responsibility during a manic or depression episode ?

[Malaksharif]

this question occurs to me frequently ............
i believe that we are responsible completely for our actions during a depression episode, even if we cannot help it (or as we believe so as it differs from one person to another).for example my mum had an eye surgery and she lives next door and i have not seen her for 6 days now or even called as i was really depressed and could not make any human contact except with my husband ...........i could not even call ..(can you believe it,)i could not support her and i know no body can support me when am like that without being a load but my husband.

i just called her today....i still cannot communicate with people in person....................do i really have an excuse just because i had a depression episode,,


what about manic episodes????????
my pdoc told me that when u r really manic without being attended by meds you are not responsible for your actions because you perception is delusional .............i was manic b4 only once and it was sever because i was not diagnosed yet and i remember all my thoughts and stupid actions and cannot believe how did i have such thoughts,what was i thinking but i guess this is mania

how about being manic or hypo manic while medicated ??
i have no experience of that ,could you tell me plz how it feels,,do we still lose our mind temporarily or we just suffer and may do harm only like a normal person when he or she is angry?!!!!!!


i hate putting myself in situations like that with my mum when people are either angry with me or sorry for me,i do not accept sympathy for who i am and do not like to feel guilty for something cannot really control it (at least not yet )

thx for reading

[Xila31]

It all depends on the severity. If your mother knows about how you are when you have depression then I'm sure that letting her know what happened and hopefully she will understand. I have had depression in different severity for years since my childhood. I have had times where I sleep for most of the day, but I eventually force myself up. When I say force, I mean really force. It is like lifting a house. I freeze. Both my manic and depressed state are wracked with anxiety. Sometimes the anxiety gets so high it drives me.

As for when you're manic, I think I too only have hypo mania.  I get irritable and irrational. I can't think straight and I have racing thoughts. But, when I'm like this I can start problems. It is hard for me to do things and remember what I'm doing. That causes people to get angry with me. I always repent. I think if you remember things you did or said then you should apologize. Explain as best you can. If they can't forgive you, then that's their problem not your problem. If you can't remember, then what can you do?

I think people have a tendency to look at bipolar people and say, "Oh, they use their bipolar as an excuse." Well, they are wrong. It isn't an excuse, but it still doesn't mean they weren't hurt by something we've done...

[Ally484]

I think that it is difficult to be trully responsible for your actions during a manic episode because everything can get so distorted, especially in terms of what is acceptable behaviour.
You should not feel guilty for your mum though, I think you are doing the best thing by not worrying her or upsetting her whilst you are down, hopefully she will understand, and have the support of someone during her recovery from surgery.
I have said and done many things during an episode that I have to take responsibility for but would not ever ever do during times of "normal" behaviour. It might be the perfect excuse for bad behaviour but if you can't control your mind or actions, how can you accept total responsibility for what you do...

[Bluetwo]

When I'm in a depressed state....I can't get out of bed. I feel really sick. So I understand. I hope your mother is doing fine. My mum had her cataracts done recently. Same day surgery and with a new lens inside her eye....imagine that! They will do her next eye this week. No problems for her but I haven't told her about my recent episode because I didn't want her to worry.

When I was not diagnosed with BP I would tell people at work I  was sick in bed with allergies or a cold. It became more of a challenge in the Navy when I was younger but womenly problems always worked too.

I never had delusions or hallucinations when I was manic. I think I have BPII. I just very active and talkative. I would start conversations and have a grand ole time especially with people I met for the first time like at the bus station or airport. People didn't mind having me around because I would come up with interesting conversations and passed the time. I never got vicious and deliberately hurt people feelings. Never harmed people either. Never hit anyone.

If my mood ever went into irritable or paranoid stage I would keep my opinions to myself.  I guess delusional could be paranoid. If I'm that way I become a introvert and want to keep away from people. I rather stay in my room....that's when all the depression starts going.

There is a family history of eccentrics. My grandmother would give things away even when she was poor herself when she went into her charity stage.

So its not your fault especially if your not harming yourself or others. It's okay to be eccentric. Your special.

You do act weird when adjusting to new medications. It's up to your pdoc if he or she feels that you can act responsibile out in public. I haven't harmed anybody nor myself when I was adjusting to Lamotrigine. I felt like I was in a fog sometimes but nothing serious in terms of getting too emotional or violent. I might acted silly but I still feel responsible behaving well around others.

The big indicator of having problems dealing with the public is getting into trouble with the law for various things or getting fired for doing something unappropriate....like locking badly behave children in the closet.

Haven't done that yet.

At school....many sane teachers at my school think about locking a badly behave student in a closet to get them out of their hair. I don't report them to the dean because I know they're just talking nonsense. We have feelings but we don't act them out. We have a good laugh!

Getting mad at the Xerox machine should be a qualifier for dismissal from the teaching profession? I didn't come unglued and smashed the machine. I just swore at the machine.


Sorry for the free styling rambling. I'm totally off my medications and I'm enjoying my little hypomanias while they last. I had a Lamotrigine rash and I had to discontinue the med's.

I have to wait for the stuff to get out of system before I start another med. I have an appointment in 18 more days.

[ILADVOCATE]

Complex. People are still legally responsibly for their actions and if things get out of hand its best that people speak to their psychiatrist about it. I did things before my current recovery that were clearly destructive and did have consequences. The best thing to do when titrating medications or adjusting things in general besides being in touch frequently with your psychiatrist is to find people you know such as friends who can look out for you and inform you if they notice things are getting out of hand and you don't.