Bipolar and Cheating
Bipolar disorder is a serious mental health issue wherein the mood swings range from extremely low to high in a fraction of a second.
- What Does It Mean If Your Loved One Is Bipolar?
- Statistics on Bipolar Illness and Infidelity
- Clear Signs You Are Dating Someone with Manic
- Is Your Partner Cheating Because of Bipolar Disorder, or Is It Something Else?
- How Do You Control Your Partner with Bipolar Illness?
- What Is the Best App to Monitor the Phone of a Bipolar Person?
- What Does Lying Have to Do with Bipolar Disorder?
- Is It Hard to Maintain Relationships with Bipolar Disorder?
- FAQ
Bipolar disorder can affect a relationship drastically if one of the partners has such symptoms.
What Does It Mean If Your Loved One Is Bipolar?
If your partner has the bipolar illness, they show symptoms like anxiety, frequent mood swings, aggression, agitation, and risk-taking behavior. Sometimes they will cry loudly for no reason and may also develop depression and suicidal tendencies.
Jennifer Payne, M.D., Psychiatrist and Director of the Women’s Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine, says that such a state causes immense mood changes, makes you spend money unnecessarily, or gets you addicted to drugs.
Take this seriously and book (also read cheating books) an urgent consultation with a mental health specialist. Otherwise, your spouse might lose interest in you and just sit alone for hours and have sleepless nights.
Does Bipolar Disorder Make You Cheat?
A bipolar illness can make you cheat for no such reason. The mental well-being goes for a toss, and the sufferer might get anxious over small things.
Addiction to drugs and alcohol can encourage your partner to do wrong deeds, like being in an extramarital affair.
Moreover, Dr. Gail Saltz, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell Medical College, has once stated that “Mental illness does not mean a constant state of debilitation, but rather there could be episodes of more difficult times.”
Statistics on Bipolar Illness and Infidelity
The statistics on bipolar and infidelity symptoms are shocking. Over 29% of patients with bipolar illness have cheated on their partners more than ten times. One out of every ten people who are married, divorced, or a single parent has indulged in an extramarital affair. According to research, 15% of married women and 25 percent of married men had an extramarital affair.
Clear Signs You Are Dating Someone with Manic
It is not that difficult to find out if your loved one is bipolar. Regular manic episodes, short-tempered behavior, excessive urge for a sexual relationship, sleepless nights, and doubting behavior are some of the primary signs and symptoms of a person suffering from bipolar psychosis.
Adele C. Viguera, MD, a psychiatrist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, clearly says that hypersexuality can be a symptom of mania or bipolar behavior.
You need to discuss this issue with your spouse, and the conversation is the best therapy. If you think that things are likely to get worse, then taking consultation with a mental health specialist or a psychologist can make a lot of difference.
Is Your Partner Cheating Because of Bipolar Disorder, or Is It Something Else?
Your relationship might get to an impasse if your loved one is cheating on you. It is pertinent you realize whether your partner is suffering from bipolar illness or it is just a normal behavior that’s part of their personality. You need to check the symptoms of bipolar illness, like mood swings, excessive urge for sex (hypersexuality), loss of sleep or appetite, depression, arguments for no reason, and many similar signs. It can also be possible that this is their real character, and you were unaware of their unfaithful behavior that just took a front seat.
How Do You Control Your Partner with Bipolar Illness?
If you are sure your close person suffers from bipolar and cheating disorder, you need to be very patient. Support your other half to get out of this state. A conversation is the best therapy to make your boy/girlfriend understand what they expect from you. If you get annoyed with your spouse, this leads to consequential things. It can affect your partner’s mental health drastically.
Scott Haltzman, MD., Clinical Assistant Professor in Brown University Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Medical Director of NRI Community in Woonsocket, stresses that “if a bipolar person remains untreated, it may complicate the relationship, the entire mood, and personality. It could be threatening.”
What Is the Best App to Monitor the Phone of a Bipolar Person?
Listed below are three widely used apps that can help track what is going on in your loved one’s mind.
uMobix ⭐⭐⭐
It is an app that can be easily installed on a bipolar partner’s mobile phone. It is perfect for monitoring social media interactions and daily activities on the target device.
Cocospy ⭐⭐⭐
This is one of the most popular spy products recommended for tracking a bipolar boyfriend/girlfriend. It helps to keep a keen eye on their social activities, search engines, chats, and emails. It is effective to check on bipolar infidelity spouses too.
Hoverwatch ⭐⭐
This is a hidden tracking application that secretly keeps track of location, social media interaction, messengers, calls, and so on.
What Does Lying Have to Do with Bipolar Disorder?
A bipolar illness might make a person do things they never thought of doing. Depression, anxiety, lack of interest, and extramarital affairs – their mental health changes greatly. Your partner might hide their lack of interest in you. Unwanted thoughts, delusions, and lack of concentration will distract them, and they might start lying about the smallest issues.
How Can Lying Impact Personal Relationships?
Trust is what keeps relationships going at all times. Living without trust is like living with a stranger under one roof. A simple lie can demolish all bridges in a happy couple. A relationship based on lying should not be continued, and it feels like a jail.
Is It Hard to Maintain Relationships with Bipolar Disorder?
The relationship is based on trust, and struggling with bipolar illness, a person might be unable to cope with everyday activities. It is important to have a conversation, and if needed, a therapist should opt for a needed psychiatric solution.
A person with bipolar illness might have depression as the primary source of problems affecting you as their partner. Mostly, manic episodes become a problem when an extremely low mood changes to a happy mood within seconds or vice versa.
Talkspace therapist Cynthia Catchings, LCSW-S, LCSW-C, CMHIMP, says the bipolar patient needs a partner’s support and constant communication.
FAQ
It is entirely an individual perspective. No situation is the same. This disorder doesn’t give you a license to cheat on your partner. It is simply a mental disorder that needs attention.
Well, most bipolar people might have guilt to remorse after cheating as it is part of their mood swings, and sometimes they can’t control their feelings. They then live with the guilt for a long time.
Your husband or wife suffering from bipolar illness doesn’t need to be cheating on you. However, the frequency depends upon the individuality of that person. There is a possibility that a person with bipolar symptoms might not even cheat on the partner or spouse, as it entirely depends upon the situation.
Anxiety, depression, lack of interest, and frequent mood swings are the reason that causes infidelity in bipolar people. They might not have control over their habits and believe that everything done is right. They might feel logical when they think about it. Your husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend might not like to be in a sexual relationship with you and, therefore, might look to satisfy their needs on the side.
Don’t argue with your spouse about their infidelity. If your loved one has bipolar disorder and their act is related to the illness, there is no point in wasting time arguing – it is stressful for them. When the time comes, your spouse will tell you everything.
Sergius Gardner
AuthorPsychologist and relationship expert, Dr. Sergius Gardner, PhD, LMFT, answers your questions about infidelity and mental health.