September 2012 - Bipolar Burble Blog

Meet a Neuroscientist and Get a Second Healthcare Opinion

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Sep 27, 2012

The Bipolar Burble is honored to introduce to you Dr. Marie Rowland, a neuroscientist helping people with brain disorders like mental illness through a new service, EmpowermentAlly.

A Special Offer for Bipolar Burble Readers

Marie is offering subsidized services to people with a mental illness and she has a special offer for Bipolar Burble readers – a thorough review of your mental health concerns, history and a 30 minute coaching session all for $15. Read on to learn more about Marie and her offer.

What to Do When Someone Refuses to Take Their Medication – Treatment Noncompliance

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Sep 25, 2012

It is an unfortunate truth that many mental illness patients won’t take their medications at one time or another. This is known as treatment noncompliance or treatment nonadherence, if you want to be a bit more politically correct.

And also unfortunate is the fact that when a person with a mental illness refuses to take their medication they almost inexorably get sicker. People with bipolar disorder who won’t take their medication, for example, often become manic and then wind up hurting themselves or someone else and end up in the hospital. And watching this happen, as a loved one, is extremely painful.

So is there anything you can do when a person refuses to take their medication? Is there anything you can do about treatment noncompliance?

Escaping a Bipolar Brain

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Sep 20, 2012

This morning I was watching Perception, which is a TV show wherein the lead character has schizophrenia. He, like most of us with a mental illness, is trapped inside his head – trapped inside his mental illness. Oh, he functions and everything, but his mind is still trapped inside a sick brain.

And this is how mental illness is. My friend called it the ball and chain. He says I do really well for a person who’s always weighted down like that.

And this morning, one of the characters in the TV show said, “I spend a lot of my time finding puzzles hard enough to get him [the lead character] out of his head.”

When I heard that, I burst into tears.

Loving Someone with a Mental Illness

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Sep 17, 2012

Standing Beside Someone with a Mental Illness

One of the most popular things I’ve written here is a piece called, Saying Goodbye to Someone with a Mental Illness. I think this piece is very important as it highlights the fact that you can’t stand beside someone just because they have a mental illness. Sometimes it’s simply an unworkable situation and you have to take care of yourself by putting some distance between you and the person with the mental illness.

Leaving Someone with a Mental Illness

Unfortunately, some people took this as an indication that I believe that you should leave people with a mental illness.

Loving Someone with a Mental Illness

Nothing could be farther from the truth, of course. The vast majority of people with a mental illness are people just like everyone else and are completely reasonable with which to be in a relationship (of whatever type).

Suicide and Suicide Attempt Resources

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Sep 10, 2012

Over the last couple of years I have written a lot about suicide. It’s a big topic and one of great importance to the mental illness community and, I believe, society at large. As today is World Suicide Prevention Day I wanted to present a round-up of all the suicide and suicide attempt resources I have written over the years.

Please use these to help others or help yourself. Not one more person ever needs to die of suicide.

Suicide Prevention

Why Should I Continue to Fight the Pain of Depression?
Suicide Warning Signs You Should Know – Part One and Part Two
What to Do if You Start to Feel Suicidal
Some People Will Commit Suicide No Matter What You Do?

Thinking About Suicide

Suicide Threats

Suicide Attempts

How to Support World Suicide Prevention Day

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Sep 9, 2012

September 10^th is World Suicide Prevention Day and I, for one, am thankful. I’m thankful there’s a group called the International Association for Suicide Prevention that is out there promoting World Suicide Prevention Day. I’m thankful that an international group is taking the time to address this incredibly important subject.

Worldwide Suicide Statistics

I won’t bore you with pages of suicide statistics, but when you think about suicide prevention, consider this:

Data from The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that 1 million people die every year of suicide worldwide
There is one death by suicide every 40 seconds
There are more people lost to suicide than to homicide and war combined
Suicide ranks as the second leading cause of death worldwide among 15-19 year olds
More than 100,000 adolescents die by suicide each year worldwide
Highest rates of suicide are among those age 75 and older
Up to 90% of people who take their own life have a psychiatric disorder

Suicide is a major problem in the mental illness community, to be sure, but suicide is really everyone’s problem as it’s estimated that there are 20 times the number of suicide attempts as there are suicide completions. If you haven’t been personally touched by suicide yet, you will be.

Suicide Prevention

But World Suicide Prevention Day isn’t about dwelling on the suicide statistics. World Suicide Prevention Day is about working on preventing those 1 million deaths. And as I’ve stated before, I believe suicide is entirely preventable and we, as a society should strive for a zero percent suicide rate.

Should Mental Illness Funding Be Used on Addiction Treatment?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Sep 6, 2012

If you read the Breaking Bipolar blog over at HealthyPlace you might have seen a question earlier this week:

Is addiction just like any other mental illness?

People have come down on both sides of this question on HealthyPlace and on Facebook but I think the overarching sentiment is that addiction is not just another mental illness as personal choices lead to its existence. No one causes bipolar disorder or schizophrenia through action but no one puts a drink in an alcoholic’s hand and forces them to imbibe. Moreover, addiction recovery is considerably simpler in that addicts get better by choosing not to use substances while other mental illness treatment involves months of treatment before any turnaround is seen and typically involves lifelong treatment.

But whether you think that addiction (or, more specifically substance abuse and substance dependence) is simply another mental illness or not, there is this question:

Should funds intended to be used on serious mental illness be used for addiction treatment?

The Bipolar Burble Blog Gets a Facebook Page

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Sep 4, 2012

Last night saw the launch of the Bipolar Burble blog Facebook page. In all honesty, I’ve been meaning to do this for quite a while but couch-contributed inertia slowed me down. This Facebook page is dedicated to supporting people with a mental illness and all those who love them.

Why a Bipolar Burble Blog Facebook Page?

I created this page in response to the concerns that some people had over the nastiness that was being put on my own Facebook profile. People felt it wasn’t a safe space to discuss articles or leave comments and while I try to make the Bipolar Burble blog clutter-free, that’s tougher to do on Facebook. Having a Bipolar Burble blog Facebook page, though, makes this task easier, so you can consider the Bipolar Burble blog Facebook page a safe space to comment and discuss mental health topics.