Expert: Libby Bonner - 4/12/2008

Question
libby,
 my mom has been diagnosed as bi-polar for about a year now. she is 39 and i am 15. we dont really get along well, but she has these crazy mood swings and will be very nice one moment and screaming at me the next. i would like to have my mother back, but she has been like this for about 6 years. she is on meds now and the mood swings are less now, but they definitely still happen.

lydia c.

Answer
Lydia - it sounds awful, but the help you need is local help and not me.  Can you tell this to her doctor's office?  Who else is there in the family to help YOU - cousins, aunts, grandmas?  Can you talk to a teacher?  Are there other people you can live with, or go to temporarily when things are bad?  Figure out who cares about you and tell you story to any adult that you trust.

If you are in a city, you can dial 211 to get help with these kinds of problems.  Or look in the phone book to see if there are Crisis Lines to call.

If you can tell your story enough times, a helper will come along.  Maybe not the final helper, but the person to help you get started toward a better situation.

I am going on allexpert vacation very soon, so you may not be able to get back to me.  Pls do try another expert but - the real help will come from people near you.

I am so sorry - sorry that your mother is so ill and so unpredictable, sorry that she screams at you, sorry that you are alone w/ her right now.  Do tell your story to adults you trust until things start getting better.  The people willing to try to help may surprise you - who they are.  Don't decide in advance that a certain person couldn't help.

I'm thinking about you.