"Hiya. I read your blog..... I wanted help for my mum who has bipolar depression and I really want to do my best to help her, I just don't know what to do. I hate seeing her suffer like this."
Hello, sorry I couldn't reply back to your message. I can't give you a perfect answer or a great one because there isn't enough detail given about your mum's bipolar depression as everyone experiences it differently. Has your mum been professionally diagnosed with bipolar depression? Does she see a therapist? Is your mum feeling suicidal or having suicidal thoughts? This is my main concern because this could be a possibility and if so, she needs to see someone immediately. Whatever you do, do not make her feel bad for the way she is feeling. She is going to need a lot of patience and support so hold her hand and tell her how much you love her, that you'll be there for her, and especially, allow her to express her emotions to you openly. It's not going to be easy helping her as she may try to block you out, please don't take it personally as she may feel like she's burdening you with her problems and she feels bad for this. You could monitoring her depressive episodes; how often do they occur in a day, week, month etc, how long they last for and if there is something specific that may trigger it. Some things that may trigger a depressive episode is a certain place or person, stress, substance abuse, medication, seasonal change, sleep deprivation. It's different for every person and you should try and find which of these may trigger or worsen things. Your mum might have a stressful job which could lead to high levels of cortisol which she should get checked by doing a blood test, or a stressful relationship with her partner or one of her loved ones. If this is the case, then she needs to learn mechanisms to deal with her stress better. Stress also can affect sleeping pattern, preventing her from getting enough rest which will make matters worse. Is your mum taking any medications and if so, you might want to have a read about the symptoms they may cause, depression may be one of them. Is your mum's depression seasonal; does the summer, autumn, winter or spring make your mum depressed?
From my experience, some of the best ways to deal with depression is to talk to someone about how you're feeling and to take up an activity though you might need to force yourself to do this and openly talking does take a lot of courage to do so as well, so please be gentle. There are many ways your mum could deal with this and you could join in with her. You guys could go on daily walks at some point during the day or join an art class or pick up a sport like swimming or whatever you fancy. Maybe cut the caffeine out if she's having too much. Take it slowly, there is no need to rush this as it is a long process and will take time. If she is stressing a lot, then she needs to look at what causes this and deal with it that way. For this, she could do meditation, painting or drawing, taking 30 minutes out of the day and doing something she likes, maybe like pampering herself or read a book or something. It goes down to what she likes doing as well. If there's a TV show she has been interested in, you could all watch it together. There are a lot of ways to help and things that could be done but it all depends on what the depression is like for your mum. I wish I had more detail so I could help you more but I'm hoping I've answered this to the level you needed. If there's more help you need, don't be afraid to get in touch again. Send me an email or you could drop me a dm, my social medias are all linked.
This will take time so take things slowly. Stay calm, I know it hurts to see your loved ones hurting but she needs you to be strong for her so you can give her the support she needs. And most importantly, just be a listening ear for her. Take care and please don't hold back if you need anything else, like I said, drop me an email! Take care and I hope things get better for you guys.
Love, A xo
Comentarios