My mother has this.

The depression is horrific, even worse because the psychiatrists and psychologists bring on this somnolent state of my mother’s on purpose. She lives; she breathes; she eats. But she has no desire whatsoever to talk to anyone, whether she loves them or not.

The manic state is terrifying. She screams; she cries; she starts a million things and destroys a day’s cleaning for the sake of “cleaning.” Apparently she is sure my father is trying to kill her because he wants her to take her psych meds. And she wants to commit suicide because she is out of control. She is totally incapable of understanding what is true and real. She spent six hours on Saturday screaming and crying, running around, saying that she was trying to lay in her chair with her leg elevated like she should. She’s a diabetic and hadn’t eaten.

My sister called me today in tears. I am of the mind to stay as far away as I can.

But that leaves my father, whose coping skills are minimal since his stroke 12 years ago, to deal with her on a regular basis.

I will not be surprised if they divorce. But I do not know what will become of my mother without anyone to try and keep her sane.