Any advice for the partner of someone diagnosed with Manic Depression?

Our relationship is longstanding and I don't want to be scared off!!! I need to understand more how this thing works and just how supportive I can be. Is he better ignored when in a depressive stage or encouraged to talk it though? When in a manic mood he makes me laugh BUT then tends to be outrageous!! I need to be educated please........

Find a depression website and read it up. I`d try to make him talk things through when he is in a depressive state personally. Ignore all the idiots on hear that are taking the piss, they obviously havent got a clue

Don't ignore him, try and coerce him into killing himself, then he'll be able to chill

Hi - I suffer from alcoholism, depression, and MAYBE bipolar (the docs can't tell at the moment)... so I hope I have something useful to share from my experience.

I think that it might be helpful for you to attend a support group for family members of bipolars/depressives/whatever. The tendency may be for you to try to "fix" him, but that won't work. Bipolar can be VERY dangerous. When someone is in a manic state, they may do things that are harmful to them or others. Does he drink or use drugs? Those can make it even worse.

I would say also not to give him advice. Just be a good listener. He will NOT "snap out of it." He needs treatment. Bipolar is an illness, just like diabetes, cancer, alcholism, etc. These do not just go away, and they need to be treated and managed. If his illness is affecting you adversely, you may someday find that you need to break off the realtionship. But it's always "one day at a time," for the sufferer, and for the loved ones as well. I wish you the best...keep asking questions... Jack

Its really not easy being with someone who has Manic depression, its hard enough being with someone who just has depression but all you can do is try to let alot of things go over your head and try to be as laid back as you possibly can. Only you will know how to deal with it, but it will take time as everyone suffers differently! i don't think anyone can help you but you will need someone to talk to for yourself because this will be a very stressful time for you. Like i already said tho, in time you will learn what works and what doesn't! Maybe counselling for you could be a good idea.

He needs maximum support to overcome this illness. Try ans spend as much time as u can with him. And please, respect his emotions, do not laugh at his illness. Also, let the doc decide further course of action.

Bipolar (Manic-Depressive) Disorder

Treatment

Mood charting

The usefulness of mood charting for complex or treatment-resistant cases cannot be overemphasized. Some clinicians are mildly uncomfortable with using structured tools like this, feeling they tend to be a Procrustean bed onto which the treatment must be painfully fitted. While no checklist can capture a clinical picture perfectly, the advantages of using mood charting far outweigh its limitations if a patient is not responding to first-line treatments. Mood charting makes it possible to follow in great detail the patient's mood and relate it to a variety of variables in a way that would otherwise be impossible.

A sample mood chart is available here, adapted from one used by Sachs' MGH Bipolar Clinic. Charting assists in the tracking of medication use, mood, sleep, menstrual cycle, and other symptoms, as an invaluable aid for the psychopharmacologist's prescribing. It also becomes an ongoing reminder for the patient of the existence of his/her illness and the importance of monitoring and managing it with the team. Generally, patients rapidly come to appreciate its usefulness and become committed to filling out the charts faithfully. Failing to fill out mood charts is sometimes an early sign of trouble in the treatment alliance, though it can also result from anergic depression or disorganization.

A note about sleep. Sleep deprivation can precipitate mania. (It is a proven - if temporary - cure for depression.) Patients and their families should be educated about the high risk for mood disruption that is incurred when sleep hygiene is not maintained. A regular sleep/wake schedule should be followed, and alterations of sleep should be noted and reported. Mood charting is very useful for monitoring this.

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Mood stabilizers

There is no agreed-upon definition of the term "mood stabilizer!" We all use the term, but it is nowhere officially defined. Sachs proposes: an agent that has efficacy in at least one of the primary treatment objectives (acute mania, acute depression, prophylaxis) that does not worsen an acute episode and does not increase affective switching.

In many cases more than one mood stabilizer will be necessary for full control of mood episodes. Serial trials of agents one after another is certainly the recommended way to begin treatment, but often adding a small dose of another agent can add considerably to therapeutic effect. Robert Post at NIMH has been an advocate of this approach, observing that at times using concurrent medications in lower doses can have synergistic therapeutic effects while avoiding side effects from any single med. Some patients do not fully respond until three or even four mood stabilizers are used concurrently, with full therapeutic doses of each.

Because polypharmacy is often necessary in bipolar treatment, an organized approach to the psychopharmacology of these patients is crucial. Except in very acute (usually inpatient) situations, one should not change or add more than one drug at a time, as this will obscure the evaluation of both response and side effects. Careful attention should be paid to drug interactions that affect dosing (e.g., CBZ lowers VPA levels, VPA raises LTG levels). Doses should be pushed to the maximum suggested or tolerated before concluding there is no benefit. Sufficient time should be given for any clinical improvement; pressure from the patient to move faster should be resisted as much as possible, since almost invariably this will complicate the picture with needless polypharmacy and/or premature conclusions of inefficacy. Keep in mind the rule of thumb that approximately five half-lives is required for a drug to achieve steady state â€” this becomes important for drugs with long half-lives, like zonisamide, which will not equilibrate until nearly two weeks after a dose change. Usually in mood disorders a minimum of 4 weeks after equilibration at maximal doses is necessary to have any confidence of full clinical effect.

