Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder

Giving unconditional love for bipolar disorder patients is a tough job. If you do not understand what is happening to your loved one, then you will have difficulty relating to them.

Do not think of the illness as humiliation. If you will feel ashamed of your loved one because he is inflicted with such illness, then you are not helping him restore his good health, instead you are letting him do worse than expected.

Trust is essential to individuals with Bipolar disorder. They need you to trust them, not entrust them to other people or institutions such as the psychiatrists or an asylum. To build up trust, an open and honest communication is needed. Keep the communication line open. An open and honest communication is vital. Encourage your loved one to talk about what he thinks and feels. Let him suggest ways on how you are supposed to relate to him.

Do not suppress what you feel. However, there are positive ways to let your loved know how you feel. It is recommended that you avoid nagging, preaching or lecturing an individual with Bipolar disorder. Such negative actions will drive him to detach. If you are concerned about him, let him see how concerned you are in a gentle and encouraging manner.

Let him do things his way. Along with trust and communication, let the person experience what he can do for himself. Let him solve problems if he can find solutions. Let him live the way he is supposed to live. By that, he will feel that he is important and has a good reason why he lives.

Be there. Although you allow him to do his own way, it does not mean that you will not be there when he needs you to. Let him do things his way but make sure that you are around to give assistance when needed.

Most importantly, apart from assistance, you need to offer your love, understanding and support.

Loving Someone With OCD

Have you seen a person who consumes a considerable amount of time in ensuring that she or he has really turned off the light? Or has spent hours in just securing the door lock before bedtime? Or perhaps, your loved one, who perpetually cooks the pizza in a microwave oven, making sure that it's really well done? These could be signs that a person is suffering from OCD.

Latest advancement in medical research asserts that the problem lies in the sufferer's impaired amygdala, the human brain's center for basic emotions, including fear. Generally, the patient is aware of her or his behavior's irrationality. The sufferer may or may not be aware that something is amiss, or that the irrationality is a disease in itself. The amygdala of the person suffering with OCD is believed to be misbehaving.

The question now is, what if this person is your girlfriend, wife, boyfriend or husband. This somewhat odd behavior surely sets the stage for strains in a relationship. Is it worth it? Does OCD and relationships really work?

Like the amygdala itself, the relationship of non-sufferer with a person suffering from OCD, is always on the verge of misfiring. The non-sufferer feels perpetually uncomfortable or awkward trying to understand a peculiar behavior on display.

The OCD sufferer may feel a great degree of desperation, knowing that their loved ones really have a hard time understanding them.

From this perspective, both the OCD and non-OCD persons suffer. Multiply a singular instance of this friction between those involved. The pressure is immense, with both the parties.

But, taken from a different perspective, living with person suffering from OCD can be blessing. A stable relationship with an OCD may be an opportunity to reflect on the things we consider important, things that we cherish. This relationship, will not only challenge our traditional concept of loving relationship, but will challenge us to understand the meaning of a committed relationship.