Question:
Dear Steve,
I’m drowning in debt. I was diagnosed with bipolar in 2012 and have accumulated a massive amount of debt since that time.
I was diagnosed with Bipolar in 2012. Since then I have racked up $30,000 of debt. I am completely overwhelmed and don’t know where to turn? I’m drowning and fear there are no alternatives to rectify my dire situation. I have no family it’s just me and my dog.
Allison
Answer:
Dear Allison,
I’ve witnessed people struggle with bipolar disorder since I first started helping people with debt in 1994. I completely understand the cycle you are going through. Generally, the bipolar issue leads you to feel overly confident and run up debt and then crash into a depression where you can’t deal with it.
Like so many other factors of debt, your debt is just the symptom and not the problem.
What I’ve observed is that until the person struggling with bipolar disorder can tackle the underlying issue successfully, your mental health, this will be an endless merry go ’round. I don’t want you to have to continue to deal with this.
So, before you begin to tackle the trash the debt has left behind, I suggest you seek mental health support from your therapist or medical doctor.
Here is a construction analogy. Once your bipolar disorder is addressed we can then focus on cleaning up the site and building a good foundation for your future financial house.
Here are a lot of past posts all about advice for people being crushed by bipolar disorder.
Let’s tackle this one step at a time and aim to deal with this once and for all.
Bipolar Debt Elimination Step 1
You absolutely must go back to your mental health professional to attempt to manage your bipolar disorder. Until you do that we should not get ahead of ourselves and take any additional steps.
Come back and post a comment when you’ve tackled step 1 and we can then move forward to step 2. Deal?
Drowing in debt and bipolar.
Answered.