Even meds don't make bipolar disorder easy

After serving more than 20 years in the Marine Corps, two of my retired friends from the Corps were recently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from the Vietnam War.

However, it was heartbreaking to read the story about young Isaiah Schaffer ["After three tours in Iraq, vet fights a battle within," Jan. 24].

PTSD is a devastating illness that will affect 20 percent to 35 percent of Marines serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Veterans Affairs will be overwhelmed dealing with the number of vets affected with this illness.

Isaiah's parents will suffer with their son the rest of their lives. His mother said, "If he were bipolar--any other mental illness--there's a pill for it that will alter the progression."

For those patients and families dealing with bipolar disorder, this is not really accurate and requires clarification.

How simple it would be to take a pill and have all of your problems mitigated or disappear.

It is quite common for a person suffering with bipolar disorder to experience symptoms such as anxiety, depression, hearing voices, spending binges, delusions of grandeur, reckless behavior, fear of crowds, aloofness, and in some cases--such as with Riverbend High School student Carol Anne Brown--commit suicide.

It can take up to three years or longer, depending on the patient and the psychiatrist, to finally have the patient on the right medications. In some cases, the patient may never be on the right medication to live his life.

After a period of time, it is quite common for that patient to build up a tolerance to those medications, and the doctor will have to experiment and prescribe a new set of medications to achieve the desired results.

In almost all cases, the patient is on these medications for the rest of his life. It is quite common for patients to experience relapses when these medications cease being effective.

No one would wish mental illness on their worst enemy.

Gary R. Ibanez

Spotsylvania

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