I was diagnosed with Bipolar II last summer, spent 3 weeks in a psychiatric day program.

[99th_Monkey]

14. My 28 y.o. son is in now in a psych ward in Oregon.

He's a beautiful guy, artistic, creative, funny, loves photography, paper cut,
collage, skateboarding, spontaneous rapping. Bi-polar is the diagnosis.
Episodes have occurred every 1-2 years for past 10, and can last for up to
5 mo., during which time he needs constant professional oversight and
guidance, much of which neither I nor his mom (we're divorced) are able
to provide.

That said, he is also as loving and peaceful as the day is long @ summer Solstice.
At the same time, he is definitely a danger to himself, by wandering aimlessly
wherever his manic whims take him: stranger's back yards, inside college lunch
room kitchen after closing hours, etc. and can become overly irritable and
agitated in public, creating a "scene". These in turn, bring the police: i.e.
people with loaded guns authorized to shoot him dead the instant he does not
behave exactly as directed. <-- (danger to self in my book).

His psychic skin is super thin, and he is hypersensitive to these "disturbances in
the energy field". He feels the FUBAR state of the world (such as these most recent
tragedies) is a major contributing factor to his instability and sense of hopelessness
about life in general. I agree.. we need to fucking DO SOMETHING NOW ...
including providing adequate funding for mental health workers and programs
that are non-coercive, welcoming, warm and fuzzy (in a good way), and that
really work.

Thank you for your post, your courage, and the awesom example you are to others
who deal with these kinds of feelings and experiences.