Once a bipolar

People with mental health problems often face multiple challenges in their lives, not only because of the symptoms they experience but by how people around them treat them.

Ranging from being called attention seeker to being taken advantage of and treated like a second-class citizen. As one patient explained “Once you have a mental illness you seize to exist as an individual and the illness takes over. So it’s the depression talking, or you are paranoid when you express an opinion and the others don’t like it.

“A person with anxiety once told me that when she disagrees with her family she gets told, “Go to your room and take your pills.” It’s like for them am a mentally unstable person who can’t have her own opinions.

Sometimes the stigma is expressed by the general public and health workers who are supposed to understand people with mental illness and advocate for them. This can be seen when doctors and nurses discuss patients during their clinical meetings and use terms such as “a 25-year-old schizophrenic or thirty years bipolar or even. Sixty years old demented patients.”

Sometimes this is done without intentions or because of a lack of understanding of the exact meaning of the words. Therefore I make a point of correcting my colleagues not to say schizophrenic but a person with schizophrenia or a person with bipolar or dementia accordingly.

One of the most debilitating illnesses is bipolar disorder when a person suffers from severe mood swings alternating between depression and overactivity.

These changes make people around the patient suffer as they try to understand their erratic behaviour, which makes them irritable and angry at times and impulsive making decisions that they would not make when they are well.

Some people with bipolar have difficulty adjusting to changes in their daily routine so going on a holiday for example would trigger a manic episode where they become overexcited, spend lots of money buying things they don’t really need, or become irritable over minor things. They don’t feel the need to sleep which aggravates the situation.

Some patients get to the point of having abnormal beliefs about having special powers, talking to God, and healing others. They over speed and may get into accidents, they also get into fights or trouble with the authorities because of their irrational behaviours and beliefs. The patient’s family suffers as well and some end up asking for divorce because they can no longer cope with the overwhelming behaviour.

Young children feel traumatised when dealing with a parent who can become verbally and physically abusive or exhibit embarrassing behaviours in public.

Some spouses or children feel guilty when they bring their loved one for hospital admission against their will and often feel manipulated by the patient to take them back home despite the doctor’s advice which makes the situation worse.

Therefore, it is essential to spend enough time with the person and the family explaining the nature of the condition and how to spot early changes. It is also important to remind them that the person does not mean to be difficult or cause problems, but they are simply unwell and need care and understanding even if it may sound against their wishes.