Readers, please send your letters. They can be emails, formal letters or handwritten notes. They are edited solely for grammar and spelling. Also, they are sometimes edited for length.
Dear Doctor Love,
My wife is never satisfied no matter what I do. We have been married over three years and I have a good job and I work hard to take care of her. Yet, no matter how much money I make she always says it is not enough and that if we had more we could buy this and that. I have given her a nice vehicle but she is not satisfied with it. She is always picking it apart and finding things wrong with it. I am ready for us to have children but she says that we can’t afford to have them until I get a better job. I showed her that I make more money than most of her friend’s husbands but she ignores that. When I threatened to leave her she started crying and said that she acts the way she does because she is bi-polar. She says the disorder overpowers her true personality and makes her act the way she does. I asked her family if it was true and they knew nothing about it. Her mother says she is just spoiled because she is the baby of the family and has always gotten everything she wants. I know she does not take any medication for it and like me, she probably does not even know what bi-polar means.
I am very unhappy with my life the way it is. If she is really sick I don’t want to leave her. What should I do?
/s/ Getting Desperate
Dear Desperate,
According to Wikipedia Bipolar Disorder is a mental disorder with periods of depression and periods of elevated mood. This disorder used to be called manic depression and is quite serious. The causes are not clearly understood, but both environmental and genetic factors play a role.
Since the causes are not clearly understood the Doctor believes this disorder is ripe for abuse by those claiming to have it in order to justify their behavior. Yes, there are people out there who claim to have a sickness in order to gain something they want. Your wife seems to be doing this. Instead of saying, “I’m a bitch,” she says, “Oh, I’m bipolar.” Why don’t you insist on accompanying her to the doctor who diagnosed her and treats her for Bipolar Disorder? It is highly unlikely that such a doctor even exists. If she can’t do this simple request, then you should consider leaving. Anyone who will use you like that does not deserve to have you.
