Hi Midnight, welcome
I'm 60yo male and had huge emotional issues when young. Mania was present however I didn't get treatment till much later in life. In the end I have bipolar 2, dysthymia (low mood constant depression), depression (mania not sleeping type) and anxiety but I've licked that one.
Like anything in life if we can come to terms with our illnesses and sometimes find the cause, we are armed with some basic knowledge that assists us in managing our issues.
In my case I was unaware since about 10 years ago that my mothers problem was BPD of a chronic level. Her life was a train wreck and her denial was a huge issue for myself and my sister. Unfortunately she never sort help and so my guess is based on my knowledge only. But that's ok. We had no choice but to remove her from our lives. That was 5 years ago and life has been wonderful ever since.
So that is an example of being able to move on because being a child of a BPD person that gives you abuse all your life has its consequences for my mental health.
Then there is "management" of your illness. Rather than expect a cure one day best management will be more realistic so you can set your focus on that better. "Management" IMO is the balance of many things. The right diagnosis, the best medication and its ideal dose, appropriate therapy....but there are self help targets you can set like- change of living environment (I moved to the country), removing toxic troublemaking people from my life (even relatives), getting a pet (our mini foxy is a darling), seeking spiritual contentment (I follow Prem Rawat on YouTube for example as a guide for me), financial stability and hobbies/sports. Even an addition of some spontaneous activity ideas like on a Friday night suddenly choose to go gliding the next day of hot ait ballooning or just a drive to the mountains.
Essentially, changing what habits you have formed over your lifetime. Boredom can be so boring!!
Sometimes you need to make some hard decisions. eg For 14 years I had my kids on visits to my home. The mother of our children made life really difficult and would ring up often and upset me with her attitude. I tried everything to get along to no avail. When our youngest got to 18yo I told my ex not to ever contact me again. I was polite and firm. Since then 5 years ago, life has been much better for that decision. So self protection is another thing to do.
All this is easier said than done I know. Hope that helps.
Tony WK
