Bi-polar, Manic Depressive
The major feature of bipolar disorder, which was earlier called manic-depressive disorder, is wide mood swings from depressed to manic. In the depressed stage the person may be deeply depressed and “not be able to get out of bed,” not able to deal with daily duties. The manic phase tends to express itself in men as bouts of raging anger and in women in wild spending and gift giving sprees although both genders do both things. In both genders in the manic phase they are strongly motivated in a sexual way. They may also be grandiose with “flight of ideas.” Medication can be very helpful to people with bipolar disorder, but they tend to quit taking their meds.
Issues of child custody and visitation are problematic with a bipolar spouse or ex-spouse. When they’re in the depressed phase, they can’t get up and care for children. When they’re in the manic phase, they may hurt the children or subject them to bizarre experiences, terrifying the children. Due to denial, the person with the bipolar condition will strongly tell the court personnel about how it’s not a problem at all and they truly do believe this.