Living With Bipolar Religious Parent

[Lucy]

My mother is bipolar religious. She is either super high on God or in a deep depression and won't come out of her room.

 

Right now she is having her religious high phase again. She won't shut up about Satan and God.

 

She believes Satan is hiding her car keys, her purse, whatever is missing at the moment. Satan is causing people to be incompetant at their jobs. Satan overcharges her at the check out. Satan is making the radio static. Satan causes the internet to be slow. Satan made the GPS misdirect us. She can't stop talking about it and is constantly trying to get me to agree with her. I'm not sure what the point of saying it over and over non-stop is. She gets adament and angry about it. I'm not agreeing strongly enough. Constantly telling me about it like I am unaware of all the Satan going on even though it's impossible not to know about it considering as much as she says it. She's mad and ranting about Satan all the time.

 

Apparently Satan has nothing better to do than hide her car keys and God has nothing better to do than help her find them. That's her belief. If you use a wrong word around her like "belief" she will become irate. You cannot say the word "believe" when talking about God and Satan. You must say "know". She's trying to alter nuance language by picking out words she doesn't like and saying Satan makes me say them. If she heard me say, "I believe Satan hid your car keys." She would correct me to say, "I know Satan hid your car keys." Or quite simply "Satan hid your car keys again," because this sentence sounds the most accepting.

 

She constantly is telling me to watch the preachers on TV. She believes that God is speaking through them. They know the will of God. That's why God allows them on the TV. I say I don't want to watch them. She says it's suspicious that I don't want to watch them. Satan is making me not want to watch them. I need to watch them every day during all my free time. She calls me at work and ask me to turn them on at work so I can listen to them in the back ground. (At my work it's acceptable to listen to music or podcasts or preachers all day. She's not asking me to do something that would get me fired.) She cannot believe I don't want to listen to preachers all day long. She thinks Satan is causing me to find it boring.

 

She was diagnosed with bipolar. She believes bipolar is a fake disorder invented by Satan. The proof of this is how different people act with bipolar. Since someone else she knows with bipolar has lots of sex while on their high, that proves my mom doesn't have bipolar because she's not having sex with strangers during her high.

 

She does NOT tell anyone else about this. Only me. Cause I'm special. She wants me to constantly be busy doing random tasks for her when I'm not at work. Because the Bible says "Honor thy mother and thy father." Therefore I should just do anything that she wants me to do. If I don't, she can yell at me because God said I'm supposed to.

 

What should I do? I'm going nuts. This is causing me lots of stress, weight gain, high blood pressure, etc. I get so stressed out I can't sleep at night from it. She keeps calling me about it. She won't shut up about it. She won't see a psychiatrist because Satan controls the psychiatrists.

[mymistake]

Is she seeing getting mental health care now?  Meds sometimes help.

 

Sorry to hear about your life.  That must suck.

[Lucy]

She believes that meds are mostly placebos and Satan influences doctors. She thinks the doctor that diagnosed her with bipolar was just obeying Satan's influence. And Satan wants her to believe she's mentally ill. Satan is happy when you think you're mentally ill because then you will take placebo meds and stop believing he's influencing the world. When you stop believing Satan is influencing the world then he is happy. You must not make Satan happy by taking your meds.

[Positivist]

Gah! Brutal! I've worked in psychiatry and one big problem is that people who are mentally ill cannot see that fact for themselves.

 

Definitely get professionals involved. As for you, make sure you have good boundaries so the cray cray doesn't bring you down. We're going through this with my SIL right now, who is also bipolar. It's vexing. Every conversation is like trying to solve a 7-sided rubics cube.

 

Please take care of yourself! 

[DayLight]

You have to give up the idea of being "the good child".  One time when you will not listen to her and not do something she asks (or a few times), she will put you into the "bad child" category. You have to accept that, and expect that.  That's the only way I see to get out of doing her constant bidding. 

