MTYorkie
Fewer than 3 Posts
 Offline
What is your sexual orientation: Straight
Who in your life has "personality" issues: Romantic partner
Posts: 1
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« on: September 16, 2015, 05:22:01 PM » |
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Hiya!
I have been married for 21 years. My husband was diagnosed with bipolar as a teen. He ran away from home a few times, the final time running several states away from home. When he was brought back, he was placed into a hospital and diagnosed with bipolar. He was put on Lithium. I have no idea how long he was in the hospital, but he was released. He was able to finish high school, but at some point, he said that his dad tried to have him committed, and his uncle got him out at the last moment. I have not asked him to elaborate. He has always refused to take medication and will not go to a doctor. He self medicated many times with cannabis.
In the beginning of the relationship, there were red flags and I ignored them, wanting out of a stifling family situation. I liked that he was able to express his opinions, something I had a hard time with. When we married, things had to be his way, or he would threaten me with, "Well, I guess we shouldn't be together." This scared me quite a bit, as I had a young daughter and became pregnant soon after we got married. I put up and shut up, like I had with my family growing up. He would constantly rage, bait, and criticize. My housework wasn't good enough, my teaching wasn't good enough, if a bill was over what he thought was appropriate, he would blame us for the extra charge.
10 years into our marriage, we moved to a different state. I started working at different places, since I was able to put my kids into school (I homeschooled them for 8 1/2 years). He liked that I made money, but he always eventually disliked that I was away from the house, so I never stayed employed for more than a year. About 5 years ago, my neighbor trained me and I worked in a couple great jobs, earning quite a bit of money and was able to have insurance for our family, which I used to cram 18 years of dental neglect into 3 years of curative work. During that time my husband has changed from threatening me with abandonment to badgering me about whether or not I want to stay with him/asking if I would leave if I made $xx/demanding that I think about "what I want" aka. whether or not I want to leave him. I lost my employment last year and was only able to find minimum wage work, so I finally asked my husband (during a manic episode) if he would mind if I went back to school. He had no problem with it.
I am now working towards my associate's degree and LOVE my classes. My youngest daughter is a Senior and our schools are across the street from each other. All of my kids are thrilled that I am going to school. My oldest daughter pulls no punches and keeps telling me that I need to consider whether or not I want to keep living with my husband. My son thinks his dad is a douche, but can get along with him with minimal contact, since he is living out of state. My youngest tries to get along with her dad, and listens to his conversations and is pleasant to him, but gets very frustrated with her dad's drama and chaos.
In the past year, I have searched for support groups for bipolar, and have found very little. I then found a website that described BPD/PPD, after my husband inferred that he was uncomfortable with me being in the same house as my future son-in-law (ewwww). I am suspicious that possibly along with his bipolar, he may have some form of PD.
So, that is my story in a nutshell. I am here to find solace in the stories and instances that sound so familiar to me. Thanks for reading.
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