Posted by Rockin' Robin on July 28, 2005, at 21:40:39
An ex-coworker of mine has bipolar-III (supposedly; I think he might really have hypomania or cyclothymia). For the first 10 months or so that I worked with him, he had been quiet and reserved. Then, last Aug., he suddenly started calling me every day at work for several weeks (he's located in Charlotte, NC and I'm in Falls Church, VA) and we had wonderful, funny phone conversations. We'd talk for an hour or more at a time. He told me some details of his personal life, and I felt we were becoming pretty close friends. After about a month, he told me that he had seen his psychiatrist, who had diagnosed him as having a manic episode, brought on by eyedrops containing atropine (a stimulant) that his eye doctor had given him at (you guessed it) the beginning of Aug. He took a 3-week medical leave of absence, after which he seemed to be better, but still, I think, a little on the manic side. He left the job this past Feb. and got another one with a contractor. He has given me his home and work e-mail addresses, and we have communicated sporadically using these. He has since gone through what I think has been 3 or 4 more manic episodes, both at his old and new jobs. The reason I'm not sure is that he goes incommunicado for weeks at a time, and I'm not sure if it's because he's very busy and doesn't have time to send e-mails, or if it's because he's going through one of his cycles and can't deal with e-mail.
The thing is, I'm concerned about him, but I don't know how to handle this relationship. On the one hand, I want him to know that I haven't abandoned him, that I still want to be friends. On the other hand, I don't know want to interfere with his recovery if he is going through another cycle. The last thing I want to do is cause him any more stress than he's already dealing with. I just don't know what I should do in this situation. I'd really appreciate any advice you can give me.
poster:Rockin' Robin
thread:535076
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/relate/20050724/msgs/535076.html