 

Do as much as reasonable and refuse to do the "over" part.  You may feel guilty (depending on how you were raised or what your beliefs are about this).  But it's either: do her bidding OR figure out a way to accept yourself as a "bad child" and learn not to feel guilty about it.  Some abusive (or bullies) people ride others and make them do all kinds of things and manage to make the victims feel guilty when they don't do everything those abusers ask.  The trick is to realize for yourself what's reasonable to do and still be a good person and what's not reasonable (which means that you don't have to do it and it also means that someone is taking an unfair advantage of you).

[FreeThinkerNZ]

I don't know what the laws are like where you live but where I live, people in this kind of mental state can be legally committed to a mental hospital and then to receiving outpatient care for a set period of time.  

 

I hope you are old enough and financially independent enough to get away from her, for your own sanity.  Having a family member, esp. a parent, with untreated bipolar would be too stressful for most people to tolerate for any length of time.  Are there other family members who can help you take action (such as getting her assessed by the appropriate authorities)?  Staying manic is not in her best interests, and its not in yours to be exposed to it.  

 

If you have to cut her out of your life to stay sane yourself, it does not mean you are bad person, its self-preservation.  Like they say on aircraft, put your own oxygen mask on before trying to assist others.

 

Maybe you can get some advice from NAMI in your area:  http://www.nami.org/

[♦ ficino ♦]

Lucy, my sister and I went through a milder version of this. How old are you? Do you have to live with her? If you do, are there social services you can approach?

[Lucy]

She is my only living relative. I am old enough to live separate from her. That wouldn't stop the constant nagging. Currently, we aren't living in the same home, but she is constantly nagging me to help her do things because she is in a wheelchair. Once she's out of her wheelchair she's going to move back in. Then during the time I'm helping her, she's trying to get me to agree with her about Satan. I said, so what if Satan is doing this stuff? If Satan made the Burger King guy leave the pickles off your burger when you asked for extra pickles, what does it matter? She says because it shows how strong the devil is! All the bad things in the world going on, and Satan's evil plan for you is the mess with your pickles. Epic.

 

Terrorists blowing stuff up = Satan.

Messed up burger order = Satan.

 

We have no other family members. They are all dead. Each time one of them died she had a bipolar episode. Last time she bought some land in the middle of no where and a bunch of campers and she was intending to move all her friends to this land with the campers so they could wait out the Apocalypse together. She didn't tell her friends this because she knew they would think she's crazy. She thought once they saw the Apocalypse start to happen she would tell them then, and everyone could move out to this land. Some other people around her were feeding into these delusions. One friend said that her father was doing the same thing in another state. That caused her to believe fully that she needs to do this because God is choosing random people to lead others into these hidden camps. After the mania episode ended, she sold the land then sunk into a deep depression for years because she believed herself to be foolish.

 

She is spending money like it's nothing. She thinks God is showing her bargains that she needs to buy. She says God has blessed us with money so we need to spend it to show our gratitude for his blessings. This blessed money from God is my money which I have from having a job; Not magical windfall money. If we'd won the lotto, I could see this logic. But I went to college and got a job in a field that pays well. That's not magical blessings from God. She blew all her money on her last bipolar episode then started living off my income. I am having a hard time with telling her no. She throws a fit like a child while calling me a child and a brat for not wanting to blow money on buying her pointless things. She believes I should just do anything she wants because "Honor thy mother and thy father" which she repeats like a mantra. In her mind this is the Holy Word from God on high. She also believes that most adult children support their parents so whatever I'm doing isn't enough. She thinks she should be in charge of everything because she's my mother.

 

How does one distinguish between a true psychological problem and a strong religious belief? Trying to show her that she has psychological issues just makes her think you're attacking her religious beliefs. I don't see how other Christians aren't all like this too. The Bible talks about both demons and God causing supernatural phenomena quite a lot. It seems like most Christians just ignore the Bible verses about demons and things when it comes to everyday life.

[♦ ficino ♦]

Lucy, it sounds as though this is way beyond anything you can deal with. Especially as her only relative, you are too close to make her see by yourself that she has psychological issues.

