I've posted a few times b/c I'm now going through 'depression fallout' with my DH... As I've mentioned already, my DH and I have been together for 8 years and married for 6, we own a home together, but other than 2 fur babies (cats) we don't have children. My husband's depression has always been there during our whole relationship, but it's something I've accepted and adapted to. However, 2 months ago, everything took a drastic turn and he's now not the person I married. Since this all happened, I'm now starting to wonder if he is suffering from manic depression/bipolar as opposed to depression. I would appreciate any comments or feedback after you read below! I'm not looking for an official diagnosis or anything... I just want to hear if someone has gone through something similar with a manic episode.
Back in April, my husband took a business trip to Ireland with 3 of his co-workers. He had been up and down with his depression prior to that, but that wasn't unusual. His family and I were a little apprehensive about him taking this trip b/c aside from this depression, he also has anxiety and an extreme phobia of flying. Well, he got through the flight fine (with meds!), but he came back someone else. This is when everything fell apart between us. He told me that he had the time of his life in Ireland, it was the best he had felt in a long time and his depression and anxiety were gone as soon as he got off the plane. He said he felt 'alive' there and hadn't felt that way in a long time. He had more confidence and motivation towards work than he's ever had and on top of everything else, he was slightly attracted to someone there but it was only slightly and he didn't act on it. He then told me that all of this made him realize that he was missing something in his life back home and that his feelings for me had changed. He became 'obsessed' with the idea of Ireland and soon started telling me and everyone else that he wanted to move there and to me, this was completely irrational. He doesn't feel that he can find the happiness he found in Ireland here and that's why he wants to go back there. He feels that Ireland is somehow the magic solution to his depression and anxiety issues.
Soon after all this, I watched my husband fall into the deepest depression I've even seen him in and his meds were clearly not working. He then became resentful and angry towards me to the point that I had no choice but to leave our home b/c it was an unhealthy situation. He was putting a lot of unnecessary blame on me and now says things like, 'I want to be alone,' and 'I'm trying to fix myself.'
I've been doing a lot of research since all this occurred, and it seems to me like he may have had a 'manic episode' when he was in Ireland and now he is completely someone else. I don't think he's sharing all of this with his psych or therapist b/c his meds have not changed. I tried to talk to him about 'bipolar disorder' but he immediately shut me down and said, 'you are not a psychiatrist, stop trying to diagnose me.'
From what I read though, if he is manic/bipolar, the antidepressants meds he's currently taking won't help him... I now feel like I've hit a dead end with this situation.
Back in April, my husband took a business trip to Ireland with 3 of his co-workers. He had been up and down with his depression prior to that, but that wasn't unusual. His family and I were a little apprehensive about him taking this trip b/c aside from this depression, he also has anxiety and an extreme phobia of flying. Well, he got through the flight fine (with meds!), but he came back someone else. This is when everything fell apart between us. He told me that he had the time of his life in Ireland, it was the best he had felt in a long time and his depression and anxiety were gone as soon as he got off the plane. He said he felt 'alive' there and hadn't felt that way in a long time. He had more confidence and motivation towards work than he's ever had and on top of everything else, he was slightly attracted to someone there but it was only slightly and he didn't act on it. He then told me that all of this made him realize that he was missing something in his life back home and that his feelings for me had changed. He became 'obsessed' with the idea of Ireland and soon started telling me and everyone else that he wanted to move there and to me, this was completely irrational. He doesn't feel that he can find the happiness he found in Ireland here and that's why he wants to go back there. He feels that Ireland is somehow the magic solution to his depression and anxiety issues.
Soon after all this, I watched my husband fall into the deepest depression I've even seen him in and his meds were clearly not working. He then became resentful and angry towards me to the point that I had no choice but to leave our home b/c it was an unhealthy situation. He was putting a lot of unnecessary blame on me and now says things like, 'I want to be alone,' and 'I'm trying to fix myself.'
I've been doing a lot of research since all this occurred, and it seems to me like he may have had a 'manic episode' when he was in Ireland and now he is completely someone else. I don't think he's sharing all of this with his psych or therapist b/c his meds have not changed. I tried to talk to him about 'bipolar disorder' but he immediately shut me down and said, 'you are not a psychiatrist, stop trying to diagnose me.'
From what I read though, if he is manic/bipolar, the antidepressants meds he's currently taking won't help him... I now feel like I've hit a dead end with this situation.




