I wish I had a better answer to this question. A reader- let’s call her Amanda – wrote to me:
So I’m gathering information and advice from whatever sources I can find. My immediate question, based on what is happening right now, is — what do you do and Dee do when you see a manic episode coming on? Does she care? Try to prevent it? My [loved one] doesn’t.
Yes, I know there are medical opinions for me to seek out, but I’m asking more from a tactical view point, questions directed to people who have been through it — have you come up with any ideas on how to squelch a manic episode, once you see it’s coming on?
My response:
Amanda,
I wish I had some great advice to give you but unfortunately I have not
solved this one. I’ve just been through a pretty bad time with Dee and so
it would be hypocritical to act as though I’ve got the answers. All I do
is try to manage the situation as best as I can.My personal opinion about hypomania is that there’s nothing wrong with it,
in and of itself. The trouble is, hypomania makes me nervous because I
worry about it morphing into mania. Then, she sees that I’m nervous and
tense, and gets annoyed.I try to get her to come to bed and get a “good night’s sleep” but
according to her, if I do that, suddenly I’m “trying to control” her. So,
as you can see, my strategies aren’t very effective. The best strategy is
encouraging compliance with medications, actually. It’s simple but it’s
the only thing that works in producing a positive outcome.Thanks for your message, I appreciated getting it. It’s good to know there
are people out there reading my stuff and getting something out of it.