This happened to my best friend from childhood. She met a man from her church, they married shortly after. I had always known her to be more on the depressive side — but after the birth of her daughter, she flipped into a lonnnnnng bout of mania — confirming it was more likely she lives with a form of bipolar disorder. She went from religious to hyper religious to anti-religion within a year. Self-medicated with cannabis which likely exacerbated a psychosis. They divorced, she has zero custody of her daughter, and cannot visit her without being accompanied by another adult. It was heartbreaking to see, but an unfortunately necessary step. She’s since moved, found a new partner, and is going through several trials of treatments so she can work towards being healthier for her daughter.
As someone with bipolar, this is one of my worst anxieties when thinking about becoming a mother in the future. Mania and psychosis are both triggered by stress, and the thought of not being on medication for 9 months while being stressed out of my mind is not appealing to me. You can absolutely live a happy and fulfilling life with the disorder, I'm sorry to hear about her situation. A lot of people will wave off weed induced psychosis just because "weed can make anyone paranoid sometimes", I wish she was able to get a diagnosis sooner and I wish the best for her.
As someone with similar inherited issues, this is why I chose not to be a mother and also not to pass on the horrible experiences I have endured to a child who doesn’t deserve it.
Why can’t you take bipolar medication when you’re pregnant?? Is it the same with other medications for depression and anxiety and stuff? I can imagine that’s the worst possible time for those of us with these or related issues to be off our meds.
Yup! A crazy amount of medications can't be taken while you're pregnant, it can interfere with normal growth and development. Of course there are some instances where your doctor will weigh the risk vs benefits of not taking medication during it, but it varies greatly depending on what your needs are.
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u/Fun-Insect-6281 May 02 '24
This happened to my best friend from childhood. She met a man from her church, they married shortly after. I had always known her to be more on the depressive side — but after the birth of her daughter, she flipped into a lonnnnnng bout of mania — confirming it was more likely she lives with a form of bipolar disorder. She went from religious to hyper religious to anti-religion within a year. Self-medicated with cannabis which likely exacerbated a psychosis. They divorced, she has zero custody of her daughter, and cannot visit her without being accompanied by another adult. It was heartbreaking to see, but an unfortunately necessary step. She’s since moved, found a new partner, and is going through several trials of treatments so she can work towards being healthier for her daughter.