Bankruptcy and Bipolar Disorder

[Ch7Ted]

Greetings to all in this forum,

In 2006, I filed for Ch. 7 Bankruptcy by myself as a result of uncontrolled spending due to bipolar disorder. I was wondering if there are others in this forum who filed bankruptcy due to bipolar disorder (I searched the forum for bipolar disorder and found no occurances). After discharge, has your spending and standard of living increased, decreased or remained the same?

BTW, I'm unemployed and on disability but I do not have a car nor my own place to live. Thank you to anyone who answers.

[CATCHMEIFYOUCAN]

Welcome !

Welcome to the forum, you will find plenty of support here from all types of personalities. I don't have bipolar, I have a gambling addiction. So we are in the same boat with a different disorder. I filed Ch7 after converting from Ch13 I live a frugal lifestyle, due to the fact that I love to gamble. Bk hasn't changed my life too much, other than having bad credit, and no credit to gamble on. I do live within my means, for the most part, as I have no extra credit to gamble with. I have no other desires except to gamble. I don't need clothes, jewlry, electronics etc. My standard of living has never increased as I never have the desire to spend my money except to gamble with it. I know that I need help and maybe one day I will seek out a GA program, but for now I just deal with less money to gamble with.

I wish you the best, Catchmeifyoucan

[SinkingFast]

Actually, Bipolar has been discussed here several times. Several member had the same problem.

Try using the Search function above and simply enter bipolar. You'll get several hits.

Hopefully you'll find some helpful info there.

[downhill]

Ch7Ted,

I have a medical diagnosis of adhd (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and my husband has a medical diagnosis of add (attention deficit disorder minus the hyperactivity).

With this, comes the lack of interest/desire/ability to properly manage finances. We are known to not fully think about the consequences prior to doing things, such as purchasing things.

For instance, if we have to make a house payment for $600 and it's already late to begin with and they have been calling our house regarding it but the once in a lifetime opportunity comes along to buy a super nice four wheeler for $600, we buy the four wheeler. If we had an electric bill for $300 staring us in the face with a disconnection date, yet when we went to the flea market (even though we didn't have extra money to go to the flea market) and there was a cool gas powered scooter that my son always wanted, we'd buy the scooter. We wouldn't think about the consequences of a foreclosure or no lights when we got home.

I am happy to say that my husband and I both finally got properly medicated a year and a half ago. Being medicated, plus having gone through the awful experience of filing chapter 13, we have gotten much better at handling our finances. Not perfect by any means, but much better.

Even though paying/managing bills is not high on our list of fun things to do, I know that it has to be done. No doubt about it. No choice. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Period.

We made our last Chapter 13 payment on December 29 and are waiting for our case to discharge. It's going to be a lot easier for us having an extra $2700 a month in our pocket. Ever since we got married over 16 years ago, we have always robbed Peter to pay Paul. This will be the first time we could actually relax a little and prepay a few payments such as the house and utilities.

I am on a forum for add/adhd and the topic of bankruptcy and lack of financial responsibility is very very common among adder's. Both sides of our families also have issues/challenges when it comes to finances.

Alot of times, along with add/adhd also comes addictions such as gambling, drinking, and drugs, which are all also common in our families. These addictions, if left unmedicated, very often lead to divorce, loss of job, foreclosure of house, repossession of vehicle, along with the loss of family/friends.

BiPolar often goes hand in hand with diagnosis such as add, adhd, depression, ocd, mood disorder.

It really helped us to get properly diagnosed and medicated.

Hope this helps...

[bige1030]

Try using the Search function above and simply enter bipolar. You'll get several hits.

Ah, yes, the art of searching! I kid you not when I say it is an art. You told Ch7Ted to search for "bipolar" here after he searched for "bipolar disorder" and came out short. Sad but true - "bipolar disorder" and "bipolar" aren't the same to many search functions even though we mean the same thing when saying them.

I don't have bipolar disorder, but I struggle with depression and a personality disorder (diagnosis for that: personality disorder NOS (with borderline features)). I used to do the whole "retail therapy" thing, but I haven't for a long time. Unfortunately, I have had those bills for years and made no headway on them...and then they increased my minimum payments to a level that I couldn't handle - and here I am with a BK on my hands.

The worst part about the depression is with work. Luckily I have a very flexible job. Unfortunately, I sometimes find myself taking a "mental health day" (or several) here and there, and the loss of income makes life hard sometimes.

BK hasn't really changed the way I handle my finances - I still try to make the most of what I get. I sit here wishing that therapy would kick into high gear and accelerate my recovery from mental illness. Now, though, I'm just glad that I've started to feel progress during these past few months - and I'm hoping that slow and steady wins the race here. I've actually found the best therapist I've ever had, and that makes a huge difference. He noticed the personality disorder where others haven't. He and I really click, too!