My Bipolar Friend

I have known Lee for almost a year, and during that time we have become very good friends and business partners.Lee told me about his Bipolar very early on, before we even considered becoming business partners, which I now know is unusual, as he generally only tells people when he has got to know them well and trusts them. So when we discussed joining forces, I read books about the subject, and found out exactly what the implications might be.After reading, I was a little worried that Lee didn’t seem to have a support network, his family seemed to be uninterested in his condition, and had even declined an invitation from his therapist to understand it better. I was also aware that Lee was following none of the recommended advice regarding diet and health to improve his condition.However serious Lee’s bipolar may be, it is part of him, but doesn’t, and shouldn’t define him, and that is what he struggles with.We have grown close over the last year, and I see him as my little brother now, and feel very protective of him. My husband and children see him as part of our family group now, which makes work feel like a family business, which is nice.I have seen Lee in manic and depressive cycles, and find both equally hard to deal with. It saddens me to see him depressed, and knowing there is nothing I can do to help, except offer support when he needs it, I tend to ignore it and carry on as normal. This is probably not the recognised way of dealing with it, but hey! Mania is worse, as he generally turns into an arsehole, and on one occasion almost caused the end of our business partnership. He can be incredibly hurtful, arrogant and rude, and although I can advise him to shut up, he is unable to, making the situation worse. I love Lee like my brother but that doesn’t stop me wanting to do him physical harm on occasion! He is twice the size of me so I would have little impact, which is probably the reason I haven’t tried, yet.Bipolar is a great excuse, many times there has been things that have needed doing and the bipolar card has been played. Doesn’t wash with me. That’s just anxiety – of course you can.Lee probably needs a more sympathetic friend than me, who will sympathise and focus on the bipolar, but I see Lee, not the bipolar, and try not to let him let it rule his life.It’s hard having a friend with bipolar, but no harder than a friend with any disability. The bipolar isn’t who he is, it’s who he lives with.

This entry was posted on 22/01/2010 at 03:54 pm and is filed under Guests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

| Print