In a year I write around 50 posts for Bipolar Burble, some of which are popular bipolar or mental illness posts and some of which are not as much. If you haven’t kept up all year long, who can blame you, really? So I’ve put together a list of the top 10 bipolar posts of 2015, just in case you’ve missed one or two.
Depression is painful but can you turn that pain into something good? I recently heard of a couple that went through extreme suffering because of losing a child and one of the pieces of advice they received was, “don’t waste your pain.” These people turned their pain into a full-fledged and extremely successful business that gives back to children’s charities. I’ve decided that was an extremely valuable piece of advice with depression – don’t waste your pain.
From time to time, even I, mental health writer and speaker, have forgotten that bipolar disorder is a physical illness. Well, I don’t forget, exactly, but I have acted like it wasn’t physical with my actions in my own life. But how could I act like mental illness (which I even call brain disorders) isn’t physical? Why would I ever forget that bipolar disorder is a physical illness?
Do you ever feel like people discount your opinion because you have bipolar? Have you ever had the experience where someone simply steamrolls over what you’re saying because they feel it’s not important because you have bipolar? Once someone found out you had bipolar, did they suddenly decide what you said didn’t matter? Have you found that people discount opinions of those with bipolar?
I was walking through the drug store today and I saw a great book for young children struggling with understanding of moods. It’s called The Many Moods of Me Journal by Klutz. Not only does it encourage the journalling of a young person’s mood but it also teaches the child about feelings and moods. I think this is perfect, age-appropriate information for children who need to understand that moods vary and can be extreme in cases of mental illnesses like bipolar disorder. I think this would be a perfect teaching tool for teaching a young child about bipolar disorder and educating them about their own moods too.
After a stressful day, I’m hypomanic and it brings to mind my self-help tips for how to calm down a bipolar hypomania. These tricks might not be available or work for everyone, but here’s what I do to calm down my hypomania.
Oddly, I find myself hanging off the outside of the CN Tower, 1168 feet in the air. I can honestly say I’m terrified and can barely glance beneath my feet. But how did I get here and what does it have to do with having a disability?
It’s actually a bit of a long story.
Hi folks, if you’re long-time readers of mine, you might remember me mentioning Global Medical Education. This site, literally, offers you up-to-date, medical information, from experts in short video format for free. (This used to be a subscription service but they have changed their model — to the benefit of all of us.) And while I do have a working relationship with this site, I can honestly tell you their content is great, generally easy to understand, and covers a wide range of medical issues.
This brings me to why we’re here. Today I’m asking to get your thoughts on what topics Global Medical Education should include in their library. Share your thoughts and you’ll be entered to win a $25 Amazon gift certificate.
I get quite a few messages from people who say I have saved their lives. (Of course, I get messages from people saying I’m killing people, too, but let’s not discuss those.) People say that if it weren’t for me, they would be dead. People say that, because of my work, I saved their lives. And, of course, in a few cases I’ve taken a somewhat more active role than that.
But today I want to tell everyone something: I didn’t save those lives, you did.
I have heard from many people who are suicidal and want to die by accident. I guess “wanting to die by accident” may sound weird to some people but I totally get it. I have been one of these people myself. I envisioned myself dying in service to another – doing something incredibly brave that would end my life so that another could live. At least then people would view my death in a positive light and didn’t other people deserve to live more than me anyway?
What it comes down to is that these suicidal people don’t want to take their own lives (for many reasons such as family and friends) but they do feel they want to die and they feel an accident is the way to do that.
I have been through lots of therapy and lots of therapists in my life and my contention is that therapy can’t be used to actually treat uncontrolled, serious mental illnesses. Now, don’t get me wrong, therapy can be supportive to a person with an uncontrolled, serious mental illness and therapy can be useful to a person with an uncontrolled, serious mental illness (such as in the case where the therapist tracks your bipolar symptoms and report changes to your doctor) but therapy cannot be used to actually treat a serious and uncontrolled mental illness.
I need a break from bipolar. Like, seriously. You know when people say they need a vacation? These people have no idea what it really is to need a vacation. When you have a chronic illness, you suddenly understand what real, daily pressure is and how much you need to get away from it – if only you could. I wish I could get a break from bipolar.
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