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Sunday, September 13, 2009 kerstin asks

Q: Cheating bipolar husband able to change ways if he stays on medication?

For the past 4 years my husband has been cheating on me with about 10 women. He moved to his own place about 2 weeks ago and started taking meds about 1 week ago (1500 mg of Depakote). He now  feels he wants to move back and work on our marriage. For the past 4 yrs he has been on and off of the medication, so he has had many up and down circles in which he always did not appreciated the family anymore and felt the need to look for a "better" life outside the marriage. Should I believe him? Can medication if he takes it the way he should, really change his ways? I don't know if I should give up or not.

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Answers (4)
10/16/09 9:33pm

I am bipolar and before I started being medicated for it, I did almost the same thing your husband did.  I started an affair with a man at work, after 12 years of marriage, and ended up moving out with him.  I started doing drugs, drinking and all kinds of dangerous things.  Personally, I think you should maybe give him one more chance if he is taking his medicine and seeing a psychiatrist.  I would try some counseling with the two of you as well, get some of the problems out in the open.  I am back with my husband and our relationship is the best it has ever been.  He is a very forgiving person I guess.  But once I started being medicated, I was a totally different man.  It is hard for people without bipolar disorder to really know what we go through, and it can be really severe in some people.  I might also give it more time than a week to see if he stays compliant with his medicine because he might have to stay on it for life.

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10/17/09 3:13pm

I want to thank you very much for your comment. Right now my husband is back at home. He moved back one week ago. I give him one more chance. I guess my "plan" is to show him how good life at home is. If he does for some reason not appreciate it enough to stay with us, I know we have no chance at all. It is nice to have him around, I admit, however, it also gives me anxiety because I don't know for how long he will be happy or satisfied at home. He has been on meds now for about 5-6 weeks and is seeing his psychiatrist and a therapist for I think you call it cognitive therapy on a weekly basis. What bothers me is that I think he wants to resolve all the issues with his past girlfriend, i.e. getting her out of the apartment he has still until end of october, not changing his phone number which lets me assume he is still in contact with her "helping" her find a place as she supposedly has nowhere to go, and other stuff by himself. I feel left out and that again gives me anxiety because I don't feel safe he will stay. Your comment helped, thank you very much. If my husband can't commit to us, I need to move on before his behaviour destroys me.

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10/17/09 7:23pm

I totally agree.  You might ask to be included in helping with her so you don't feel left out and to see what kind of dynamics there still are between them.  I'm sure that you'll easily feel it out whether he is just being nice to this woman or whether he still has feelings for her.  And I would sit down calmly to talk about him changing his phone number, etc. and how it would help you feel so much better and learn to trust him again.  Personally I would be crazy jealous about this and ask that he let her figure her own life out, she is an adult that should be able to take care of herself.  If he's willing to cut off contact with this woman, I would feel a lot more comfortable if I were you, but that is just my opinion.  You have to do what feels right for you.  I wish you luck.

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9/14/09 10:14am

Hmmm, it really depends on if the cheating was caused by the bi-polar. And that is hard to tell. Do what is best for you.

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9/24/09 7:53pm

I dont think bipolar caused your husband to cheat.  ...Do whats best for you!! :)  Good Luck!

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9/30/09 4:41pm

My husband has also been cheating with mutiple woman, this is how I see it.  He knows what he has, and he also knows how to treat it and how to control it.  I have spent too much time going back to him, and see him do the same thing over and over.  He loves that lifestyle, drinking and smoking, and being the man, ect

 

I left him after I realized I was pregnant with his second child, I had to do it for myself, I recently found out I had and STD and have HPV.  This is what I got from my Husband. WHo's fault is it, I sometimes blame myself.

 

It's better to start your own llife again.

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By kerstin— Last Modified: 10/26/11, First Published: 09/13/09