Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Christ this thread went off the rails.
To clarify about the sleeping pills. She had a 6mo prescription for them to be filled once a month. The idiot pharmacist filled all 6 mos for her at once, 600 pills total. She also took 60 Percocet, 22 narcos and 20 hydrocodone. The narcotics were (are) mine but were just in the cabinet because I didn't need them anymore. I've talked to her psychiatrist and her therapist about how the sleeping pills were filled. That's a battle I can't deal with right now. My wife should be dead. She should have been dead before the EMS even showed up at the door. How the fuck she survived I don't know. She's coming home tomorrow and I'm scared out of my mind. I came here to get some support because how do you tell your friends, even the closest ones you have, that your wife tried to kill herself. You don't. You just paste a fake smile on your face and go on.
Please imagine this spoken in a very gentle, non-judgemental tone... yes, you do. You need support. You need help. Screw all the conditioning about putting on a fake smile, being brave, being "a man" in the situation. You need all the help you can get and your son and your wife need support.
Maybe one of your friends has useful contacts and you don't know. Please, please, ASK for help. I know it's hard, but you have to.
If they don't understand, if they judge and gossip, you cut them out of your life. They're not true friends. But if they are, they'll want to help. Please, do reach out.
Agree totally with this -- try to be honest. You don't necessarily need to tell everyone you know, but you do need to be honest with a core group of friends and family. And not just YOUR friends and family but HERS as well. I will regret to the end of my days that I wasn't completely honest with my now ExDH's family about his mental illness, problem substance abuse behaviors, etc., when we split up. I am now trapped keeping a secret, and that is not at all how I want my kids to believe these issues should be handled. My kids are in/approaching teenage years, and I am beginning to realize that it is damaging them in ways I hadn't imagined to not know the reality of what is driving some of their dad's decisions. I also think they have a right to know about the bipolar as part of their medical history so they will take seriously the environmental factors they can control (sleep, regular routines, no substance use, building relationships with family and therapists). It is tricky to think about how to unravel all these lies now.
FWIW, you will be surprised by the positive reception you will get. I told my parents every ugly detail and to this day they have been nothing but supportive to me and have never spoken a cross word to my ex because they want to facilitate the best possible outcome. I expected my mother particularly to be very angry and harsh with him and judgmental of me, but that was not the case at all. By not telling, you may feel you are protecting yourself and family from the negative reactions of others, but really you are cutting yourself off from some wonderful support.
And for those who hear your story and are not supportive, don't get angry just allow them to become more distant. People can be shmucks when it comes to all kinds of problems -- cancer, mental illness, financial trouble, etc. -- they don't know what to say or how to help and so they don't help and don't say anything which feels like a tremendous betrayal. But, those who do help will buoy you.