{"id":40730,"date":"2013-03-17T03:38:09","date_gmt":"2013-03-17T08:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horizonsmagazine.com\/blog\/?p=40730"},"modified":"2015-05-31T03:38:39","modified_gmt":"2015-05-31T08:38:39","slug":"growing-up-in-a-family-with-three-bi-polar-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horizonsmagazine.com\/blog\/growing-up-in-a-family-with-three-bi-polar-members\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing up in a family with three Bi-Polar members"},"content":{"rendered":"

I grew up with a father and two brothers diagnosed with\u00a0BiPolar Disorder<\/a>,\u00a0at that time\u00a0called Manic Depression. \u00a0They would swing from full on manic to full on depression. \u00a0I\u2019d never know who we\u2019d wake up to, nor what would set whom off. \u00a0There would be the fun times, especially with new people, just one big happy family. Everyone getting along at the same time, everyone being playful with other. \u00a0Happy times for sure. Then without warning it would change. My father would out of nowhere become another person. Everything would anger him. He\u2019d be physically aggressive, destroying things, and turn hateful and verbally abusive. \u00a0We were warned there would be consequences if we told anyone. We lived in fear, always walking on eggshells and always happy when a new friend would come on the scene so we could see the happy daddy return, at least for awhile. With new people on the scene, he\u2019d go into performance mode, the life of the party, the ladies\u2019 man. That was the fun daddy. \u00a0Behind the scenes it could be another story.\u00a0 He could be lying immobile and unresponsive on the couch, for days. \u00a0He could be making crazy calls to everyone,\u00a0threatening suicide. \u00a0Then just as soon as it began, it could be over. \u00a0He\u2019d be back to his charming and fun and engaging self and that personality of his was so big we always forgave him. And we always got burned again. And we always forgave again. During a lucid moment, my father clearly saw what he\u2019d put everyone through. His answer, as my younger brother\u2019s for the same reason, was suicide. Therapy could have saved their lives. It could have given them the understanding they needed about their compulsions and tools to overcome them. It taught me to be thankful when I have a happy someone in front of me\u00a0and to honor the unhappy someones by allowing them to be where they are yet stand available if they ask for help.<\/p>\n

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