Category: Bipolar blog

Postpartum Depression, Psychosis and Bipolar Disorder

Today on the Bipolar Burble blog Melanie Williams brings us a piece on something that isn’t talked about nearly enough: postpartum depression and its relationship to bipolar disorder.

Jon Avnet, the creator of the Web series “Susanna,” told CBS News the reason he created the show was because of how prevalent postpartum depression is, yet nobody talks about it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 10 to 15 % of new mothers suffer from postpartum depression within a few weeks of their child’s birth. The condition, however, can affect women up to a year after giving birth. It is also not exclusive to females. The Psychiatric Times cited several clinical studies and said up to 25% of new fathers also suffer from postpartum depression.

The tragic death of Miriam Carey, the 34-year-old new mother who was shot and killed by Washington, D.C., police in early October, brought much needed attention to a condition that affects so many people. Seek immediate medical attention for any noticeable or even subtle signs of postpartum depression in yourself or a loved one.

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How to Keep a Bipolar Blog Running During the Depressed Times

Note: For this post I used Grammarly’s grammar correction feature because writing without good grammar is like skydiving without a parachute: you don’t need good grammar to be hired as a writer; you need good grammar to be hired as a writer twice.

I’m a bipolar writer. This is not news to anyone. As a person with bipolar disorder, I naturally have good days and bad days. Specifically, I naturally have average days and horrifically depressed days. And it impresses people that the Bipolar Burble blog manages to stay running through it all. Every week I get one or two posts up no matter what.

So people have asked me, how the heck do you do that? How do you keep a (popular) bipolar blog going through the depressed times?

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Dealing with Fear and Anxiety in Bipolar Disorder

Tomorrow I’m flying off to see some family I don’t know at all. Oh, and my dying father. I won’t get into the specifics but suffice it to say I’m scared of family in general and my father is in a very bad way.

So at the moment, I’m being eaten up with fear and anxiety.

My mother says to me: “But I know you know how to handle that sort of thing.” And I say, “Yes, it’s a wonderful drug called lorazepam.”

I was only half joking.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Inpatient Psychiatric Treatment Facilities

Today marks the start of a few articles I’ll be writing about private inpatient psychiatric treatment facilities. This is thanks to our new sponsor, Timberline Knolls. The highly-trained staff at their facility have agreed to answer my, and your, questions about inpatient treatment facilities. Today we’ll be talking about the basics of inpatient treatment facilities including services offered, intake, what professionals are there and what it’s like to stay in a residential treatment facility.

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Go Kill Yourself for Writing This Bullshit – Writing about Bipolar Disorder

Don’t get me wrong, most of the feedback I receive for writing the Bipolar Burble blog and elsewhere is positive. People, mostly, appreciate what I do and how I do it.

Nevertheless, some people, not so much. Today I received this regarding my writing:

I hope this individual kills herself for writing this bullshit.

Go fuck yourself you ugly bitch.

This comment never made it online, for obvious reasons, but as I’m the moderator, I see it nonetheless.

Intelligence and Bipolar Disorder

This comment was in regards to this post I wrote on the intelligence of people with bipolar disorder.

In the post, I point out that people with bipolar disorder are not, in fact, more intelligent than the average person and, actually, exhibit cognitive deficits. You can go read the post for details, but basically, people with bipolar disorder suffer from a variety of cognitive deficits which may factor into your definition of intelligence. (You’ll note that, in the article, each cognitive deficit contains a link to the source for the information. You’ll also note that I never said anything about creativity. It may be the case that people with bipolar disorder do show more creativity.)

And boy, do people take offence to that fact. There is this prevalent myth out there that people with bipolar disorder are somehow brilliant and that’s a good part of having bipolar disorder.

Um, no.

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Loving a Paranoid Partner

Today’s guest post on the Bipolar Burble blog is by Marion Gibson, author of “Unfaithful Mind “– a tale of what it’s like to love someone who has a paranoid disorder. To win a FREE copy of her book, leave a comment here.

I am married to a man with a mental illness.  High school sweethearts, we travelled the world and grew a family. We were just like any other couple. And then two years ago my husband woke up and believed I wanted him dead.

He thought I had no use for him anymore and I was going to poison him. He stopped eating food in the house and started drinking only store bought water from our emergency supply. He wrote a note and hid it in his chair explaining that I had poisoned him. He also believed I had been unfaithful in our marriage right from the beginning. He thought I had a way about me that I could convince men to sleep with me whenever and wherever I wanted.  He wanted paternity tests on all three of our children.

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How Are You? – I’m Not Fine, I’m Bipolar

Out there, in the world, we must be asked how we are 20 times a day. People ask it on the phone, in line at the grocery store, face-to-face and pretty much anywhere two humans intersect with each other. And, of course, the answer to the question as to how you are is, “I’m fine.” And there’s nothing wrong with that as an answer, really. The person who asked the question likely doesn’t want to know how you really are anyway.

But what about when you tell your friends and family that you’re fine when really you’re anything but? What about when you lie your heart out, tacitly or no, showing and saying that everything is “normal” and peachy-keen? What about when you are a big, fat liar to those that you love?

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Should People with Bipolar be Forced to Take Medication?

I have written before that you can sort of, a little bit, manage bipolar disorder without medication. There are a few proven treatment strategies that do work to manage bipolar disorder and keep you out of the prescription line at the pharmacy.

Nevertheless, I’m still a big believer in medication. I believe that if your life is out-of-control because of bipolar disorder, then medication is probably the best thing for you. I believe that if you’re in pain because of bipolar disorder, then you should be seeing a psychiatrist. I believe that if your functionality is compromised by a disordered brain, then you should be looking at a medical solution.

But does this mean that people with uncontrolled bipolar disorder should be forced to take medication?

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I write a three-time Web Health Award winning column for HealthyPlace called Breaking Bipolar.

Also, find my writings on The Huffington Post and my work for BPHope (BP Magazine).

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