Supporting Bipolar Rapid Cycling

Playing the supporting role in a bipolar relationship is sometimes extremely difficult to explain in ordinary words. When asked by others on how to manage such a relationship, I solely focus on the perspective that I view the world from out of respect for my own wife as I will never truly understand her side of the relationship when it comes to those challenges brought on by the disorder.

Even when my own wife asks me how I manage to deal with those challenges, the words can sometimes escape me on how I see certain events progress throughout an episode or the unrelated day-to-day. Also, as mentioned in previous posts, we also live with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) that seems to be more prominent in the relationship but can supplement and trigger many cycles as well. So it’s a bit difficult to illustrate the cycles and how they affect me as a supporter without showing some kind of visual that can demonstrate a bit better.

I put together the above “Bipolar Rapid Cycling Support Chart” to offer a bit of an illustration on how I viewed the better part of last month, which happened to include some birthdays and Christmas, which can definitely play a part in how cycles are directed. The blue line represents how I viewed my wife’s moods throughout the month and the red line represents my own moods while trying to play the role as a supporter. As seen, my own moods aren’t as as responsive yet I also find it a bit more difficult to recover between cycles as I’m not quite sure which way the moods will swing at the next turn.

To drill in a bit deeper, when she shifts within a matter of hours, it will take up sometimes a full day or two to catch up as I attempt to stabilize my own moods to keep things neutral enough to prepare for the next swing. At the same time, and maybe not the best way to handle such a routine, I also try to tune myself in to her moods and stay close to her. Sure, it does affect my own moods throughout the process but to be perfectly honest, the moods do affect me and I can’t expect to be happy every single day myself as I’ll say again, the role of the supporter is not an easy part to play.

With a passion to reach out and to help others, Rich opens up a direct view into the trials and tribulations that come with managing a bipolar relationship and how to use real-world techniques to aid in stability and support.

Rich Wallace

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