 

I am not schooled in the various options that may exist where you live, but it seems clear that:

1. she's roping you into being an extension of herself. You have the freedom to say 'no' to this and protect the integrity of your own life.

2. some intervention managed by professionals is required to start building a framework for her and you. A doctor, social worker?

 

Her other choice is to see you simply walk away and leave her on her own.

[mikey101]

Lucy, it sounds as though this is way beyond anything you can deal with.

 

Definitely.  Trying to fix sick family members kept me in a lot of pain. Getting away and seeking help for myself was the first step towards a new life.

[Voice]

I do not envy your position.  I was a bi-polar christian and I know exactly what you're talking about.  The only thing that brought me out of it was the disassociation of loved ones close to me who I didn't want to disassociate with me.

 

You have a good grasp on what's going on, a clear perspective.  The only thing you can do is tell her how it is.  Anything less would be enabling her and prolonging the situation.  Granted, telling her how it is will only make her worse toward you, but you have the power of disassociation.  You can tell her that her irrational behavior is more than you can deal with, that other healthy people (including christians) don't behave the way she does, and that for your own good you have to withdraw from her.  Consider it.

[Ellinas]

Strikes me you both need professionals to intervene - your mother to gain some equilibrium and you to be be in a position where you can help her within reasonable bounds and retain your sanity.  This sounds a truly horrendous situation.  The only thing I can think of to suggest is to find if there are any mental health bodies local to you to which you can turn to help - even if she is not willing, it will at least flag up the issue to them which may be the first step to resolving this.

[Voice]

That's not a bad idea, Ellinas, and well said.  Lucy?

[FreeThinkerNZ]

She is my only living relative. I am old enough to live separate from her. That wouldn't stop the constant nagging. Currently, we aren't living in the same home, but she is constantly nagging me to help her do things because she is in a wheelchair. Once she's out of her wheelchair she's going to move back in. Then during the time I'm helping her, she's trying to get me to agree with her about Satan. I said, so what if Satan is doing this stuff? If Satan made the Burger King guy leave the pickles off your burger when you asked for extra pickles, what does it matter? She says because it shows how strong the devil is! All the bad things in the world going on, and Satan's evil plan for you is the mess with your pickles. Epic.

 

Terrorists blowing stuff up = Satan.

Messed up burger order = Satan.

 

We have no other family members. They are all dead. Each time one of them died she had a bipolar episode. Last time she bought some land in the middle of no where and a bunch of campers and she was intending to move all her friends to this land with the campers so they could wait out the Apocalypse together. She didn't tell her friends this because she knew they would think she's crazy. She thought once they saw the Apocalypse start to happen she would tell them then, and everyone could move out to this land. Some other people around her were feeding into these delusions. One friend said that her father was doing the same thing in another state. That caused her to believe fully that she needs to do this because God is choosing random people to lead others into these hidden camps. After the mania episode ended, she sold the land then sunk into a deep depression for years because she believed herself to be foolish.

 

She is spending money like it's nothing. She thinks God is showing her bargains that she needs to buy. She says God has blessed us with money so we need to spend it to show our gratitude for his blessings. This blessed money from God is my money which I have from having a job; Not magical windfall money. If we'd won the lotto, I could see this logic. But I went to college and got a job in a field that pays well. That's not magical blessings from God. She blew all her money on her last bipolar episode then started living off my income. I am having a hard time with telling her no. She throws a fit like a child while calling me a child and a brat for not wanting to blow money on buying her pointless things. She believes I should just do anything she wants because "Honor thy mother and thy father" which she repeats like a mantra. In her mind this is the Holy Word from God on high. She also believes that most adult children support their parents so whatever I'm doing isn't enough. She thinks she should be in charge of everything because she's my mother.

 

How does one distinguish between a true psychological problem and a strong religious belief? Trying to show her that she has psychological issues just makes her think you're attacking her religious beliefs. I don't see how other Christians aren't all like this too. The Bible talks about both demons and God causing supernatural phenomena quite a lot. It seems like most Christians just ignore the Bible verses about demons and things when it comes to everyday life.

