Looking For Someone Who Understands

It is important to talk to our children about mental illness so that they can gain understanding of what is happening and why. Otherwise, there is a lot of confusion in their little minds about what is really going on. Better to be honest with them in a simplified way than to leave them to try and figure it out for themselves. I believe it is especially important because it is not at all uncommon for the child of a bipolar parent to be bipolar himself, and they need to recognize what could possibly happen to them as well. Just my opinion, but my oldest is well-aware of the mental illness in our family, and I believe it helps him cope as a "normal" person whose mother lives on an emotional roller coaster. Sometimes, I am so affected by this illness that I am incapable of performing daily activities like cooking, sometimes even eating. His awareness of my illness helps him to understand these things and better cope with them.

And just as a side note, maybe your daughter's inappropriate joke is one of the ways she copes. My son jokes about things like this too, but so do I. I have to find humor in this madness because otherwise I will really go crazy. Everyone deals with things differently though. This is just what works for me.

We have to find the humor in things! Lol! It does get confusing for everybody involved. Its important for our kids to understand that there's nothing wrong with being mentally ill, that it doesn't make someone a "freak". So that my son could better understand whats going on I used my diabetes as an example. My body doesn't make enough insulin so I have to take medication to help my body break down the sugars. And my brain doesn't make enough serotonin so I have to take meds to level out the chemicals. That helped him a lot. He did make the comment "so that's why you get mad sometimes?" Wow! That hit hard. Since then I've become more aware of my tone when I'm frustrated. I've always told him that sometimes crying just makes you feel better, even if you don't know what you're crying about. I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one who is happy with the life I live, but I'm still depressed. When I'm "happy" there's something blocking me from totally enjoying what I'm doing. I want so badly to truly feel complete happiness. When I'm depressed I tell my hubby I'm at the South Pole, hypomania is the North Pole! Just a little way to lighten the mood! Thanks y'all for talking about y'all's experiences. It helps to know what other people are experiencing.