So we have come to our final application post and there is just one more post after this but if I find a topic I enjoy as much as this project I will do a new blog so leave suggestions below.
My mom was diagnosed with bipolar shortly after my second birthday when she experienced extreme postpartum elation after my little brother was born. I have seen my mother go through many episodes throughout my life but one sticks in my mind the most. It happened right before I started gr. 7 and the depression lasted 9 months with roughly 6 months of manic following. You might be comparing these times to the diagnosis on the previous post and notice they don't add up. My mother has a type of bipolar that is not well documented, A-typical. 90% of bipolar patients are typical and fall into one of the five mentioned types but 10% do not match these symptoms but still are diagnosed. When my mother went into her depressive stage, my brother, who was in gr. 5 at the time, and I had to step up and do a lot of the shopping and cleaning because my mom struggled to get out of bed in the mornings just to make it to the couch or bathroom. Getting her pills each month was a bigger task because she had to get dressed and walk 4 blocks to the pharmacy to pick them up. I would have done it except they were narcotics which can only be picked up by the patient or someone 18 years or older.
Now you might be thinking an absent mom who pays the bills sounds like the perfect opportunity for two almost teens to do what ever they want. Frank and I didn't view it that way. We saw that we had to take care of our mom when she wasn't able to do it herself and although we could have had more freedom, the only times we went out for our own fun was the library after school and youth group on Fridays. About 7 months into the depression my mom made the decision to move back north because she felt home would be a better place to recover. About two months before we moved, I noticed my mom began to do more and be up longer. By the time we moved in July, I noticed no remaining depression. My mom was back to what I considered normal and we moved without any problems,
My dad was diagnosed about two years ago as a rapid cycling mixed bipolar but he has asked I keep the rest of his story private.
Because of having two parents bipolar, I have an estimated 73% chance of being diagnosed but because I am still a teenager they will not go near this because it could be just hormones. I have two half brothers who have a roughly 23% chance of being bipolar. Sometimes it worries me but then I remember there is still a 27% and I should focus on the positive.
Now onto my conclusion :)
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