Posted by SLS on January 16, 2004, at 6:56:14
In reply to My husband looks at me if I'm crazy, posted by holymama on January 14, 2004, at 13:32:24
> Ever since I went through a manic spell this fall and got obsessively religious, my husband looks at me as if I'm crazy every time I do anything at all that possibly might be manic at all. If I say anything about the Bible, drink too much coffee, too much alcohol, say I'm not hungry...I told him I had lost 4 pounds (I've been trying hard to diet despite a hearty appetite) and he looked at me with those suspicious eyes and said "Why? Because you're not eating?" (I lost my appetite when I was manic this fall). He is so suspicious/untrusting of my mental state that it is making me qustion my sanity much more than I already do and it is making our relationship awfully hard. Has anyone been through this with a spouse after a diagnosis, and how do you deal with it? He is making me feel so self-conscious
Generally speaking, I think people are more afraid of mania than they are of depression. I have found that to be true of my family. Depression is easy. You lay on the couch all day, listless, passive, and indifferent to your surroundings. You're quiet and easily controlled. Depression is something familiar to them and something they can relate to. With mania, you become uncontrollable and unreasonable, sometimes to the point of delusions and psychosis. Aberrant thoughts and behaviors are visible for all to see. These things are foreign to them which they can't identify with. You have boundless energy with which to wreak havoc upon your surroundings. Whenever I show the slightest hint of coming out of a depression and demonstrate more energy and self-confidence, my family scutinizes and interprets everything I do as being being possible signs of mania. They would much prefer that I be depressed and in pain rather than manic and unmanageable.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:300691
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040109/msgs/301516.html