Help for my son in law who has been diagnosed as borderline bipolar

[BA69]

My son-inlaw has been diagnosed as Borderline Bi-Polar he had a massive breakdown a couple of months ago and the GP changed his medication  he saw a psychologist 1 time and then advised he needed to see a Physciatrist and another medication was required as the new one was in fact giving him worse symptoms. He is managing to maintain working and they are not aware of his issues. He mad an appointment with the specialist 12/8 but was phoned on the Monday stating the Doctor was no longer doing evening sessions ( app was for 5.30) and would have to make day appointment. As there financial postion is extremely bad at moment he advised could not get time off during day to be replied to Sorry but Doctor no longer does evening...What does he do now..he is hanging on by a thread..Do these doctors think mental health issues are only 9-5...He is a father (3sons) and of course my daughter (his wife) does she have to wait for him to have another breakdown and have him admitted which will also mean they loose everything  any advice plse

[white knight]

Hi BA,

I also reside in that area. I am aware of the severe restrictions placed on the mental health personnel. It is not the fault of any department except the Government. You son in law has to use sick leave to attend these sort of appointments. There is little anyone can do about this.

The mental health system is stressed. The medical people have to attend to desperate cases far worse than you son in laws case  and that's not to say your son in law isn't in need. I was told this myself. If only you could attend the environment of these hard working doctors you might understand more how they have to limit their working hours and times.

In the meantime Google is your friend. I've learned a lot by lots of reading. There are many thread son this site also that will be informative.

If you SIL's condition worsens over time he might need to consider part time work. This might not be financially viable but his illness is serious and stress trying to maintain full time employment if high with his condition. Hope this helps.

Tony WK

[white knight]

Hi again BA,

Having re-read my post I'm not entirely happy with it and too late to change.

What I wanted to express was coming from my own experience. I had two bad episodes prior to giving up work 2 years ago. An ambulance was called. On both occasions the ambulance staff wouldn't take me to hospital as their cases they had that night were more severe. Eventually I got the right medication and retired from work. Over the last 10 years while seeking psychiatric care in the I've come to the realisation that they are extremely short staffed. If medical staff were to open after hours its still unlikely some would get the care they would need.

I'm sorry that your SIL has had to endure this. You are indeed a loving and caring MIL. Good on you.

Tony WK

[geoff]

dear BA, thanks for coming to the forum.

I hope that Tony our friend has been able to start the ball rolling for you.

My big worry is that as he has had a breakdown that his work is going to be too much for your SIL to cope with, as I would think that he's only working on a small thread.

I understand your frustration just as your SIL and daughter do, but firstly he can go and see his doctor who can then review his medication, he doesn't have to see a psychiatrist just for his medication, and I'm not too fond of psychiatrists as I've seen two and both I was never happy with.

If his psychologist wanted to pass him over to a psychiatrist because she wasn't capable of helping him, then say so, and not pass the buck.

What I would do is for him to email BB and the link is just under the search bar at the top of this page, as well as being under the chat online where he can ask a question, and they will reply and give him their answer.

I have just done this and their email was delivered almost immediately, or within a time frame of about 15 minutes.

I would expect there would be a lot of frustration for people needing to see their psych, but it's impossible to get an appointment, or if you can it's too far away, or perhaps they are away, which seems to happen quite regularly, leaving us to suffer, so then we need another back up, which he can do by talking on the webchat or by ringing BB on 1300 22 4636 on a 24/7 line. L Geoff. x