melvin1

Wife is Bi Polar.....Been there and doing that!!!!!My Wife is disabled with Bi Polar/Anxiety Disorder.About 2 years ago she had a major mental breakdown that caused her to not only be a threat to herself,but a threat to others.During a period of a month my Wife went beyond mental illness to out of control insanity.On one occasion I had to wrestle a pistol from her grip which she intended to commit suicide with,and on another I wrestled a handful of pills from her hand.And then there were the manic rages when she attacked me and a Police Officer with a pair of scissors when we forced opened the locked bedroom door.It could be described as a scene from the movie Psycho as she ran towards us cussing and lunging with the scissors.But the real fear hit me when I noticed the Officer unstrapping the service revolver from his holster.I quickly stepped in front of the Officer takeing the scissors from her hand and tossing them across the room.We had to forcibly drag her outside the bedroom with her attempting to scratch and bite,to where she was secured to an ambulance gurney and takened away to the Emergency Room.
During this period of time I would leave for work in the mornings with her being so depressed that she lacked the energy and desire to even get out of bed,and then when I arrived home she had moved all the furniture out of the liveing room and den,and was in the process of painting the walls.I'd set and watch her in a depressed state so great she couldn't get to her feet off the couch as she rambled on about conversations with her long deceased Mother, and then suddenly her state of mind would literally change before my eyes and she would be up on her feet paceing back and forth with animal like grunting sounds.These sudden changes of mental states seemed almost Demonic and I now understand why the Science of 2000 years ago would stone persons displaying these symptoms to death.
But after 2 stays in Mental Facilities where her condition would improve until after released to home,thankfully my Health Insurance got her into the care of the best Bi Polar Psychiatrist in this area.The constant and rapid changes from depression to mania which the prescribed meds had no lasting effect on left no alternative but the drastic treatment of shock therapy, and combined with this Doctors knowledge of the cutting edge meds available,my Wifes condition was stabilized.She now no longer has the extreme highs and lows plus the hallucinations have ceased,but it was a trade off with tremors of her right hand,and a involuntary shuffeling back and forth of her feet when seated. Now she has emotions and passions that can be compared to that of a cucumber, but before the mental illness took control of her mind she was a out going person with many friends.Now she avoids social encounters and remains entombed within the confines of the house watching reruns on TVLAND and eating microwave burritoes, except when I am on my off days from work and give her a reason to get out of the night gown and out and about.
She no longer talks of suicide,but a few months back I noticed her giveing away dolls in her porcelin doll collection to her Grand Daughters,plus she began to encourage my Daughters to be there for me should I ever need them.When I questioned her about if she was considering suicide she denied it,but she has learned from the past that admitting thoughts of suicide will get her a stay in a Mental Facility which she hates.I go to work everyday now with the fear of what I might find when I return home.
From talking to her family members, mental illness runs rampant in my Wifes Mothers side of the family.My now deceased Mother in Law had several stays in the State Mental Hospital after suicide attempts and the list of family members who have died from suicide in the last 3 generations would fill a small grave yard.A cousin of my Wife who is also disabled with Bi Polar Disorder and did an extensive family tree search says these mental problems became rampant when the Great,Great Grandparents who were actually 1st cousins married.It seems the mental illness that plaqued the Royal Lines of Europe due to inbreeding may have likewise left it's curse on my Wifes family,with Bi Polar disorder now rearing it's effects in my Wifes youngest son.
My Wife has gained over a 100 pounds since her major mental breakdown, due to the meds and her physical inactivity.Obesse and no longer takeing any pride in the application of facial make up,well she really is not much to look at,but she's my soul mate and I love her.And though I worry about her commiting suicide one day or the obessity combined with a 2 pack a day cigerette addiction doing her end,I guess that mentally I have prepared myself for it if the Grime Reaper should take her before I.