 

She clearly has both a "true psychological problem" and a "strong religious belief".  With Bipolar Disorder, extreme religiosity while manic is a very common thing.  Stick around on this forum for a few months and you will get to know who has Bipolar or a close relative with Bipolar.  Members who have been here for around 10 years will often tell you how common this is, and that the pattern is very similar between cases.  People get manic and start having fanatical religious belief, usually about spiritual warfare/satan/demons, controlling those around them/evangelising, and end times/rapture beliefs.  Buying land is a classic sign of this.

 

You are in an extremely tough situation, being the only relative she has, and feeling like you must financially support her and try to care for her.  You need professional help.  There are social workers who have dealt with the same situation dozens of times before.  They know what to do to fix this.  You can find out who they are by asking NAMI for local contact details.  

 

If you don't take action, she will eventually drag you under.  You will become exhausted and extremely angry, probably lose the ability to work, get chronic ill health yourself, and you may even be tempted to harm her (there are cases where this has happened, due to extreme caregiver burnout).  The sooner you get help the easier it will be to climb out of this mess.

 

She has a chemical imbalance, an illness, that will see her swing between mania and depression at regular intervals until she gets appropriate drugs.  This is where compulsory treatment orders come in, because the manic person absolutely will not take drugs voluntarily.   Why would they? They are paranoid about anyone outside their manic bubble,  especially doctors.  They belief they have the truth, the reality, and the rest of us are at best mistaken, at worst actively trying to thwart them.

 

She is a danger to herself and potentially to others.  The immediate action is to get her committed to a hospital, and again NAMI can help you organise that.  Or you could just call your local state mental health department.  Be the squeaky wheel that gets the oil, don't give up until you get the help that is needed.  This is potentially about saving her life.  Be alert to her manipulating her way into an early release.  Make sure they consult you before releasing her.

 

Once she is inside, you get some respite and breathing space to figure out what you're going to do in your best interests and in hers.  

 

It's probably not in either of your interests to give her spending money while she's manic.  If she gets onto drugs and a care plan is worked out, then a small allowance can be part of her recovery.  The manic spending has to stop.  You need that money for your future and potentially for her ongoing care.

 

It's probably not in either of your interests for her to live with you in the near future.  It's too stressful for you, and like Voice said, maybe it will give her the shock she needs to gain some insight into her illness.  She will be entitled to some form of state disability support, or you could always fund some supported accommodation option where she has to interact with others to get support and you get some of the pressure taken off you.  If she follows a care/recovery plan for 6-12 months then you might want to review it, but its always good to have boundaries around any care or support you want to offer.

 

Honestly, the actions I have outlined would be more than enough support for a daughter in your situation to provide.  Having her live with you is above and beyond what is necessary or helpful for either of you.  Having her able to contact you and nag you while not being on drugs or having professional oversight is also a risky situation.  By taking these actions, you are being a good daughter, a caring, loving, mature, responsible daughter.  Continuing to try and fix it on your own is not sustainable.

 

I have been as direct and blunt as I can be because I sense that you are so used to the situation that it may be hard to see the steps you could take.  Many people have been where you are.  I believe there is a way out of it that promotes her dignity and wellbeing, and yours.

[Voice]

Free, you're both insightful and wise.  Makes me realize just how poorly I was brought up, lacking essential social skills.  Doesn't help being bi-polar on top of it.  But I still think you could benefit from a degree of withdrawal, Lucy.  You can't let someone's insanity control you, as you know.

