Having a best friend with a mental illness?
My best friend Erin is really important to me. Though sometimes it's really hard to deal with her. She has depression and bipolar and being her best friend can be a tough job. It always seems like she is always needing my advice or needing comfort. I'm happy to help her out but whenever I need someone there for me it's like she isn't available. She also gets mad VERY easily, it's like I have to walk on egg shells and filter every single thing I say so she doesn't get mad or upset. She sometimes can be kind of rude by telling me things like being quiet or telling me to stop. It's not really what she says it's how she says it. She also kind of makes me do things for her but when she asks me it's in a snippy tone. It's getting harder to deal with this friendship but I love her so very much. When we are having fun and laughing we have the BEST time. It's just hard having to monitor everything I do and say, it causes a lot of stress. I can't talk to her about it because it will be a huge blown out fight and I don't want to end it because I know it's her bipolar and depression not really her. Does anyone have a friendship like that? Or are there any ways to help cope?
My friend is faking mental illnesses?
A lot of people including me have anxiety disorders, it runs through the family. I told my best friend I got diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder and she went "cold" on me like she said "aw sorry you have that" but in a rude way. At recess she ignored me until i sent her a text asking why she's ignoring me, she said that she felt "threatened" by me because I have a mental illness and she told me she has had bipolar for 5 years and that i'm copying her? She is only 14 so she had bipolar at 9...is that possible? I did some research and it says they go into depressive states for months. She is always happy and smiling. I also read there's the 'mania' stage, I have never even seen her act hyper or have mood swings except when her pet died a few years ago. I have never seen her go to a counsellor or take medication for her bipolar. On her Facebook she posted a status saying "Diagnosed with bipolar I hate this!! The mood swings make me wanna die I'm having suicidal thoughts right now". Everyone was saying "I'm here for you <3" then she said "Thanks for the support i'm not suicidal anymore". The next day she came to school telling everyone she cut herself to try and kill herself, I saw scratches but they were lighter then cat scratches and she was showing everyone. She then claims she was diagnosed with depression and Personality disorder and possibly had Leukaemia. Everyone is falling for it and everyone hangs out with her now. How can i catch her in her lies?
What illness does my friend have?
My friends been sick for 2 days, he got about 30 minutes of sleep last night because he's in pain. He says that his stomach hurts, so he can't keep anything down like food. He also says that his shoulders feel like they're 'burning' when he moves them, and he has a headache. What could he have? Or what could he take to ease the pain?
I think my friend has some form of mental illness?
She has quite a lot of strange symptoms, but I don't know what it could add up to. - Delusions. That she isn't real, or the only human left on Earth, or that everyone can hear her thoughts. - Hallucinations. these are very rare, but she told me that she heard voices once. - Insomnia. She gets chronic insomnia often. - Hates being alone. To such an extent that she got left alone for five minutes once and started to cry. If I don't reply to her text messages instantly she can feel very hurt and sick. Sometimes angry, although as a person, she rarely ever gets aggravated. - Mood swings. Very drastic ones. She often feels suicidal, although she has promised to never attempt it. And then the next day she's very calm and serene again. - She sometimes doesn't know what she's saying. Like word vomit, or explaining something and stopping half-way through. Sometimes she doesn't say anything at all, and remains mute for a few hours, sometimes even days. She has a unique and poetic way of speaking, and doesn't use her face to express emotions often. She normally keeps her eyes wide and tilts her head if she's curious. - She stares into the distance sometimes. this isn't a symptom, but it's weird. - She acts on impulse, and this makes her reckless and sometimes quite crazy. - She thinks very differently. I mean VERY differently. In the way she interprets things, in her mind, in her emotions. It's all quite bizarre to me, although I don't know how to describe it because she doesn't talk about it often. She never says when she's depressed or upset, she just takes it all out on herself. I've never seen her cry or complain about the way she feels about things. Sometimes she tells me on impulse though and then regrets it seconds later, because she's scared that I'll think her strange or weird. This doesn't happen a lot, but when it does, some of the stuff she writes is very concerning, and although I love her, I'm worried. She is hiding a lot from me - everything I've said about is only on the surface.
Does my friend have a mental health issue? Being creepy?
Yes
How can I get my friend to accept help for their mental health issues? They're in denial and won't get any help.
Thank you for A2A.Let your friend know that you understand and really know how hard it is for them to deal with whatever they are going through. Take them in confidence and let them know that you are going to be by their side and that you are here to help.Tell them you need to discuss something important. This way you'll get their attention. Let them know you are really concerned about them. Meet at a quiet place at a quite time. Where they would talk to you about everything openly. Make sure you are not with anyone else. This might make them uncomfortable. Also, tell them that this is not the way their family wants to see them. Sometimes people do things for their loved ones rather than for themselves. It always works.Many a times people don't go for help because therapy can be expensive too. If possible, help them financially.But the most important of all is, make them feel loved. Let them know that you are all ears and that you won't judge. That you are here to help.Sometimes all a mentally ill person needs is an ear that listens. :)
Can mental illness be cured?
yes, contrary to popular belief mental illness can be cured. after 19 yrs on medication, i am now med free & doing fine so far. what was the cure? i did something i had never done before - asked god to heal me. who would ever figure this would happen to me but i believed it would happen and it did. you see i just figured that miracles happened in the bible back in the day, so why can't they still happen today? the answer is they can! i am still in a phase of disbelief myself. but the freedom from those chains being broken and being made whole again is so incredibly liberating. for all the naysayers out there (& there will be plenty I'm sure), i don't care what you think! i'm sorry you are missing out on miracles in your life. thanks be to god for blessing and healing me! so to answer your question - please don't resign yourself to accepting this state of brokeness as permanent. it does not have to be this way. may god bless your friend too. prayer is more powerful than a man with a psychiatry degree or anything in a pill bottle.
What if supporting my friend with her mental illness triggers my own mental illness again?
It’s unlikely. Generally, mental illness worsens due to more inner, personal factors or just because of lack of treatment.Helping others is one of the most difficult things we’ll ever do. Yet it is a basic part of human nature to do so, and quite often it helps in your own healing. If you have lost confidence in yourself as a good person, helping others is a great way to remind yourself that you are a good person.The key is to get time for yourself, and get your own needs met as well. A local minister called this ‘creating a sustainable mission.’Another statement that often helps me is ‘All we can do, is all we can do.’Persons in crisis quite often need more than we can provide. We have to realize that we’re not Superman or Superwoman. They may need a hospital, Mobile Crisis, or even the police if they have an urge to harm themselves or others. Sometimes we have to step back and let someone with more expertise, intervene.Many times, if a person in crisis is very demanding of your time, it even benefits that person to be told, gently, ‘No, sorry, but I can’t talk any more tonight. I have to go to sleep at 11 in order to get up for work tomorrow morning. We can talk again tomorrow night. If you feel like you might hurt yourself tonight, call your doctor and Mobile Crisis and go to the hospital.”I’m all for giving very, very generously of our time to help those who are unfortunate. It’s a great experience to help someone else. But we also have to recognize our own limitations.