Bipolar disorder...a blessing and a disaster??

[lightthecandle]

I know some people with bipolar disorder, including myself. most of these people are very intelligent, like my uncle who has it (though he might schizophrenia as well). the bad side of it is that we're all plagued with emotional issues that at times make it impossible to do ANYTHING productive, or anything that needs to be done.

I'm just wondering how other people cope, and make the most of it, besides taking the meds, seeing the phsych, therapist.

[lightthecandle]

and i guess genes contributes to it right?
...but then again my sister (who's now 33) was 'intelligent' up until her first year of college, then she quit, and works odd-end jobs, so i guess that myth doesn't hold true?

[Zukin]

This site is a good resource:

McMan's Depression and Bipolar Web - Your depression and bipolar disorder source

It's maintained by someone who has bipolar disorder and it has articles on the latest research about bipolar disorder and depression.

[Old Soul]

yeah I live in a hypo manic state 70 percent of the time, ..... I won't lie and say I don't want the mania, because the truth is mania is true euphoria, and no drug in the land can match it.......... so if you were to ask me if I miss the mania, I will say hell yes.................HOWEVER.. the price is to high , the cost is too great to my family as well as myself.....so I my hubby and i work together , and we watch for symptoms of this "hypo" mania turning into "true mania"

and so far it has been over 4 yrs since my last episode......... NO drugs in 3 yrs, and "I" do all the work to stay stable, not the medication ... mental training, not adopting unhealthy thinking which triggers me, and to deal with life and all her curve balls as best as I can ......

There are many many people undiagnosed with bipolor disorder, milder forms, they just do not know it yet, and they go undiagnosed

I tend to beleive it is the "creative" type of person who is more prone to mood disorders , but don't know the stats on this

[Old Soul]

Here's a bipolor thought

some people build castles in the air.... manic depressives move in and live there! :-))

[geekchic9]

Originally Posted by lightthecandle

I'm just wondering how other people cope, and make the most of it, besides taking the meds, seeing the phsych, therapist.

• Support groups. If there aren't any in your area, start one up!
• Exercise. That definitely keeps me stable (when I do it.) I also have a very active job as a sales associate in a retail store, but I've recently learned that isn't enough.
• Down time. Sometimes you need to chill and spend time with yourself.
• Fish oil. Studies show this helps a lot with moods in people with depression or bipolar disorder.
• Paraliminals. The "Belief" CD is my personal favorite, as I am working on false beliefs about myself.
• Intensive Outpatient Therapy. It's offered at some hospitals and deals with issues you may have never realized you had.
• Self-care. Taking care of your needs is not selfish -- it's self-preservation.
• Good boundaries. Don't walk all over others, and don't let others walk all over you.
• Don't people-please. Do what makes you happy in the long-term. Life is too short to fulfill others' dreams.
• Get involved. Work or volunteer your time in the mental health political movement to end discrimination against people with mental illnesses, learn about self-care, and spread useful information to the community. That's my goal at my new web site (shameless plug).

Hope that helps!

[MSC2471]

geekchic9: That is an excellent list of items to keep in mind. My oldest daughter is bi-polar (her mother and aunt are also bi-polar) and we've been able to establish good boundaries for her, she understands the need to take meds and also has been good in describing her moods to us when she's feeling really up or really down so we can adjust her days accordingly. Therapy has been super-key in getting her to discover triggers, learning how to cope with them and handle herself in an appropriate manner.

Are there times that she explodes? Certainly- but we try to give her activities and re-direction to channel this energy in a better way. Music seems to be a health outlet for her and she's learned to self-regulate her emotions through DBT therapy...

Matt

[llong]

Everyone's bipolar is different. Mine stays in the hypomanic part of the spectrum most of the time.

It's hard to cope, but I take it day by day, and try to be as productive as possible no matter what.

Sadly, for me that hardest part is in relationships. My "resume" is very impressive, but I have difficulty dealing with imperfections or lack of productivity and energy in others. This makes for a life that looks great from the outside, but isn't very wonderful on the inside.