[rach]

I can sympathize with you and your mum.  Firstly, with your mum who is on a religious high.  I spent three to four years in a devastating religious high after my conversion.  I did not know at the time that I was seriously mentally ill.  I spoke about god nonstop, told everyone theyre going to hell, would not stop reading the bible, would not stop evangelizing, prayed nonstop.  The most horrible thing about mental illness is the sick person cannot see outside themselves to know that they are sick.  They are trapped inside their own mind where it all makes sense.  It is very hard or even impossible to make someone like that realize they are sick.  Especially with the Christian religion which convinces you that either you believe its all totally true or you are going to be tortured with fire.  I don't know if I was suffering from bipolar or some other mental disease.  I do know that it came on by extreme stress, I was in believe that I was destined to burn in hell, and I do know that I only came out of it on my own.  There was nothing anyone could say or do for me to make me change my mind.  I started coming out of it only after personal experience of many years of unanswered prayers and getting more and more troubled by the violent bible readings, and slowly being exposed to other ideas through books, movies and social interaction.  There is no fast track to recovery.  It may take years if it ever happens at all.

 

I hope you will be understanding towards your mum.  Constantly remind yourself that she is sick and not purposefully annoying you. 

 

As for yourself, you can try the same approach I use with my god-obsessed a-mum.  When she starts speaking religion, I leave the room.  I try to avoid conversation or arguments about it.  This is called behavior conditioning.  She knows that she can choose to go into a religious frenzy, but she also knows if she does that, she looses the opportunity to spend time with me.   This is a more kind approach than what people did to me when I was sick.  People would start screaming at me that I was stupid and a bigot and stuff.  They never politely, privately, confronted me to say "I think you may be suffering a mental illness".  They just started yelling at me to shut up and telling me to go away.  None of that helped.  It just made me more sick as I experienced more stress and did not understand what I was doing wrong.  When you are mentally ill, the world is black and white.  Good and bad.  Your mmum is stuck on the idea that God is what is good, Satan is what is bad.  Her mind is overwhelmed, like mine was, with the uncertainties of the world.  To cope, she has adopted a system that tells her exactly what is good and what is bad.  She is in a belief that if she plays by the rules (by being a 'good christian'), she can be protected from evil (personified by satan).  Someday she will find out that no matter how hard she tries to play this game, she's going to eventually lose.  Then the walls will come crashing down on her.  She may have alienated everyone in her life.  She will need you to be there for her, when it all crumbles. 

[Lucy]

Thank you all for the responses. I will look into contacting NAMI and see if they can help.

 

One reason I'm leery of trying to get her to talk to a mental health professional is that she strongly feels Satan influences doctors. She believes my father died from a heart attack because he sought out doctors instead of praying to God. (BTW... The doctors actually did screw up. The ER doctor sent him home without checking to see if he's having a heart attack because they said he's too young to be having a heart attack so it has to be indigestion. He did not run any diagnostic tests at all. The heart surgeon also botched his surgery which caused his death. The doctors' incompetence supports her belief. Also, the fact that my father died of a heart attack at such a young age is support that something supernatural (God/Satan) was behind it.)

 

The other issue is that she is fully aware of "what sounds sane" which is why all the Satan and God stuff is reserved for me. I think if she does talk to a psychiatrist she will just feign normalcy. Most of her friends believe her to be a Christian but not strongly religious.

 

Is it normal for someone to just act normal around mental health professionals? The reason the first doctor was able to diagnose her was because she was coming down off her high. And so she told the doctor about her buying land and waiting for Armageddon asking why she would do such a crazy thing. Since right now she is in her manic/mania phase she would never admit these things to anyone she doesn't trust is likely to just agree with her.

[Voice]

It is normal for people to color what they say to doctors.  Sometimes only regular visits to a discerning professional can bring things out, so they can observe the swings and various moods.

 

You do need to decide what your personal limits are for the behavior she exhibits toward you.  I like what rach said about leaving the room when she goes off.  Behavior conditioning.  It's not disassociation, which would be severe and traumatic.

[FreeThinkerNZ]

Thank you all for the responses. I will look into contacting NAMI and see if they can help.

