Bipolar and Pets

     My mother was diagnosed as being bipolar shortly after giving birth to me, twenty years ago.  It has taken years of doctor visits to get the right medications for her.  More time for her to realize that she will have to take the medicines for the rest of her life.  Time to realize that she isn’t a weak person but just needs medication like any other person may need.  And even more time, to finally get a routine down where she is taking her medicines on a regular basis.  Even though she has her medicines and is doing better than before, there are still times she says that she feels alone.

     One of these times is when she is getting ready to go to sleep.  We have cats and a dog that could easily see with her, but a lot of the times they would wake her up and disturb her sleep because they wanted out of the room.  Also she tends to move around a lot while sleeping and sometimes the cats or dog weren’t willing to move for her.  So she finally had to shut her door when she went to bed.  But as soon as she turned the light off, she would be lonely.  Other times she would be laying there in the dark and start thinking of things and keep getting up and down through out the whole night.  This isn’t a good thing for any of us having our sleep disturbed but especially it’s important for someone with bipolar to get enough sleep.  My mom just said that every time the door was shut and the lights went out, she felt lonely.

     I had a hamster that had died so my mom decided to get one herself.  She named her Tawny and the first night my mom kept the cage on her bed and Tawny put her to sleep just by running on her wheel.  She’s had her for almost a year now and they are best friends.  She has someone to talk to when I have to get my rest.  She takes her out alot and knows just by some of the sounds what Tawny is doing even though the light is off.  My mom is sleeping a whole lot better and isn’t getting up and down like she did.  Also we got a couple of beta fish, they are the easiest to take care of, and my mom will watch those until her one medicine takes affect and to relax her.

     So if you are bipolar or you know of someone, you may want to try a hamster and some beta fish.  They don’t take much effort to care for like dogs and cats, yet they are great companions too.