I am all too aware. My adult daughters and I haven’t spoken in over five years. My bipolar I disease, my alcoholism, my divorce, and all of our resulting post-traumatic stress disorders destroyed our relationships.

After experiencing a major manic episode brought on by a variety of circumstances, such as the dissolution of my 20-year marriage and my children’ estrangement, I was eventually diagnosed with bipolar I illness. After that, I fell into an uncontrollable despair that caused me to lose my job, become uninsured, file for bankruptcy, and start receiving Social Security Disability benefits.

I’ve been able to control my bipolar disorder well enough to resume working thanks to medication and counselling. But in many respects, it’s been similar to waking up from a nightmare only to find that you were dreaming it, and now you have to live with the consequences of your dreaming.

Even if they are still very much alive and merely don’t desire a relationship with me, I’ve had to mourn their loss. I’ve had to see kids enter college and complete their high school careers through peeks I can get on the infrequent social media posts that I’m not prohibited from.

Written by: Name Style