How to help a family member with bipolar.

[Brother94]

Hi this is my first time posting and I am just looking for some advice on how to help my sister.

She has recently being diagnosed as Bipolar after a few attempts to harm herself. She is currently having medication and occasionally therapy but has had another bad patch and ended up in a care unit at the hospital. My main concern other than for her health is I don't know what I can do to help or how to talk to her. Any ideas or insights would be greatly appreciated.

Best wishes.

[Photogeek]

Hi there I have never been in this situation but the fact that you have taken the trouble to ask our advice. Shows me that you have a lot of the characteristics for being Supportive.

Be kind and supportive but at the end of the day it's up to your sister to make sure she complys with the Drs. And makes sure she takes her medication. At the same time maybe a phone call to her or a visit and ask her how she is and how things are going.

Let her know that you are there for her but also do not baby her as that would be useless and she could get too dependant on you. If she is a. Adult and not a teen then she will have to learn to cope on her own. Although reading your Post does seem that your sister needs a fairly Hugh level of support already. What age is your sister? And does she live with you or her Mother? Is she working or a student? If I knew more about her age and other details it might help me more to help you.

Maybe encourage her to join here, most of all I would say keep an eye on her moods and agree with her when she is well what she would realistically like you to do to help.

But don't give up your life and don't get too enmeshed with her illness or you could end up stressed or Depressed.

All these things are just what comes to mind but others here may have other good tips too. Your sister is lucky to have a good caring brother and I wish you were my brother.

Let us know how it's going and hope these few things will help you. Have a Google and inform yourself about BiPolar and see if you can find information that helps.

Hannah

[Brother94 in reply to Photogeek]

Hi Hannah,

Thank you for your reply, she is 19 but unfortunately lives in America with my mother who she is very dependent on. At the moment we are not sure if it would be best for her to move back to the UK as the health costs over in the us are ridiculous.

We do not want to stress her or upset her with a change in environment again but cannot see another solution.

Having recently been diagnosed I am not sure if she is in denial or just having a period of depression but she dosent seem to want to take responsibility for helping herself. I cannot understand how difficult for her or anyone this must be but I would like to see her try help herself.

It's very kind what you have said if I can help you please let me know. Right now I will try support her and talk to her when I can.

Best wishes.

[Hidden in reply to Brother94]

I have just read your reply above.

Is your daughter a UK National, or American, we do not have any health agreements here for American Nationals, Payment will be needed possibly for treatment in the UK. I understand there used to be a system called MED AIDE, is this the same in the new system Obama Care ??

Come back if you need some suppoert

BOB

[Hidden]

Hello Brother

One of the main things you can do is just be there for her to aire Here concerns and worry. It is no use you approaching here for being ill, like saying there is nothing wrong with you or something related to that.

Be firm, positive, kind and understand it is very weakening disability that can be partly controlled with medication so you will see periods of remission and negative times when Her moods will go from positive to negative very quickly, when this happens she will hit the floor hypothetically with with her moods and then will have moods that will reach the sky. Generally the switches can be very rapid and alarming. Be firm and kind when these changes happen.

If She is trying or completing cuts to Her Body, sometimes this can be a sign to get attention, sometimes it can be wanting to feel the pain. Do not show concern you need to be very firm and take Her into a clinic or A and E for dressings and make an appointment with Her GP, make sure She goes.

If Her Her Mental State is really concerning call 111 NHS Emergency and explain your concerns what has happened, they may take Her into safety to calm down Her condition. If it is really not possible to get to Hospital, contact the Police they can also arrange a place of safety. Your GP can also arrange the same. You can also take Her in to A and E, where they will try and contact staff who deal with your Sisters problems.

Sections can be voluntary, or pushed on a patient, the latter can be up to approx 72 hours..before a considered release.

If your Sister is being seen by some Specialist, they should be informed and they can address the situation if required. Then advise on the best way forward

Remember the medications should control Her disability

We are not GPs or Specialists, your Gp and any corresponding NHS Staff know your Sister and the problems She does have and we would always bow down to their decisions

You know your Sister and your family may be very alarmed by what you may see and Question, As mentioned above be firm and kind. There is no reason why she can not leave a quite normal life.

