Posted by PolarBear on April 13, 2001, at 8:43:06
In reply to Manic friend won't see doctor!!!, posted by MSM on April 12, 2001, at 20:28:22
You might consider calling your local hotline, or some of the hospital outreach programs in your area. People in a manic phase can become very destructive to themselves (and sometimes others).
Sleep might help, but it would be difficult to find a point between calming down an agitated person sufficiently and sedating them to a dangerous level, unless you are a pro.
Your friend is lucky to have your concern.
Good luck,
Bear
> A recent aquantince/friend appears to be going through a somewhat extreme manic phase. Mutual friends tell me that they have seen this kind of behavior in her before. She has been acting very strangely for over 2 weeks now. She is imagining things that are not taking place and has been going for days on end without sleep.
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> She has no family that we can call and she refuses to see a doctor. I am worried that she will hurt herself or others if she continues to run around this way. It is my hope that if she can get through this manic phase that we might be able to convince her to seek treatment, however she is completely resistant to getting help in her present condition.
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> I have never had first hand experience with manic behavior and I would like to be able to help. What can be done for this type of illness. What is the first line medication in a situation like this? Will getting her to rest by taking a sleep med or anti-anxiety med slow her down enough to reason with her? Do we just try and watch out for her and hope that she can ride this out?
poster:PolarBear
thread:59609
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010411/msgs/59662.html