What I’ve learnt living with a bipolar mum
By Erika Cramer
I
grew up in the United States with my mum, who was a single parent. We lived on food stamps and when things were good, they were great. However, my mum suffered from bipolar disorder. When she stopped taking her medication she would become very unwell, with severe paranoia, anger and mania setting in. My earliest memory of her condition was when I was 28 Peninsula Kids – Winter 2021
five years old. I was in a foster home at the time and I remember being picked up by a social worker and going to visit mum in a psychiatric unit at a mental health institution. I saw others there who were really sick, and found their behaviour distressing and unfamiliar; but I didn’t really understand why my mum was there, or why she wasn’t living with me at home.
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