Any problems take advice from those who are treating Her, The only problem is patient confidentiality, that always should be taken into consideration.

If you need support you can contact us here, we have some very good listeners

Remember She will be introduced to coping skills, Try and allow her to control Her own condition, give Her as much encouragement as possible. Many people with this condition lead full lives, many will be very good at the jobs they do

BOB

[Brother94]

Hi Bob,

Thank you for your response, she is an English citizen but having spoken to family this morning she does not want to move again so will be staying there. Apologies for all these changes in situation it is all up in the air at the moment. She has agreed to a period of intense therapy which I hope is good and I will try be as supportive as possible from here.

I hope she will start learning to cope and will be able to live a full happy life.

Thank you for your support.

Brother.

[Hidden]

Hello Brother

We are always around here for support by either you or your Sister

BOB

[Brother94]

Thank you very much.

Brother.

[linlow]

Funnily enough I was doing some research last night and Bipolar Disorder was mentioned in what I was reading. Would your sister be open to trying to heal herself naturally, would your mother be supportive if she was? I am not suggesting that she stop taking medications or listening to her doctors. Neither am I suggesting that what follows is a 100% guarantee of a 100% cure, as everybody is different and we all respond better to some things than others. But, if it works, it could be life saving for her.

Modern farming techniques, food industry practises and life itself throws so many poisons at us that health (including mental health) is deteriorating globally. Hippocrates said “All Disease Begins In The Gut” and, for any disbelievers, modern research is proving that there is validity in this statement ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

The gut is often referred to as the body's second brain neurosciencestuff.tumblr.co... and the two are very closely interlinked. And, of course, everything that we put in our mouth goes through our gut so it should come as no surprise that it effects our health. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/270...

How modern diets are implicated in the rise in ill health is a vast topic but just two are explained here kellybroganmd.com/two-foods... A further example would be the growth in the use of omega 6 oil fuelled by the food industry. chriskresser.com/how-too-mu... Research is underway to study the effect of omega 3 as a treatment or adjunct therapy for Bipolar Disorder psychiatrictimes.com/bipola... but simply taking the 6s out and upping the 3s is something your sister can do at home.

Changing our diet can, and does, make a change in our lives. I cured my arthritis through diet (not the same thing but proves the point). There are recommendations for a diet that will aid in control of your sister's condition healthline.com/health/bipol... but I would even suggest going one step further and starting on an elimination diet precisionnutrition.com/elim...

Now to what I was reading. Turmeric is my favourite spice and I cannot stop singing it praises. It is a veritable powerhouse of the plant world when it comes to treating or even curing health issues. This isn't the article I was reading but shows the research finding into the benefits of curcumin (the active ingredient in turmeric) with regard to Bipolar Disorder sciencedirect.com/science/a... This one looks at a range of natural treatments including turmeric and curcumin balancingbrainchemistry.co.... and explains the issue of the bioavailability of the active ingredient in powdered turmeric. However fresh turmeric has its own answer to this, volatile oil, so is instantly bioavailable and is an excellent addition to diet. Ginger, closely related to turmeric and well known for its benefits to the digestive system, can be used to compliment or improve upon turmeric's actions.

Another of my pet obsessions that would benefit is home made kefir. Kefir provides extremely high levels of probiotics (shop bought kefir is little better than yogurt) articles.mercola.com/sites/... and these help restore health to the gut microbiome journal.frontiersin.org/art... thus support it in restoring health to the rest of the body. Now milk kefir is the best option and I have already indicated that milk is one of the problem foods but look in the comments section of the kellybroganmd link and you will see that she does assert that goat's milk does not carry the same warning. (It is to do with a1 and a2 beta-caseins and issues with BCM-7 if you want to research it.) However, so long as the grains get a regular milk feed they will happily ferment non dairy milks like coconut.

What you can do to help your sister is research. Find out about her condition and how it effects other people in her position so that when she has issues you know how to help her cope. Better knowledge and understanding will help you over that communication hurdle. There is a wealth of information on google about various societies set up to help people with Bipolar Disorder and their families. Some of these have detailed information that will explain exactly what she is going through - and may expect to go through.

Be strong and take care.