The hope is that eventually the external successes will bleed into more personal areas of my life.

[Old Soul]

I guess i am lucky then because hypomania is the most productive time for me

[llong]

Oh, me too, certainly. I'm hyperproductive too.

The problem is sometimes I'm productive in the wrong things.

[Phil Parkinson]

I suffer from mild Bipolar...

I recently had an episode for 2 months... I had an idea for a website and went at it full throttle. ALl my mates were telling me you are not well and i was ignoring them all... i thought they were trying to drag me down. I gave up my job, spent thousands of pounds, went on weird holidays. Just left my whole life behind.

When i came back to earth, I had to grovel to my friends. To realise what i had been doing was a truly humbling experience.

The weird thing is that the website i built in that short space of time was absolutely insane... The quality of the work that came out of my body was really really high... I was working 18 hour days... non-stop.

To overcome BP, i monitor myself all the time... I ask all my mates to keep an eye on me too...

I also try to work as hard on myself as i can... Achieving things really helps me to keep the dark thoughts at bay.

So far, so good. xxx

[Christian223]

I dont have that problem, but you should try EFT and TAT, it may or may not work on that problem, im not sure, but why not try?, visit the link at my signature, also visit Tapping.com - Free EFT Videos - Emotional Freedom Technique, good luck! (use the search fature on the oficial site too, you may get some info about how to deal with your problem)

[Tigerlilly]

Hi everbody!

Since I found this thread I checked on the links leading to McMan's page and moodgarden, and it's been a relief just to know I'm not the only one dealing with emotional issues, though I'm not sure what is actually going on with me, but right now it doesn't feel like a blessing much of the times. Just to explain:

Last fall I got an energy high, which lasted all the way to about 3weeks from Christmas, and during that time I really did an awful lot, though even then it was a rollercoaster of emotion and with short interludes I was alternating between heaven and hell within days. Then 3 weeks before Christmas I suddenly felt sad and exhausted and before I knew it I'd slipped into the purest depression and then that ended a week before Christmas, and I mean it just ended, I suddenly felt relieved and good once more.

And the very same thing seems to be happening this fall again. Last week on Monday I was so charged up it felt like there was an electric current running through me, and all through the week I had fits of despair and fighting spirit alternating and then on Thursday evening I suddenly could hardly breathe cause it felt like my chest was pressed together, and I had a headache and got very tired and Friday I woke up feeling tired and hopeless and had to push myself to do what I'd been planning during my energy high at the beginning of the week and Saturday I felt really good and Sunday the world started to cave in again and now Monday I woke up feeling driven and fighting down totally illogical feelings of despair again.

Does that sound familiar to anyone? I've been "moody" all my life and most of the times it makes me feel like I somehow failed the life I could have led had I been a more tenacious, balanced character resting in myself. Though I did acchieve quiet a lot considering the battles I had to fight against my own nature to get there. But it's always fighting on all fronts, isn't it? Not only coping with what happens on the outside but mainly trying to get yourself in line when others can spend all their energy on dealing with just the outside world, and then, why me?

And it's difficult to have thoughts and feelings come over me that just don't seem to be mine, and make no sense at all looking at my life experience of the moment. Sometimes I even believed that somehow I must be telepathically linked to some other soul out there and live another life along with mine, cause that was the only thing that made any sense at all.

Really, if you ask me, whether dealing with emotional issues is a curse or a blessing, I'd say most of times it feels like a curse. Even though I'm incredibly active at times, more often than not I'm fighting some inner battle and then the turmoil of thoughts and emotions feels like living in a washing machine when it gets bad.

Sometimes I think as a side effect I'm more reflective and sensitive as some others, more aware of things. But then is that a blessing? I guess only if you believed in life being a spiritual journey intended on inner growth, in the sense of he who knows himself is enlightened.

Sorry for the long post, considering it's just my second, just touched a sensitive point there.