Because of the nature of untreated bipolar disorder. I've posted about what it's like before, so forgive me for not repeating all the detail, but basically your moods become increasingly extreme, changeable and out of control, to the point that you can become psychotic, meaning you lose touch with reality.shootthebandit said:Im sorry for being naive but how exactly is this the case. Im not disagreeing with you. Im just curious as to how not taking medication could lead to thisEamar said:Without my medication, I'd either be dead or utterly unable to function as an independent adult.
You dont have to answer just to satisfy my curiosity.
Just a few theoretical examples of how I might have ended up dead:
- In a manic state, I decide that I can fly, causing me to jump off a tall building.
- In a hypomanic state, I enjoy danger and taking risks so I run out into a busy road without looking.
- In a depressed state, I am plagued by mental images of suicide until finally I act them out for myself.
- In a normal or mixed state, I become so utterly tired and run down by my condition, so frightened of my hallucinations and out of control behaviour that I feel suicide is preferable to having to keep fighting.
As for the unable to function as an adult thing:
- Severe depression causes me to stay in bed for days at a time, unable to do even the simplest things.
- Mania makes me unstable, unreliable and irresponsible. Money, duties and obligations have no meaning.
etc, etc, etc.
Mood stabilisers... well... stabilise my mood, keeping me somewhere close to the normal range. If necessary, antidepressants and antipsychotics help to control extreme depression and mania, respectively.
Psychoactive medications are serious business and should not be taken lightly, that much is true. However, people like me take them because we need to. You don't just pop these pills for laughs.