Collateral Damage

[soul]

From all that I have read, my partner is suffering from Bipolar Disorder. When he is on an even keel, he is the most loving, caring and sensitive person I have ever known but every couple of weeks, his mood changes and out of the blue he becomes irritable, anxious and even aggressive.

More recently, he has been taking these frustrations out on me in the form of physical assaults. One of these mood changes was so severe and the assault so brutal that I ran from our house and a neighbour called the police. He is now in custody. The police took out an ADVO on him.

I recognise that he needs professional help and I want to do all that I can to help him. He is waiting on a mental health assessment.

Has anyone else been in this situation and is there a light at the end of what seems to be a very long and very dark tunnel?

[Former-Member]

 Hi @soul 

Thanks for your message and welcome to the board.

First off I just want to say thankyou for telling your story, I am sure there are other people on here who will have advice and who will share their own story with you.

I am sorry to hear about what you have been through and if you need to talk to someone about what you have been thought I would suggest calling Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Being a carer is hard and it is important that you look after yourself while you look after your partner.

So welcome again!!!!

Outlanderali

[nigioc]

Hey @soul 

I'm so sorry to hear how hard things are with your partner. It is difficult enough to have a partner be ill, but when that illness manifests itself in violence and harm to you it adds a whole extra level of trauma.

It can be very difficult to talk to friends and family about domestic violence, even when you feel sure that it is a product of the bipolar, but it's so important to lean on the people in your life that you trust. Emotional and practical suppport are really important when you're going through something like this. The first experience of physical violence in a relationship changes things and there's lots for you to consider. Accessing professional support with people who are experts in this field can be really helpful. They are familiar with all the aspects of intimate partner violence and will be able to provide you with lots of advice about what to do next. They don't have an agenda about whether you stay with your partner or not, they just want to help you stay safe. You can call 1800 RESPECT and access their phone counselling 24 hours, 7 days a week.

It shows how compassionate you are that you want to do everything you can to help him, it's important that you send some of that wonderful compassion your way too and make sure you''re looking after yourself with an equal amount of energy.

[AlienBP2]

He needs to leave Alchohol and Coffee out of his diet take up
Meditation exercise AND make sure he takes his MEDICATION !