My boyfriend told me very early in our relationship that he was diagnosed bipolar but said that he had it under control. He's had a good job for more than a decade, raised his own kids because their mom gave him custody, no high debt, etc so I fully believed him. And things were great for awhile. Truly the best relationship I've ever had. Then about two months ago he made statements about feeling like an episode was coming. I asked him what he needed from me or if there was anything I could or should do. He said, "No, I've got it handled. I have a system for dealing with it." Then, barely at first, he started to distance himself. When asked, he said he was tired from not sleeping well. Then it was stress from work. Then finally he said he was "dealing with something" but wouldn't tell me what. Just said he was handling it and I needed to be patient. But then things started getting much worse. From texting/calling throughout the day, it dropped to only a few times a day. And one of the excuses for that was that he was sleeping. If that is true then he was sleeping 10-12 hours a day at least. Then he started being forgetful. He'd make plans but then when he didn't show/call he'd blow up claiming I imagined that he'd made those plans. At that point he pretty much stopped communicating with me. I gave him a couple of days then texted him that I'd give him some space but still loved him. He responded several hours later to thank me for "finally understanding" and that he still loved me. But he also put the blame back on me again saying he pulled away because I was being so emotional. I truly was not. I was questioning his behavior the way anyone in my situation would have done and I was actually very delicate about it because I suspected he was being overwhelmed by a bipolar depression. So I REALLY backed off then. But he texted me the next day and talked about coming to see me. Said "I'll let you know one way or the other." Yeah, guess what? Nothing. Texted me the next day but no mention of getting together. Like the conversation the previous day didn't happen at all. Monday night he texts late at night that he is sorry he didn't text earlier that day but he was asleep. He then said he'd text me the next morning and call me before I left for work. It's now Wednesday midday and I've heard not a peep. This is supposed to be an exclusive, committed relationship. I don't understand how it makes sense to him to go for days without talking to me and weeks now without seeing me.
I truly think he's in a depressed mood but he won't admit that to me. I know I need to set some boundaries here but will it do any good to try to set & enforce them now while he's still depressed and obviously not thinking clearly? Or should I just keep my distance like I have until he comes out of this?
Before I could post this he did text. The latest claim/excuse is that he's working 12 hour days. There are more details to the entire story that I've left out but I truly believe he's fighting a bipolar depression. Had he just admitted to me before it got bad that that's what was happening, I'd be looking at and handling this very differently. But his insistence that he had it under control and even blaming me at times leaves me hurting and confused. Whatever is going on, this is not how it should be handled with someone you claim to love and want a relationship with.
Oh, wow! He just texted and asked how I'm doing. It's been at least a month since he's shown interest or care in that way. I know that sounds weird but I've truly just tried to keep things as "light" and simple as possible - trying to make it easy for him.
Anyway, so I know we need to have a very honest and real conversation at some point but should I wait until he seems better? Should I still just keep my distance for now? I'm so confused.