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I wasn't sure whether this belongs in the Relationships forum or here, so just move it if you need to sweatdrop

Anyway, I've been seeing my boyfriend since the beginning of January. At first he was great, and well. In late January, he had a severe fit of depression, which lasted a day. He then told me that every 3 months he suffered from a day which he was severely depressed, and that it had been happening for over a year. I thought this was alright, as I could cope with that.

Two months later, he had another fit of depression. We thought it was odd, but disregarded it. But they started happening with greater frequency until they were happening nearly every three days. At the end of May, I told him that I'd had enough, that if he didn't see a doctor, then I'd have to leave him.

He saw the doctor early June, who put him on some Prozac-based pills. This was a huge mistake. Instead of having the desired effect, they produced manic laughing fits, and he had to be taken to hospital until the worst of them subsided. He was taken off the pills, but now the damage has been done.

He now suffers from regular periods of depression and manical behaviour. I believe he suffers from Bipolar disorder, the maniac periods triggered by the pills. He's currently being reffered to a psychiatrist.

I'm finding it quite hard to cope with how he acts when he's having 'attacks'. People at college always look to me to sort him out, as I'm his girlfriend. However, there's nothing I can do, and I feel so helpless. It hurts to see him like that and I just want him to be better so he doesn't suffer any more. I also feel guilty for making him go to the doctor.

Can anyone offer me any information about Bipolar disorder, and advice on how to help, and stop it hurting me quite so much?

Sorry for the text. sweatdrop If you read down here, you're a saint.

Post 3 in this sticky has information about Bipolar Disorder: http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=1450215

I have a friend who was in a relationship with her now-ex, and he was depressed, bisexual, and just not very mentally stable. They were together for over 2 years, and he became very abusive towards the end. Eventually, he learned the hard way that because he wasn't willing to change himself, and he was blaming everyone else for his problems, he lost the person he supposedly cared about.

My point is, it's up to him to change himself. You can't help him much past giving support, and you can't control him.

If you do decide to leave him, then you should explain to him why. I think it would be fair to the both of you and definitely understandable if you were to tell him that you don't want to be with him until he's "better". Otherwise to stay in a relationship where you're not very happy and you're stressed all the time is not fair to you, and it's probably not beneficial to either one of you if you're both not happy.

Please don't feel guilty for asking him to see the doctor. It's not like you could've looked into the future and seen that the pills would give him the reaction they did. All he/you can do now is tell doctors in the future that Prozac-based medication doesn't work with his body and that he has a negative reaction to it. Maybe doctors can try finding another medication that might work for him?