He Thinks He Can Fix My Mental Illness
My father-in-law just told me he thinks he could fix my mental illness by “dominating me.” I was recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder and I just started lithium. I’ve had several diagnoses over the years and have been on a bunch of SSRIs, done talk therapy, etc.
The bipolar diagnosis definitely explains the missing piece of the puzzle of my life. Anyway, my husband was talking to his parents recently and mentioned that I had been recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and that it’s been pretty hard on everyone.
I’ve been in a manic phase recently and, with an 8.5-month-old baby, that comes out as a lot of anger. His mom contacted me right away saying that she loves me, is there for me, etc.
Last night, my husband got a message from his dad—and when he read it, his jaw dropped. It linked to a post by this idiot on Facebook describing how, in his opinion, women’s problems today are a rebellion against men not benevolently dominating them.
My husband responds by calling the guy an idiot. And, of course, that’s where the fun begins. It was all downhill from there. My father-in-law goes on a whole rant, talking about how the only way my husband can “fix” me is by “dominating” me.
Apparently, bipolar is just a fancy way of saying I talk back? And the only way to fix that is for my husband to be an “alpha” and tell me what’s what. Sounds like a perfectly reasonable plan for dealing with a diagnosed medical condition, right?
For some background, I have a PhD in biological science and am a tenured track professor at a big R1 University. My husband stays home with our baby and is a nurse.
My father-in-law told us at our baby shower that this arrangement would never work because I would resent my husband and eventually cheat on him. He also sent lengthy messages with nonsense articles telling my husband not to vaccinate our newborn son.
Like dude, pay attention to your own mess of a life before you start dishing out advice to other people. Story credit: Reddit / bugnerd87