When the BP doesn't know it...

[Guest guest]

My nada has been showing BP symptoms my entire life. But no one ever bothered to

label this until about a month ago. Doctors and therapists hid behind the fact

that she is bipolar, but that does account for her behavior and the emotional

abuse I have put up for the last eighteen years.

After a therapist finally had the guts to let me know what was really going on I

picked up Understanding the Borderline Mother by Lawson. I had about

65465464 AHAHH moments. And for the first time I really felt as though I

understood some aspect of my nada. For so long I thought that there was some

magic combination of medication that could make her better, but it;s a

personality disorder and that's why none of her meds have ever " fixed " her.

So now that I have come to this epiphany, and I completely chewed out my father

for not approaching me about it (since he's known for months) but that's when I

realized none of us knew what we were doing. For some reason, I assumed my

nada's therapist had enlightened her but noooooo, she didn't. So my nada is

currently under the impression that she is bipolar and her therapy plan for this

will make her better. IT ISN'T. She has yet to change because clearly she is BP.

So here's the conflict. It is not my place to just announce " Hey nada, your

personality is completely screwed up courtesy of your mother and you are BP. "

Because that would obviously go over terribly, ignite a lovely episode where I

end kicked out and who needs that? I have absolutely no idea how to approach the

situation, my father, or how can I possibly get this taken care of. There is no

chance of nada's improvement if she doesn't even know she is BP.

I am so frustrated and feel backed into a corner!

- Jenn