Another Bipolar Episode

Hey, y'all--

Yep, another bipolar episode...only this time it's not me. It was my husband. He has BP too. He hadn't been sleeping well (or at all) for over a month, until it finally caught up with him and sent him into a mini-episode and I had to take him to the hospital. He's home now and fine, but it was real scary there for awhile.

I learned alot about myself as a bipolar supporter, tho, and I don't like what I saw. Bill wouldn't have had to suffer as long as he did if I didn't stay in the state of denial I was in for as long as I was. I mean, I saw the signs, but I kept thinking things would magically fix themselves. I didn't want to confront my husband with the truth. I hate confrontation to that degree. Like I was afraid of him or what he might do. So I kept my mouth shut. And that's bad for a supporter. We have to point out to our loved one when we see their bipolar symptoms manifesting -- get them help early, so we can avoid an episode.

But we let things go, let this insomnia go on, for about (over) a month, so by the time we got help for Bill, he was a zombie, so confused, so scared, and afraid he was going to hurt himself or maybe someone else. He was hardly talking by that point. Couldn't sit still. Told me he just felt like he wanted to explode. He told me to take me to the hospital right then, because he was afraid of what he might do. So I took him to the hospital, because he was scaring me.

He was out in 3 days, a new man. They kept him on the same meds, but made some modifications. And they let him sleep for 2 days without distractions. The doctor said the mini-episode was all because of lack of sleep. So I guess that's what I wanted to write and warn you about today, like I did about my own episode in May and warned you about drinking too much water and how that can lead you into an episode.

Lack of proper sleep can also lead you into an episode. The doctor said that if Bill had gone even one or two more nights without good, deep sleep, that he would've gone into a full blown episode. He was lucky -- he came real close. But he got help just in time. To most of us, sleep (or lack of it) seems like such a small part of our treatment plan. But I'm here to tell you, that you MUST get at least 8 uninterrupted good hours of sleep per night, EVERY night to keep from going into a bipolar episode. Just remember Bill. You don't want the same thing to happen to you.