Bipolar Disorder E-book by Neil Hunt

Author:Neil Hunt [Hunt, Neil, MA MD MRCPsych]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7020-4903-3
Publisher: Elsevier Health Sciences
Published: 2005-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Afterwards, take care of yourself. These can be very frightening experiences, and if you have been hurt it can also leave you feeling very humiliated. We all react differently but talking about the experience, particularly with others who were involved, can be helpful. Avoidance increases anxiety–avoidance of the place, the people involved or even the thoughts all tend to make things worse rather than better.

4.22 What can family and friends do to help a manic patient?

There is a difficult balance to be struck when trying to help someone who is manic. The patient will almost certainly try to persuade you that they are fine and don’t need any intervention. They often do this by a combination of cheerfully trying to get you to go along with them but also by getting irritable and annoyed if they are thwarted. Directly challenging patients often proves counterproductive but trying to make clear to them your view of their illness is important. Maintain your view that they are ill and what they need to do about it, without being drawn too much into argument.

It may take a lot of listening to get a chance to even make a simple point. Focusing on the practicalities is usually more productive than arguing about the principles which is often what happens. It is very time consuming dealing with people who are manic as they will talk endlessly to you and at you and productive dialogue is thin on the ground. You have to give them some time to speak but also to keep trying to draw them back to the important decisions that have to be made about their illness and its treatment. Some people are very skilful in edging patients along in a productive direction (e.g. taking treatment and medication) without it becoming a confrontation. This skill is more likely to be gained by experience rather than any particular techniques that can be learned. Do not get angry back as this is only rarely productive and usually escalates the situation.

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