 

One reason I'm leery of trying to get her to talk to a mental health professional is that she strongly feels Satan influences doctors. She believes my father died from a heart attack because he sought out doctors instead of praying to God. (BTW... The doctors actually did screw up. The ER doctor sent him home without checking to see if he's having a heart attack because they said he's too young to be having a heart attack so it has to be indigestion. He did not run any diagnostic tests at all. The heart surgeon also botched his surgery which caused his death. The doctors' incompetence supports her belief. Also, the fact that my father died of a heart attack at such a young age is support that something supernatural (God/Satan) was behind it.)

 

The other issue is that she is fully aware of "what sounds sane" which is why all the Satan and God stuff is reserved for me. I think if she does talk to a psychiatrist she will just feign normalcy. Most of her friends believe her to be a Christian but not strongly religious.

 

Is it normal for someone to just act normal around mental health professionals? The reason the first doctor was able to diagnose her was because she was coming down off her high. And so she told the doctor about her buying land and waiting for Armageddon asking why she would do such a crazy thing. Since right now she is in her manic/mania phase she would never admit these things to anyone she doesn't trust is likely to just agree with her.

 

Are you able to contact the doctor who diagnosed her, or the organisation he works for, who will have the records from that encounter?  If you're unable to get them involved again, maybe the new doctor can access those records?  I presume you're in the US, and I don't know how it works over there, but I would think the state mental health department can access records if its an emergency situation like this where compulsory treatment orders are on the cards.  You will have to find out what the process is where you live.

 

Like Voice said, a doctor who is aware of the person's  history is harder to fool.  Write down the things she says and does, and you can give this information to the doctor.  Heck, I'd even record her and play that for them.  There are smartphone apps for this.

 

A good psychiatrist can usually tell when a manic patient is trying to bullshit them.  This is one reason they force the person into hospital for 72 hours - its much harder to bullshit everybody for that long, especially when the person is not sleeping, or only for a couple of hours a night (classic mania sign).  There are also signs like disjointed speech, pressured speech.  Trust the professionals, they know what to look for.

 

And I'm sorry to hear how your Dad died, that is shocking medical malpractice - I have been to the ER myself with heart attack symptoms (I'm in my 40s) and the eventual diagnosis was reflux (a very common mimic of heart attack). They did an ECG and took bloods so they knew it wasn't a heart attack.  Standard, basic medical procedure for people of any age, I'm so sorry that didn't happen in your Dad's case.

[R. S. Martin]

She believes I should just do anything she wants because "Honor thy mother and thy father" which she repeats like a mantra. In her mind this is the Holy Word from God on high. She also believes that most adult children support their parents so whatever I'm doing isn't enough. She thinks she should be in charge of everything because she's my mother.

 

How does one distinguish between a true psychological problem and a strong religious belief? Trying to show her that she has psychological issues just makes her think you're attacking her religious beliefs. I don't see how other Christians aren't all like this too. The Bible talks about both demons and God causing supernatural phenomena quite a lot. It seems like most Christians just ignore the Bible verses about demons and things when it comes to everyday life.

 

This, and some other comments you made, make me think you may want to see a counselor yourself just so you have a professional to talk to regularly who can help you sort through this kind of question and develop strategies for setting healthy boundaries with your mother. You don't have to wait to till you are a "mess" to "get help." If nothing else, perhaps through NAMI you can find a support group. I am glad you had the strength and insight to reach out for help when you felt the need for it. All the best, Lucy.

[FreeThinkerNZ]

 

She believes I should just do anything she wants because "Honor thy mother and thy father" which she repeats like a mantra. In her mind this is the Holy Word from God on high. She also believes that most adult children support their parents so whatever I'm doing isn't enough. She thinks she should be in charge of everything because she's my mother.

 

How does one distinguish between a true psychological problem and a strong religious belief? Trying to show her that she has psychological issues just makes her think you're attacking her religious beliefs. I don't see how other Christians aren't all like this too. The Bible talks about both demons and God causing supernatural phenomena quite a lot. It seems like most Christians just ignore the Bible verses about demons and things when it comes to everyday life.

