Trazodone and depakote

Very good story, JB, thanks much for posting it here. You almost got me to feel sorry for Donna. Almost. I kind of picture her just drifting
through life for a few months, then washing half a bottle of trazodone, or maybe oxycodone down with a bottle of gin, and just giving up. It really is sad.
5 stars

First, demand that the doctors abide by their Hippocratic oath (first, do no harm). Depakote and lithium are almost worse than the disease. I KNOW! The mood swings can be next to impossible to prevent. For myself, I prefer to control the worst with sedatives as needed. The mood swings are part of who I am. For me, lack of sleep is a definite tell so that I can use some lorazepam to sleep off the worst of the mood swing. You need a cooperative doctor who will help you as a person instead of just another crazy. Sorry.

Well done in general and kind of scary. The legalese is slightly different in terms of what's happening to Elle than it would normally be in Minnesota, but similar. Here, you would have the arrest, then the police would note her to be a danger to self or others (in this case husband & child), and put her on what's called a transportation hold - meaning she then gets taken somewhere where a qualified psych provider (MD, DO or NP - I am not sure if PA's can do this or not) evaluates her.
That initial evaluation (if 'positive' for danger/problems) would then lead to a 72-hour hold (effectively 3 business days as an inpatient - worst time to get put on a 72-hour hold is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving) and then that doc (if s/he sees a problem) can then petition mental health court for commitment. So from my perspective going to a 30-day stay skips a couple of steps, but not all states work the same way.
In a way, your characters are taking this too well. A husband reacting to the CP report by his daycare provider usually doesn't calm down that fast. Likewise a mother hearing that her daughter had been committed. As a psych nurse I would love to see such acceptance and support for my patients.
And on that note - depakote is a pretty good choice, given the likely diagnosis.

I read the story and, frankly, I enjoyed it. It's a given that anytime a woman cheats in one of these tales and a reconciliation occurs then Katie bar the door! The torch the bitch crowd comes out waving their collective pitchforks and scream for blood, not caring or realizing that life is seldom that cut or dried.
The story touched a special place in my heart because I myself am a sufferer of Bi-Polar Syndrome or Manic- Depressive Syndrome, whichever you prefer. The disease is an absolute bitch to deal with, and in my case is further aggravated by a seizure disorder. Fortunately, my medication (Depakote) does a fairly good job handling the mood swings and stops the seizures outright, albeit with a few side effects. Obviously, I first had to wonder if either you or a loved one or acquaintance had the disease.
As I've stated before in comments on other stories, reconciliation IS an alternative in some cases. If a partner is a serial cheater or the cheating was done in a particularly hurtful way with little or no remorse, then only a fool would reconcile. There are circumstances where it happens, the guilty party admits their guilt, and never does it again. While a marriage that endures this is never the same, the relationship can be salvaged. I regrettably transgressed and my wife saw fit to forgive me and stay with me. We will celebrate our Silver Anniversary soon, and no, I have not reoffended.
A well written story with believable characters. Four stars!