My son shows signs of Bipolar, manic depression

Dear Ask The Doctor: Hello doctor, my son was born healthy so i thought. then found out he had a spot on his brain then he was treated for ADD. He use to bang his head on the cement side walk. I was concern and took him to our family physician and he told me that he would stop banging when he hurts himself hmmmm. In his teenage years he did lots of drugs, had gambling issues,Now he is 35 years of age and is showing signs of Bipolar-Manic Depression. How can i help him understand that he needs to see a doctor and may in turn take medication to help him lead a normal life. He wants nothing to do with me. He has violent screaming episodes, mood swings, eats twice as much as before, drinks alcohol a lot. Anything i say to him comes back to me by him stating that its my fault that he is this way cause he was raise by a bitch. hmmmm. I need your help. It's destroying my relationship with my husband his father. I don't have any support from my husband. He says that it is up to my son to get help. And my son says there is nothing wrong with him its me who needs to see a doctor for bipolar.

Dear Diane: I understand and sympathize with your situation and also understand that you have his best interests at heart. However he is an adult and as such there is nothing that you can do to force him to seek professional medical help. You could talk to his family physician or physician who is prescribing him medication for depression to talk in detail with him about his symptoms and progress. You could try and arrange a joint meeting with his family physician and him together and then discuss the issues. I hope this helps and i wish you all the best.