My boyfriend, after a long and hard journey with bipolar disorder, committed suicide on my birthday a few days ago. His parents and I had been struggling to get him help and he finally agreed to out patient treatment. He was having a hard time with it and just in general in his day to day life. He shut us all out, surrounded himself with 'friends' who were uneducated/refused to believe and see what he was even though we tried to tell them what signs to look for. He had himself a 'going away party' and gassed himself to death a day later. I know he did it because he was tortured and felt that things wouldn't get better, and shut us out because we had stopped previous attempts...and this time he didn't want to be stopped. I know also sometimes it's hard to say goodbye to the people you care most about so shutting them out is the only way you can do something like this. And I know that it wasn't his choice to do this, but the illness that he had.
A scholarship fund has been set up in his name at one of the school's he attended, and his art collection is being auctioned off as a donation to the scholarship fund. Some of the better peices of work he collected are being sent to the MOMA in his name. I know that he would have appreciated that.
Not right now (because I'm not ready), but sometime in the future, I want to volunteer in some way for bipolar awareness and education. It has become a cause close to my heart and it amazes me how many people have it and struggle with it, and how little positive attention it receieves. I believe that in time, the right opportunity will show itself. I was wondering if any of you had expereince with such organizations or had any ideas or recs.
