The aim of this page is to put together something for the others caught in the depression/mental illness trap, the partners and families of the victims.
For the moment it is going to be a bit sparse, but hopefully it will remain a living growing document.
Resources
Here I want to put together a list of the resources available for partners and families of those suffering mental illness. If you know of something that I’ve missed then please put up a comment and I’ll add them to the list. I’ve given each country it’s own page to help with the sorting.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
I am a partner of a person with a mental illness= bipolar disorder. Although we have been married 17 years, the diagnoses was only a year ago. It has helped to know what the problem is, but in the meantime, a lot of damage was done.
February 13th, 2009 at 2:53 am
Hi,
My husband of 5 years is a Geek, and a bi-polar surrerer for most of his 28 years. He showed me your website the other day and I think what you guys are doing is awesome. And its a great idea to have a page for spouses and families of the sufferers too, theres not that many resources out there for us, well, that I have found anyway.
Although these websites are not Australian they have helped me a lot:
http://getolife.com/what.aspx
– A somewhat humerous look at what its like to live with bi-polar spouse.I especially related to the ‘Reality’, ‘Stay or leave’. The ‘why not work’ and the ’stressors’ page gave me a well needed laugh.
Another useful website I stumbled across was
http://www.bpso.org/
It is aimed at Bipolar Significant Others (aka, spouses and families) and has a fantastic collection of links to all kinds of useful information. Also not Australian, but useful none the less.
I have also just finished reading a book called “Loving someone with bipolar disorder: understanding and helping your partner” by Julie A. Fast. It was an interesting read which helped me to understand the difference between the person and the disease (know when “the bipolar disorder is talking”) identifying the triggers that lead to symptoms and it gave tips on transforming the “bipolar conversation”.
Good luck with your website!
- Heather