Social Anxiety Disorder Support Group

My son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder 20 years ago and has taken prescribed medications that at times allowed him to be productive. When he was feeling good ( about 60% of the time ) he had a can do attitude.

About a year ago he bought a house and within weeks of the purchase attempted suicide. Since that time he seems to be afraid of going back into the working world (he has his own masonry business) and lost his can do attitude. Also he sleeps excessively and lacks energy.

Is this symtomatic of bipolar or some kind of anxiety?

did his medication or dosage change once he moved into the house? or it could be anxiety. Has he talked to his doctor since he started feeling different?

He did get into medication complications which may have triggered the suicide attempt.

Based on the attempt, he was in a psychiatric hospital for about 2 weeks and since then under doctor's supervision changed his meds. The doctor has moved him off anti-depressents to 300mg of Limictal and 600mg of Lithium. Last week this was reduced to 150mg/300mg respectively.

Thanks

I don't think the doctor is aware of the shift in confidence. It is however my observation.

I remember when my x girl friend (has bipolar) was trying to find the right mixture of meds and dosage when she decided to go to a new doctor. She ended up attempting suicide and failed, thanks god. She ended up going to another doctor and finally got on the right meds an dosage. But it took her a while to get to a nice even mood. It was hard to watch her go through that.

Im thinking it might be the trouble with his meds. Unless he could flat out tell you that this is a new feeling he has. I would talk to your doctor more about this.

I hope your son gets better

Thank you for sharing your examplbe which hope will be the same outcome for my son. You are right, it is hard to watch. I will pass along my thoughts to his doctor.

Thanks again.

I have bipolar and use to have that "can do" attitude. However, my mood swings could become so extreme and frequent, I started to lose hope that I would ever be stable again. Since I was always dreading and fearing the next mood swing, I lost that "can do" attitude. I'm a full time student but if I even think of working at a McDonald's I start to panic. I would just hate to start something and have another "episode" and have to quit. I'm afraid of failing. Now this is just my own personal experience, but bipolar disorder can be really discouraging and sometimes anxiety-provoking in itself. Also anxiety can be a symptom of either bipolar depression or depression mania.

I'm currently on a promising combination of medications and my hope has been returning. I'm working on my anxiety with a therapist. Does your son attend therapy at all? If he's anything like me, therapy might restore his confidence in his ability to work and help him through the anxiety.

Best,

Shrug

Your comments make a lot of sense. Confidence would have to suffer knowing a down mood can strike at any time putting you in a helpless state.

I told him to just check out when he is down, but that is not enough as he worries things are not under control and that only makes things worse.

My plan is to fill in for him when he gets down. I am sure this will help. Also, once we get things humming again, not only will his confidence return, but I think the work stimulation will have add-on mental health benefits.

Thank you for taking the time to explain your situation. I am happy to hear you are on a promising new path. My son is working with a psychiatrist in whom he has confidence.

He has had some pretty good runs in the past and I think we have to just work a little harder to get things in balance again.

I wish you all the best.

Twenty years of living with bipolar disorder has to take its toll on one's self-confidence and quaility of life. Even when things are going well, there's that nagging feeling that the meds might start to not work, or some major life stressor will prove to be too stressful and more than what one is able to handle. The more time spent in the psyche ward, while it is a helpful healing place, the more a person can come to think of themselves as too unstable or too mentally ill to be able to work and have a productive life like "normal" people do. What "normal" people don't realize is how hard a person with ANY mental health diagnosis has to work just to maintain the status quo and not trigger a relapse in disabling symptoms.

Finding the right combination of meds is tricky, and after time they may need to be adjusted or changed.

Remembering to take every dose, every day (and for some people, cost will be an issue and maybe they can't always afford the meds they need that work best for them), getting enough sleep, eating right and avoiding physical illness, not taking on too much at once, learning ways of dealing with stress -- all of these things require diligence and determination. It doesn't take a lot to upset the apple cart and have a relapse, and it can happen fairly quickly. After living through a few of these episodes, it is hard to have that youthful "can do" attitude. It is hard for young people with bi-polar and even harder for middle aged and older folks. On the one hand, they have the experience of managing their illness, but on the other hand, it can become tiresome and frustrating dealing with this sort of chronic waxing and waning of symptoms and levels of ability to work and function in a more or less normal manner.

As a parent, I think you just need to support your son without putting to much pressure on him to achieve a certain goal within a given time frame, and leave it up to his psychiatrist to determine if and when he can return to work. Maybe this flare-up of symptoms is due to mid-life crisis or depression like many people who do not have bipolar might experience.

Bi-polar can make any "normal" event like mid-life crisis, or stress from major life changes, much worse to deal with, and the stress of these events can trigger bi-polar symptoms.

I have not been diagnosed as bi-polar myself, but I know that with SA and chronic generalized anxiety and depression, when I go through periods of overwhelming stress and lack of sleep, my anxiety and depression get worse and I generally have to have a dose increase until things settle down again. I am glad your son has a good psychiatrist that he trusts, that is a helpful thing.

Hang in there...I know it is hard for family members as well; we are ALL affected and need to take care of ourselves!

ericsdad, your son is very lucky to have you responding so fully and warmly to his need. It might be helpful to you to find someone you can talk to (therapist/bipolar support group?) so you can be careful not to become too OVERLY helpful and also so you find someone you can talk to who can help support YOU as you watch your son go through his hardships. I had a different situation, my young son's father died while we were immersed in a series of other very difficult crisis already. I was probably too overprotective of my son but fortunately found a wonderful therapist for myself and am still learning to take the focus off of my son's issues, learn to have faith in him, guide him where I'm able and back off when I can.

I, like hipmama, wish you all the best. She gives good advice. It's terribly hard to watch your kids struggle.

Shrug gives a surprisingly lucid and capable response to your dilemma. Shrug, do you even realize that people who read what you write are reading a lot of strength, courage and determination in your words plus a lot of focus? I always think that you are somebody who is going to overcome your difficulties!