 

This, and some other comments you made, make me think you may want to see a counselor yourself just so you have a professional to talk to regularly who can help you sort through this kind of question and develop strategies for setting healthy boundaries with your mother. You don't have to wait to till you are a "mess" to "get help." If nothing else, perhaps through NAMI you can find a support group. I am glad you had the strength and insight to reach out for help when you felt the need for it. All the best, Lucy.

 

 

I agree with this.  Also, keep bringing your questions to us, we are glad to try and offer what help we can.

 

Boundaries are important all the time but especially when dealing with family, and doubly so if the person has an illness.  I can only imagine how hard it would be to set a boundary with your mother or even say no to something.

 

I have found this website helpful for information about mental illness.  There's a section on caregiving: http://www.helpguide.org/home-pages/caregiving.htm and one on bipolar: http://www.helpguide.org/home-pages/bipolar-disorder.htm .

[Brother Jeff]

Lucy, I have bipolar disorder and I know what the manic highs are like. I spent 15 years of my life swinging between bouts of extreme religious belief when I was manic and bouts of severe substance abuse when I was depressed. I still struggle with the manic spending sprees. Just the other day I bought about 60 VHS tapes of old Western movies and TV shows because it was fun in the moment. But where am I going to store all of those tapes? Good question... so I can relate. 

 

I agree with others who have said that you need to set healthy boundaries with your mother. Also, please stop enabling her spending sprees with your money. That's not good for you and not healthy for either of you. 

 

I have been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital before when I was depressed and suicidal. I am grateful now to the people who forced me to get the help that I needed. Your mother needs professional help, and if she gets the help she needs, she will likely end up feeling grateful for the help when she is better. 

 

Best wishes to you and your mother.

[Lilith666]

That sounds awful. I'm not sure what to tell you because I have minimal experience with people who have this (except for my roommate, who may have it). But if the RM does, than arguing with your mother won't help--as I'm sure you know. I don't know what to say. Ignore her, maybe? Yelling back at RM when she yells at me just encourages her to get on a power/ego/can-do-no-wrong trip, which probably also happens with your mom since fundies are so goshdarn sure they're right and will not hear otherwise. Is there a way you can move out? I am sure you have thought of this. I'm just curious.

[Lucy]

I talked to her about it again and she agreed to go to a doctor about getting some bipolar meds. She was giggling the whole time like it's hilarious. Before when I talked to her about it, she was livid. She will go back and forth between giggling and raging anger in the same conversation. She said she'll only do it if I watch an hour of the preacher channel. She's convinced if I watch enough preaching channel I'll see the everything her way. When she came down off her high last time she just went in her room and laid in bed for years barely coming out, constantly wondering why God let her down.

 

I have no intentions to try to deconvert her. But I feel like as long as she believes in God and Satan's influence in the world, this is going to continue the rest of her life.

 

I received some interesting information from NAMI about anosognosia. Apparently when someone is having their bipolar high, they are unable to see themselves as having a mental problem, but during their low they recognize themselves as having been delusional. This explains a lot. When she was coming off her high last time she was shocked at all the things she had been saying and doing. It was very strange. She acted like she didn't remember some of the things she did. She agreed she had bipolar. But now she says she never did any irrational things and can't see how anything she's saying or doing is irrational. On her high she's convinced bipolar isn't a real disorder. But on her low she's convinced she has it. This makes a lot of sense in a way. If you had the ability to tell that you're delusional, you wouldn't be delusional.

 

 

 

Side note that's slightly off topic: I did watch a little preaching channel just because I agreed I would. And in part of the sermon the preacher said, "You will be surprised who you'll see in heaven!" He then says he believes heaven will have Christians, Jews, Muslims, and atheists. So apparently the preaching channel agrees it's a waste of time to watch the preaching channel. Just believe what you want to believe!

[FreeThinkerNZ]

When she is fully down off the manic high, see if you can get her to sign you on as having access to her doctor and her medical records.  This will make it easier next time to get help for her.  She also needs medication and therapy while she is in the depressive phase.  The more insight she can gain in between manic episodes and the longer time between episodes, the better.