I think my dad is bipolar...

Question

Help! My dad is paranoid! I swear he's an undiagnosed bipolar person!

When people are over at our house, he seems like he's in a euphoric mood. He makes dumb jokes and when they leave he just gets angry.

One can easily say "Maybe your dad is just trying to be nice to the guest." But not only is it that. My dad could be yelling at me one second, and literally the next second he's coming in trying to make a joke. He would come in from work and just release all his anger on me. The smallest things make him explode. He got in a fight with my sister just because of the way she counted her money.

His judgement is so clouded it's ridiculous. I had to go to my school one day in the summer (recently) to pick up my class schedules and my mom works the night shift. She came home and woke me up and she was gonna take me. My dad was asleep on the couch and I told him, "Why don't you take me, Mom hasn't even slept!" And my dad just ignores me and keeps sleeping. So when I get home my dad is awake dressing for work which he has to be at in about an hour and I tell him, "Oh my god, why would you make mom go to that schedule pick up for two hours! You got to sleep!"

He replied, "Oh, I slept at five o'clock last night." << That was a total lie because I was asleep by three and he was asleep before me.

He continued, "I didn't sleep, and I have work today."

and I replied, "SHE DIDN'T SLEEP AT ALL! IF SOMEBODY DEPRIVED YOU OF YOUR SLEEP YOU WOULD BE GOING CRAZY!" My dad only walked away to claim that my judgement was clouded. I swear to you my mom goes 24 hours without sleep sometimes because my dad wakes her up to do stuff around the house. He thinks he's always right.

It's getting ridiculous. His mood swings aren't just mood swings, they're extreme highs and lows.

The other day I had the light on in the day time and he got mad at me and started yelling and turned on the light. He then preceded to set the room temperature to 80 degrees so he can save his money when really 80 degrees is wasting more money than if it were at 76.

Another day he sat by the window on a sunny day, the blinds were pulled open and the A/C was on. He got angry saying the window being open messed up the point of the A/C. The room's condition didn't concern him, after all, he never stayed in it. Only on rare occassions when he needed the computer. He closed the blinds and the room was pitch dark, only the blare of the television was on and I said, "C'mon, don't close the window, open it." He replied with a stiff "No" saying that the sun messed up the point of the A/C. I got up and opened the window because I got sick of arguing, and he got angry and started yelling. He started threatening to take all my possessions away.

Answer 1

Have a long talk with your mom and see if she can convince him to see his doctor or go with him to his doctor.  Also, go talk to a counselor at school so that you get some help coping.  

It does sound like something is going on, but don&#039;t put labels on it.  That doesn&#039;t help, and you aren&#039;t expert enough to say exactly what it is.  I have bipolar and perhaps it&#039;s because of limited space, but I&#039;m not seeing anything that suggests clear cut bipolar.  You haven&#039;t described periods of serious depression.  It&#039;s also very rare for adults to turn from one state to another that quick.  To do so because company changed, doesn&#039;t sound at all like bipolar.  That&#039;s more consistent with personality disorder.  The illness is not about on/off anger, and episodes last for weeks to months usually with periods of normalcy in between.  I&#039;m not an expert on diagnosing, though, and no one on the Internet can diagnose either.  Only a doctor can say.  In the mean time, do what you need to do to keep yourself safe.

Answer 2

First, you can not diagnose im, and no one else on here can.  He would need to see a psyciatrist.

Yes it does sound like your dad has issues, but it doesnt sound like bipolar so much as maybe something else like borderline personality disorder or another personality disorder, anxiety, or a number of other things.  

The thing with bipolar is moods do not shift that rapidly.  An episode of depression or mania lasts weeks, months, even years......not shifting back and forth within a day.  Rapid cycling bipolar (which i have) means at least 4 episodes a year (my episodes are at least 3 weeks, usually 2-3 months).  

Also it is not just mood swings...it is severe depression (which it doesnt sound like you described at all) alternating with mania or hypo mania, which though what you described is SOME of the symptoms of mania, those are also symptoms of other disorders.  Your dad deffinitly has some very clouded perseptions of things, but that goes along with pretty much any mental illness.

Thing you have to accept is that he can not be forced to get help unless he is a threat to himself or others.  Many people take a long time to realize and accept somthing is wrong with them.....and many never do....what you need to worry about is taking care of is YOURSELF.   Worry about you and not letting it effect you.   Your mom can try to get him to maybe, but really, if he sees nothing wrong with himself nothing is going to convince him otherwise untill something happens that forces him to see that he does have a problem.

Answer 3

Be glad he doesn&#039;t hit you.

I&#039;m afraid that crazy people just can&#039;t be reasoned with, and insanity is hard to prove unless you can either show that he&#039;s violent or that he can&#039;t function on a day-to-day basis.

Answer 4

I think you should try talking with your mom, and ask her to talk with your dad&#039;s doctor. She might be able to get the doctor to talk with him. In the meantime, you should consider going to a therapist (or school guidance counselor) so that his behavior doesn&#039;t harm you.  

Answer 5

getting your father to admit he has a problem is going to be a very hard task...especially when he wants to be in control and diagnosing bipolar will make him look weak...his controlling nature may be because he doesn&#039;t feel control over his own life...maybe talk to a school counselor or an adult about what you&#039;ve told us...they would be more helpful to find you resources in your area to try and help him...but you might just be better off just doing as he asks and try to make life alittle easier but know that you&#039;ll beable to move out in two years..good luck

Answer 6

I know this is frustrating for you. My dad was diagnosed as bi polar, and was on medication but it didn&#039;t stop him from being nuts...it&#039;s a behavioral thing that they have to learn. Unfortunately since you are a minor, you can&#039;t do anything except suggest things to your dad or your mom, who is enabling him even if she doesn&#039;t realize it. He may also have a personality disorder like OCD or Borderline personality disorder.  You may want to talk to someone who can help you out of this situation or at least go to counseling to be able to deal with it.  I&#039;m sorry that you are having to go through it :( If you are being abused, call a hotline, or talk to the counselor at your school when you start school this year. I wish there was more I could suggest...I wasn&#039;t able to do anything for my dad...and he is in prison now for making bad choices.