very hard on me.

Queendragonfly · 31-35, F

@ineedadrink Ah ok yeah it's mania already. I guess try be high with her in her highs and lower down in her lows us all you can do.