Institutionalized for Bipolar

Who are the people who wouldn't understand?

OK these things have happened... What have you done to seek help. Do you see psychiatrist (you said he wrote you a note, but are you seeing him on a reguar basis?), are you seeing a psycologist (councilor, therapist) on a regular basis? Are you taking meds and taking them as perscribed? The therapist will help teach you coping skills.

Have you ever been in a psyche ward. If not count your blessings.

Post edited by: red1965, at: 03/20/2008 23:37

It looks like you are stressing out alot over everything. If you are disabled by this illness file for disability. If you need to get diagnosed go to a mental health clinic. There are places that go by sliding scale. If you are worried about not being able to contribute to the household, than go to a temp service, and apply. My boyfriend is an independent contractor, and works odd jobs for friends.

You could make enough to go to a sliding scale clinic, and then try to get med samples. There has got to be a solution other than going to a hospital.

I am the type of person that would do everything, I can to stay out of the hospital.I have 4 kids, and feel, I need to be here with them. I also have a phobia about hospitals. I don't feel like being around other severly mentally ill people. I also have had several experiences where, I have been chase by mentally handycapped people. They happen to like me. I don't mean people with bipolar.

So, I am a little freaked out about the hospital thing. I am lucky, I have never had to be admitted.If you think youare unstable, and need help getting stable, than, check it out. I think you have to have a doctor's recomendation.

you could get a job with temp help...they don't last too long...learning new things is your forte...so you wouldn't get bored...that was one of the reasons you posted in another thread as to why you didn't work at a place very long. New challenges...

Then you would have an income to pay the child support, which I am sure you want to do. They could deduct it directly from your check. Most states require that anyway....I know you have a note from the psychiatrist, but, I bet you want to live up to your obligation, though.

In the event, you want to be hospitalized to show the court that you can't pay the child support you may need help from your doctor to carry this out. Again unless your are a danger to yourself or others this may not work.

I wish you luck on this, and keep posting maybe we can be of help in your working out this problem. We are here to support you to become healthy and have a happy life.

Post edited by: norma, at: 03/21/2008 00:31

There are people who have been laid off from computer manufacturing companies here in Idaho, who are working at Mc Donalds. I think day labor could be a great idea.

First I have to say that I can completely identify with you. I have gone a very long time with long periods of job instability and that sort of thing. I was also just recently diagnosed bipolar. I believe I am a rapid cycler, but that has yet to be seen and diagnosed.

When I told my bf that my doc diagnosed me bipolar his first reaction was that of rejection of the diagnosis. He also hasn't been in my life when I have experienced serious periods of mental illness. I also hide it well, and I internalize everything so no one knows what is really happening in my head.

As far as being hospitalized I think you need to make that choice. What I can tell you is that I have been hospitalized twice for episodes of major depression. To be totally honest, the first time I was hospitalized I just wanted to get away from my life. I was hearing all these stories everyone had in therapy about being hospitalized, and I wanted to see what they were talking about. I told my counselor that day I needed to go to the hospital. I went, and after I was there long enough to find out I couldn't just go out and smoke a cigarette I wanted out. I didn;t freak out in there. I saw a lot of really sick people though. They added a sedative medication to my meds while there, and I got out in 24 hours. The first thing I did was smoke a cigarette.

The second and last time I actually needed to be in the hospital. I was suicidal and very unstable. I was there for a couple days that time. My roommate tried to kill herself while I was sleeping, and I had to roll around in a wheelchair bc I had just broken my leg (no wonder I was depressed). I met a lot of nice people there, and some great schitzophrenics. They love me and I love them (the non-violent ones).

In regard to you going to the hospital, I think you need to think about your reasons. My original hospitalization came back to bite me in the ass when I sued someone and it came up. I could care less about the second one because I know it was necessary. I have two degrees, work in the tech field as well, and have had five jobs in the last year. I am getting to the point where I think I need to work for myself as a contractor, because I can't tolerate working with the same people everyday. My personality is such that I need to mix things up because I get distracted, and sometimes I want to be distracted bc I get bored. Right now I am on short-term disability from my job, thank god. During this time I am able to focus on getting stable and better, but above all, I am working on how to live with my disorder.

I think the basic rule for hospitalization is if you feel like you are going to harm yourself or someone else, you should call 9-1-1. If you feel like you are not able to congnate in a way that you can make good choices then you should probably call your doc and see if he/she thinks you should go. If you are at the end of your rope and don't know what else to do about your situation, again, I think you should call your doctor and ask what they think you should do. Maybe they need to adjust your meds, or get you on something else. If you don't talk to your doc, they can't help you.