What does getting really bad pressured speech in a 73 year old man mean? I have it myself; as I'm bipolar but the bipolar stuff has always been on my MOM's side of the family! And I have an appt to get my meds adjusted this Wednesday because of it.

My Dad will not seek mental help. His older brother is a retired doctor and he won't even talk to me anymore, as he knows that my father is deteriorating mentally and he keeps saying that "as long as he can still feed himself and drive, " then we aren't to discuss it.

Everyone knows that what's going to happen is that my Dad is going to assault someone or scare someone in his "mutual" area and end up in jail. Every time I talk to him he is more and more drunk all the time and out of control.

I am divorced and I offered to move down to where he lives to take care of him 400 mi away but he refused; says he doesn't "trust anyone). He has a girlfiend lives a few doors down in the retirement community who is 10 years younger but he is her caregiver, as she is really deteriorating mentally. I don't see what goes on and I get very little pieces of it over the phone (they won't allow me to visit; both are paranoid).

What is this thing with the manic symptoms in someone who is probably got dementia and severe alcholism, not bipolar? Thanks!

I also have bipolar disorder and can add a few things here.

When I was diagnosed, they told me it was genetic. Seems nobody "seemed" to know of anyone else in the family with it. So I started digging deep, like doc told me to. Ok, Grandmother had it, and a cousin has it too! Family kept this secrets all these years.

Back then, it was hid well from most of families. Any of your fathers relatives spent time in an institution for "nervous breakdowns?". If so, bingo...

Alchohol and other drugs can mask the simptoms for many years. Many get high or drink to "calm" the bipolar, a/k/a self medication.

I've also known a few with Dimentia that are on one of the same medications I'm on, Seroquel. Its a heavy duty antipsychotic. They both have the same simptoms as the manic side of bipolar. The pressured speech is one, hallucinations, staying up for days on end. So dimentia and bipolar do have a lot in common.

Both of you are RIGHT-ON! I am trying to separate myself from him, and he has become dangerous to my personal safety. He has tried to have me put in jail before, but he can't prove anything. He has hurt my standing in my community, clear up here 400 miles away by his phone calls about me.

I was just wondering how he could possibly have this well known BIPOLAR symptom. He doesn't have Bipolar! It does not run in his family and Stanford has proven that it IS genetic. I did read an article, though, that elders with dementia get bipolar/manic symptoms and that is what he has now. He is agitated and the pressured speech is finally giving him away. His doctors are going to see it FOR SURE. I would just feel better if I knew his doctors knew.

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Every time I talk to him he is more and more drunk all the time and out of control.

LDD this may not be what you think, if you are correct about your father having Bipolar Disorder then this could very well be him taking a drug for the disorder one day and not taking it the next.
My late brother and my best friends uncle both did/do this, now I know your an expert in this (no disrespect intended but you live with this disease so you know for sure) what I hear/see is that the drugs that some folks take (in the case of my late bro and the uncle) they take the meds and by the next day they feel a sort of euphoria that keeps some of these suffers from taking the next days dosage....they feel so good they think their all right for the day...
Now if you ask me Ill straight out tell you the "euphoria", its a "drunken state" that I saw and by the middle of the day their behaviors are manic and or abusive, both physically and verbally.
They speak with a slurred speech which leads an outsider to believe they are in fact "drunk" when they are not.
My brother was like clockwork I could ALWAYS tell when he was on his drug therapy as opposed to when he was not. And I could certainly tell when both of these men were in fact drinking.
Since your contact with your father is sporadic anyhow I think what is happening is you are not really seeing the whole picture he may be drinking still, he may not, in either case what I explained above still applies.
Now if your father does have "Dementia" then the symptoms will become more pronounced.
The other thing also if he is a habitual drinker there may be Diabetes afoot here which can also bring on and or mimic the symptoms of Dementia.
Without even seeing his BS levels my bet is he does have Diabetes.

Sweetheart for your own health I strongly suggest you back off of him. You are not his caregiver and as much as you would like to fix this, simply put, you can not, he is too set in his ways and the folks who do surround him are enablers.
Unless and until he wants help or becomes an active participant in his own mental health there is not thing one you can do.
The other thing, the more contact/arguing you engage in with him makes it worse.
That is my experience with this, you may have another view but I think you absolutely need to hear it from someone else's perspective...I am not a counselor or a psychiatrist/doctor Im just an everyday Jane who happens to have dealt with 2 people in my life with Bipolar disorder.
Most times their in deep denial if they are not active participants in treatment and even when they were for periods of time they still didnt "see" how badly they were acting out or that their thought process was off.
LDD you cannot fix whats broken especially when you are not an active participant in his care.

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I've only shown caring and compassion for my family but they have chosen me to be the scapegoat. I just don't talk to them anymore.

This was from your last post, LDD... We've been over and over all this - you have to take care of yourself. Your dad and brother do not want your help and reject it when offered. There is nothing you can do.

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What is this thing with the manic symptoms in someone who is probably got dementia

Bipolar-like symptoms are common in people with dementia and other degenerative brain diseases.