...but he needs to try to help himself too. Am I wrong about that? I mean, medications aren't being taken as prescribed, he doesn't eat regularly, he sleeps very rarely and he's wandering all over the place.
"J" and I are trying to function on 3 hours of sleep each day around here. Bi-polar brother in law is currently needing 24/7 attention. If either of us drops our "guard" around him he's off tinkering on something and destroying those things he's trying to "fix". I know there'll be a day when all three of us look back on this and laugh until we're crying but right now that's not happening... the laughing part.
I have so many stories to tell... so many! They're humorous life stories that involve bi polar brother in law's week at our house. The things he's done, the places we've gone. Little mind fart journeys... we've been taken to the edge and back. We're on our second trip now and everything is getting so much more familiar. That's not good... something just tells me that.
I've been involved with a lot of strange and challenging puzzles over the past 30 years of my job and I've earned a pretty good rep solving them but this one is right up there with the best... and it's so damned close to home! Hell, what am I saying... it is home!
I have so much to learn in so little time.
I talked a bit today with a fellow from the psych ward that bi-polar brother in law was at for several days. The first thing he told me was that "J" and I are just what bi-polar brother in law needs right now. I laughed. I did. I laughed at his words because I feel nothing at all like we're what he needs. I have no idea what he needs. Either way, I asked some questions (I've been reading up on things) and was pretty surprised that he'd answer them. He told me bi-polar brother in law wants us fully aware of his medical condition. In other words, we know what he (bi-polar brother in law) knows, we're told what he's told, etc.
It's not a pretty picture.
He's got Attention Deficiency Disorder (ADD), he's afflicted with compulsive obsessive behaviors, he hallucinates, he fabricates, he's bi-polar and a bit schizophrenic... go figure.
Isn't that a mix.
"But" psych doc tells me "He's one of the brightest people I've ever met!"
Now that's really not a good mix.
Doc wants us to "work with him" a bit to get bi-polar brother in law "back in check"... somewhat productive. He told me it's a horrible thing for anyone to go through... what is happening to bi-polar brother in law. He likened it to several minds trying to run one body.
Anyway, we're going to have to "keep on keeping on" here. We're all he's got so I guess we've signed on for the long haul but damn... when he is able to help himself he's gonna hear some stories...
Some damned funny stories!
I apologize for sounding so "down" earlier... it's just so darned difficult to keep "chipper" when the gas tank is running on fumes.
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2 comments:
One person I know, you diagnosed himself as having Bi-polar tendencies found some serenity in learning and practising Buddhism. 'Lessen your suffering, by lessening your desires.'
Ah...now, that's an "eye opener," DH! Maybe you should take up Buddhism. :+)
Eh...then again...that might be a little like suggesting you take the drugs instead of him?
I wish there was a real answer DH...
DG- The ending will be happy. Happy for all of us in this household. He's bright, intelligent and a bit artistic. He'll make it work. All we ("the wife" and I) have to do is adjust and recognize he needs help... then help. It'll happen. I don't anticipate him living too far from us... but I do anticipate him living somewhere else.
Steve- Catholic to a Buddhist... Father Anskar would be rolling in his grave... and NO, I was never molested by members of the CHURCH...
but the drugs... hmmmm, that's a thought.
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