Bipolar disorder affects more than the individual who has it – it affects everyone it touches, especially family members, and can in turn be affected by the words and behaviors of others. In my family, for example, when my wife starts cycling into mania, I tend to get depressed. Our son becomes borderline abusive. Our daughter gets confused and defensive. All of our reactions seem to feed into the bipolar, worsening the mania.

Even though we all know what’s going on, what we should and shouldn’t say, what we should and shouldn’t do, we seem to get sucked into this bipolar vortex.

If you’re a member of a bipolar family, how do your family dynamics change in the midst of depression or bipolar disorder? Have you discovered any effective strategies for dealing with changes in family dynamics?

Tweet

Comments

This post currently has 16 comments.
You can read the comments or leave your own thoughts.

Trackbacks

From Psych Central's website:
PsychCentral (June 2, 2009)

Cause of Children Having Bipolar Disorder (June 3, 2009)

K.C. Bugg, Psy.D. (June 4, 2009)

Causes and Consequences of Addictions | Ramblings of an Internet Addict (August 24, 2009)

From Psych Central's Dr. Candida Fink & Joe Kraynak:
Conflict Management | Bipolar Disorder | Bipolar Beat (June 16, 2011)

Bipolar Disorder Conflict Management Strategies | Bipolar Teen Blog (June 16, 2011)

    Last reviewed: 2 Jun 2009