Cyclothymic children grow up to be men too

I want to say that children who have disorders like Cyclothymia grow up without being diagnosed. My husband was only recently diagnosed after being married for 35 years. This article is to make awareness for such couples.

At the beginning of our marriage he may have shown symptoms which were dealt with by simply discarding or accepting that he is different from others.

When our children grew up and left for college and it was just the two of us - the symptoms became more prominent or else it triggered it. For twelve years after that I suffered not knowing what to do. He is very highly educated and a prominent person in society and so my word was cast away. He himself told others I was trying to tarnish his good name. Blaming others and never admitting he has a problem is one of the sysmptoms of Cyclothymia.

He started losing his temper to such a degree he would ask me to leave the home or made arrangements that I left. After a while he would want me back in such a way and somehow got me to come back. This happened many times.

Finally I met a friend whose son was suffering from a similar disorder and took me to see their doctor. When I explained about his behaviour he immediately said my husband is suffering from Cyclothymia. I read all about it and this was confirmed. I managed to get my husband to see the Psychiatrist and he was given medication. Cyclothymia is mainly about mood swings in extremes. He could lose his temper without any justification and this happens in cycles of may be two months apart. And then he begins to show love which is actually too much.

Now my husband does not take medication because he had an adverse reaction to it but he made up his mind to deal with his anger whenever the cycle came round.

Cyclothymic people are so pushed to gain highest levels in education or anything they decide to do and this is a plus point to them. It is the spouse who has to put up with everything else. Finally I too have grasped that he needs help and whenever he loses his temper I do my utmost to help him keep it at bay. It is my love and understanding that has saved our marriage. Most times he behaves like a jewel but when he is in a mood I'd rather run away.

All this has put a huge stress on my own life and is now showing in elevated levels of blood sugar and stress related problems.