Bipolar Tragedy Revealed.
Published: Fri, 07/30/10
Hi ,
How are things going today?
I hope they're going good for you.
Unfortunately, they aren't going
so well for one person who wrote
to me.
This is what they wrote:
"Dave,
Please remove me from your mailing
list. I hate to have to ask you, as I have
gotten so much good information from
you, but my sister who had bipolar
disorder killed herself last week.
She had decided that she was "cured"
from her bipolar disorder and had
stopped going to see her psychiatrist
and therapist and wouldn't go to her
bipolar support group any more. She
even stopped taking her medications,
saying that she didn't need them any
more.
We (the rest of her family and me)
tried to convince her that it was her
medication that was making her feel
so much better, but she just wouldn't
listen to us.
She went into a deep depression, telling
us that we would all be better off without
her, and that life just wasn't worth living,
and all kinds of things like that. We all
tried to tell her how much we loved her
and that it was the bipolar disorder that
was making her think like that, but like
I said, she just wouldn't listen.
I just don't understand. How can this
disorder be so deadly? Why aren't more
people aware of how devastating an
illness this really is? What could I have
done differently? Is there anything I could
have done to stop her? That's what's really
bugging me. That there's something I could
have done to stop this from happening. That
there's something I should have done but
didn't. That way my sister would still be
alive. Somehow I think it's my fault. Dave,
is it my fault? What should I have done?
--John"
---------------------------------------------------
This is a horrible tragedy.
A needless tragedy.
But, unfortunately, one I hear about all
too often.
In my courses/systems, I talk about the
statistics that say that 1 in 5 people who
go off their bipolar medications will kill
themselves.
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Michele, who works for me, her sister
did the same thing, and she came to me
with the same plea, "Is there something
I could have done to stop her?"
I get asked that question a lot.
There is so much guilt that the family
and loved ones are left with after the
person with bipolar disorder commits
suicide after going off their medications.
That's one of the biggest reasons I
preach so hard for people to stay on
their medications, no matter how much
they want to go off them.
The chances are just too great (1 in 5)
that they will kill themselves.
Is there something that John could
have or should have done to stop his
sister from killing herself?
Unfortunately, we can't control anyone
else - we can't stop them from doing
what they will inevitably do.
In Michele's sister's case, her sister
waited until she knew no one would
be there to stop her, and that's when
she did it.
She planned it.
She did not want to be stopped.
The thing is that suicide is not the
result of a rational mind.
When someone with bipolar disorder
decides to kill themselves, they are
not thinking clearly. So there is nothing
you can do to stop them.
If they were thinking clearly, they would
hear your pleas that you love them and
want them to live and get better.
They would understand that they are
sick and need help.
But, unfortunately, bipolar disorder is a
deadly disease, and without medication,
it can fool the person into believing all
kinds of things, just like it fooled John's
sister into believing that she was "cured"
and didn't need the medication any more.
If your loved one has been talking about
going off their medication, show them
this post.
Do whatever you have to do to convince
them to stay on their medication.
You don't want to have to face this
all-too-common tragedy.
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Well, I have to go!
Your Friend,
Dave
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