Living With a Manic Depressive Husband

The high highs and low lows characteristic of manic depression make people with this mental disorder challenging to live with. Individuals who live with a manic depressive husband must take on more of the household responsibilities and assist their spouses in overcoming the struggles that come along with this challenging disorder. To ensure that your household runs properly and that your spouse's manic depressive episodes stay under control, consider the steps that you must take to ensure the health and marital happiness of both you and your spouse.

Instructions

• 1

  Educate yourself on the disorder. Read up on manic depression so that you can better understand the mental struggles characteristic to this disorder. By developing your understanding of manic depression, you can increase your ability to recognize the symptoms of the disorder and spot the behaviors that your spouse exhibits more readily.

• 2

  Complete the daily tasks that your husband's disorder prevents him from doing. Many manic depressive individuals cannot complete the simple household maintenance tasks necessary to keep a home in running order. Instead of lamenting your spouse's inability to do these things, help him by taking the tasks on yourself. This practice will cut down on your stress, since you won't waste time arguing with your spouse, and will likely reduce his stress as well, since he won't have to contend with your anger over the completion of these simple activities.

• 3

  Treat your spouse as an adult, not a child. Health Canada reports that many wives of manic depressive individuals mistakenly start to treat the mentally ill individual in a childlike manner. Avoid doing this: work to ensure that you always treat your spouse as an equal partner. The development of this child part role is not productive and leads only to more problems for both parties.

• 4

  Focus on your own happiness. The National Institute of Mental Health urges those who live with manic depressive individuals to work at remaining happy. Living with individuals who suffer from this disorder can be challenging and may lead to unhappiness or depression as you try to deal with the challenges associated with this disorder. If you allow yourself to become depressed, you will only add to your spouse's struggles. Whenever possible, take time to make yourself happy and tend to your emotional needs to ensure that you remain a strong ally for your partner.

• 5

  Respond immediately to the suicide warning signs. Manic depressive individuals are at a greater risk of committing suicide, reports Health Canada. To avoid this, be aware of the common signs associated with suicide and act quickly if you spot them.

• 6

  Remind your husband of the importance of following through with a treatment plan. Many manic depressives struggle with treatment, though it remains the only way to manage manic depression. The National Institute of Mental Health urges spouses to play an active role in helping struggling partners stick with their plan.