An inadequate trial of a medication â€” either insufficient dose or too brief a course â€” is worse than no trial at all, since at best it is a waste of time and at worst it may permanently remove from consideration a potentially useful agent. "I already tried that, Doc -- it didn't help at all."

Mood charting is by far the best way of assessing response. Often patients report feeling "no better" globally when mood charting reveals that cycling frequency or amplitude is improving, which occurs typically well before any return to euthymia. In fact, months may be required for final stabilization of mood on the correct regimen.

A question that comes up often from patients is how long to stay on a mood stabilizing regimen. Current guidelines recommend 6-12 months after euthymia for bipolar I with 1-2 mild to moderate manic episodes (though some clinicians would be more ready to recommend longer term treatment even in this case), and indefinitely for bipolar I with >2 manic episodes or one manic episode if severe or with a strong family history of bipolar disorder. When stopping mood stabilizers, the taper should be done over 1-3 months. For bipolar II disorder, the Expert Consensus Guidelines recommend indefinite treatment after 3 episodes of hypomania or antidepressant-induced mania. The prevailing data suggests that there is a positive correlation between number of previous affective episodes and the development of treatment-resistance, so the decision to stop medications must be recognized as incurring significant long-term risk.

A note about mood cycling: Cycling does not necessarily imply phases of (hypo)mania followed by phases of depression. The cycling may consist solely of episodes of depression; with a past history of mania or hypomania, such patients are still bipolar, and the same criteria apply â€” the frequency of episodes is significant and should be monitored, and more than four episodes per year qualifies as rapid cycling. In addition, the pattern of cycling may be significant, since there is some evidence that with patients with either predominant depression or an "MDE" pattern (mania followed by depression followed by euthymia) the course and response to treatment may be different compared to those with "DME" pattern (see below).

A note about "compliance": Often a patient will present with hypomania announcing s/he stopped meds "because I didn't think I needed them any more." Don't mistake the cart for the horse in this situation - probe for the possibility that mild breakthrough hypomania resulted in some grandiosity that led to discontinuation of meds, rather than the other way around. If so, instead of simply restarting medications that were not fully effective, one should perhaps add or change mood stabilizers.

My brother was manic depressive/bipolar. He usually wanted to be around people when up and alone when down. You can't change anything about his situation, but you can be supportive, esp. in his getting the medical attention he needs. Consistency in taking meds and a stable partner are a big boon to controlling the highs and lows. Good luck, it is challenging.

Living with someone who has manic depression is not easy.
The mood swings might not always make you laugh and if you are able to be what you think is supportive the person involved with the illness might find it intrusive.
Learning to see the warning signs always helps and if you are able to offer constructive support that helps.
Also my strongest advise is for you to not neglect your own needs live your own life and find self help otherwise you might become ill and this is no good to either of you.

Monitoring medication and making sure your partner takes his medicine can be a strain on both of you.
Talking should be done during the periods of wellness.

Looking after people is very commendable but please please remember you also need a life .
Good luck

Find another partner, quickly. Before he takes you with him.

no drugs! watch the diet

Seek a therapist or a group.

i have a friend like that she is the best person in the world when she is OK, i think you maybe need to see some that knows about theses things, when my friend get in a state i let her go on about things agree with her and just listen, but it not always that easy, dont give up on him he needs you as much as you need him

hi there, i suffer from, its now called Bi Polar affected disorder, i was sectioned nearly 5 yrs ago, am on medication and have a good understanding of how it feels to be in that position and how others deal with it too as my children and friends know me well. if i can help in any way pease feel free to email me and maybe i can help in some way.

Support, see that he takes his prescribed medication, and be patient with outrageous activity if off medicine and stay alert for suicide when depressed.

http://www.mind.org.uk/

listening is the best if they dont want to talk thats fine its just understanding and because youre not going threw it be patient so if your partner is going on meds hopefully you will see a difference and the person you feel in love with will be back its not nice as i can understand but i hop you get threw it at least your there? good luck

just let him know you're there,but be subtle about it,even if he says he doesn't need you that's when he needs you the most that's why you have to be subtle don't be too hands on and get some help for both of you so you can deal with his condition as a couple.

No standing. Make sure your safety harness is fastened and snug. Please keep your hands inside the ride at all times. Life on a roller coaster can be fun. If you prefer a flatter ride their are medications to lower the hills and raise the valleys. Just remember you already know him and love him. The diagnosis itself should not be allowed to change the relationship. A diagnosis should be seen simply as a label used by professionals to aid them in their treatment of an individual.

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