Negativity? Depression? How to make a friendship with doom and gloom?

[Irulan]

I know, it's easy for me to say, RUN because I'm not in it. But, wow, just wow. This woman has you so manipulated....very toxic. .it's no different than the guy who says, "if you break up with me I will kill myself."

[rebeccaC]

I think I’ll always be a work in progress in letting my reactions and judgments lead me as a teacher to greater self-understanding. Perhaps that’s why I like Pema Chodron’s teachings at this point in my life.

When I begin to feel the negativity of a situation really bothering me one of my strategies is to think of it as teaching me to be still with the discomfort of that energy and challenging me to open to the situation with as much courage and kindness as I possibly can. I find that helps in controlling judgment and strengthening something positive in me rather than strengthening anger/resentment. As Pema writes…”we can live with a dissonant note, we don’t have to play the next key to end the tune”

If this thinking interests you, you may want to read Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart for a number of positive strategies in understanding the teaching opportunities of numerous situations.

[Crankin]

If her behavior was enough stress to cause a manic/hypomanic episode, then, RUN. You seem to have your stuff under control. One of the main treatments for Bipolar Disorder is just to be able to recognize the triggers of hypomania/mania, and avoid them, as well as recognizing the symptoms of an episode.
Have you done any work with Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction? It's a huge part of DBT, which I totally agree with and use with almost all of my clients with mood disorders. You might like it. Ask your therapist.
And, geez, I am glad she thinks I am the same as every other therapist . In fact, the comment I get from a lot of my clients, is that I am not!

[ny biker]

I know, it's easy for me to say, RUN because I'm not in it. But, wow, just wow. This woman has you so manipulated....very toxic. .it's no different than the guy who says, "if you break up with me I will kill myself."

I have to agree with this. This person is not really your friend. It is not your responsibility to take care of her. You can't fix her or solve her problems.

Take care of yourself.

[Irulan]

The problem was that, at that time, if I hadn't "stepped up", she never would have gotten to the hospital, wouldn't have been able to feed herself, woudn't have been able to go to/from her surgery or appointments - nothing. Everyone else had already been so manipulated by her that they were ignoring her or were out of town at the time. Her own mother deserted her. I was able to be there for her.

This is where she shows she is a master manipulator. These people are really smart and resourceful. I'm sure she would have figured something out, even if it meant calling a taxi to get to the hospital or having a nurse come into the house. She mostly like would not have died on the floor or starved to death without you "being there".

[ny biker]

This is where she shows she is a master manipulator. These people are really smart and resourceful. I'm sure she would have figured something out, even if it meant calling a taxi to get to the hospital or having a nurse come into the house. She mostly like would not have died on the floor or starved to death without you "being there".

Again, totally agree.

It can be very hard to walk away from someone that you have had a long relationship with, and it can be hard to say no when you feel the person needs help from someone. But above all, you have to take care of yourself.

[rebeccaC]

Again, totally agree.

It can be very hard to walk away from someone that you have had a long relationship with, and it can be hard to say no when you feel the person needs help from someone. But above all, you have to take care of yourself.

I focused on dealing with negativity because I don’t know a lot about the behavioral, neurological and chemical aspects of depression. I would assume manipulative behavior can be part of managing painful emotions and an indication that the person doesn’t have the skills to deal with it. For a good friend and someone I cared about I’d want professional guidance on the best way to help them without enabling destructive behavior. I’d also look at it as a positive learning experience for me.

[ny biker]

I focused on dealing with negativity because I don’t know a lot about the behavioral, neurological and chemical aspects of depression. I would assume manipulative behavior can be part of managing painful emotions and an indication that the person doesn’t have the skills to deal with it. For a good friend and someone I cared about I’d want professional guidance on the best way to help them without enabling destructive behavior. I’d also look at it as a positive learning experience for me.

If someone is insulting you and causing you health problems and having her mother call you an awful person because you're not sacrificing enough of your well-being to help them, that person is not a good friend.

I once read something about a group of people who were climbing Mount Everest. There was a point where one of the guides had to leave a person behind, even though he knew it would mean that person would die. It was hard to do, but it was necessary because if he had stayed with that person any longer, the guide would have died too. He had to make the choice to save himself.

I think sometimes you have to make that difficult decision. You have to decide to take care of yourself, because the cost of helping someone else is just too high.

[Irulan]

Agreed.

I'm way past giving anyone a pass on their behavior because of what might be the root cause.I've been through hell too but it doesn't mean I have to be toxic to my community. Sometimes the best way to help someone without enabling them is to give them full accountability for their behavior (even it if is driving you away), or to not prevent a crisis if one if is in the making.

[nuliajuk]

I have a relative who has been hospitalized from time to time with paranoia and psychosis. The one thing they discouraged her from doing when she was in the hospital was forming friendships with other patients. Although it seems like a great thing to have a buddy who knows what it's like, the doctors have found over time that people with problems tend to feed each other's problems when they spend too much time together... if that makes any sense.

[colorisnt]

No it absolutely makes sense.

I have a friend with OCD and Bioplar I and while I love and care about him, I find that he sort of "gets off" on having "worse" problems than I do if that makes sense. That's why in the past year, I've kind of pulled away from him. I think it's worse for him to see me when he's not well that it is for me to see him.