bipolar disorder Archives - Page 27 of 37 - Natasha Tracy Bipolar Expert

Settling in a Relationship Because of Bipolar

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jun 11, 2013

Do you feel broken? I sometimes do. I sometimes feel very broken. I sometimes feel like the bipolar disorder has damaged me beyond repair. I sometimes feel like the bipolar disorder has damaged me beyond reason.

I sometimes feel like it would be impossible for another human being with a functioning brain to want me.

And this is too bad because it can lead to some very bad decisions regarding relationships. I’ve seen people with bipolar who feel this way stay with people who were entirely beneath them because they feel like that broken toy. The person with bipolar disorder feels like she/he doesn’t deserve any better.

This may be wrong. This definitely is wrong. But it doesn’t mean that some part of our brains doesn’t still believe it.

I’m Not Myself Today – Feeling Bad About Feeling Bad

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jun 3, 2013

As I’ve mentioned before, people with bipolar disorder, statistically, spend more time depressed than they do manic or hypomanic. People with bipolar II have it the worst. People with bipolar II can spend up to 35 times more time depressed than hypomanic. This means that if you’re a symptomatic bipolar II, you’re probably feeling depressed right now.

And, of course, depression is a big problem in bipolar disorder as there are only two Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for bipolar depression (although other treatments are prescribed off label).

While that picture is dark, I would argue there is one aspect of depression that’s more within our control but is equally debilitating. It’s (often obsessively) feeling bad about feeling bad.

Am I Feeling Better or am I Hypomanic?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | May 30, 2013

This is an interesting question that was recently posed to me by a reader: Am I feeling better, or am I feeling hypomanic? Feeling better, of course, is the goal. Feeling hypomanic, of course, is not. One can be something to celebrate while the other can be something to be afraid of. So how does one tell the difference between plain wellness (or happiness) and hypomania?

Can You Treat Bipolar Disorder Without Medication?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | May 28, 2013

People ask me if they can treat their bipolar disorder without medication all the time. They think that I have some secret answer to give them. Like I secretly know something that doctors don’t. Like there is a giant conspiracy to keep non-medication treatments away from people with bipolar disorder.

Well there isn’t.

So let me answer the question: Can you treat bipolar disorder without medication?

The quick answer is: no, not really. The long answer is: sort of, a bit.

So here I outline the treatments I’m aware of that treat bipolar disorder without prescription medication (or neuromodulation, like electroconvulsive therapy or repetitive transcranaial magnetic stimulation).

Breakthrough Bipolar Events

Posted by Natasha Tracy | May 16, 2013

I was driving in my car yesterday morning, groceries in the back, a freshly frothed latte in the front, when I flipped to a radio station, heard one line of a song and started crying. The song lyric is inconsequential; I knew that then and know it now. What is consequential is that my bipolar disorder heard the song and used it as an excuse to be upset. My depression, my loathing, creeping, squirming depression, popped its fucking head up and made me burst into tears for no reason on a perfectly functional Wednesday morning. I had a breakthrough bipolar event.

The Separation of Depression and Bipolar in the New DSM-5

Posted by Natasha Tracy | May 7, 2013

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM) is frequently called psychiatry’s “bible.” I, however, would not pen it that way. I would suggest that the DSM is simply a guideline for the diagnosis of mental illness. It lists the criteria one has to have in order to be diagnosed with a mental illness.

And, as the name of this post suggests, the DSM is releasing its fifth major version – the DSM-5 – in just a couple of weeks.

Now, the DSM-5 has been controversial from the get-go and I have said that much of this controversy is overstated, but some of the changes do have fundamental nosological implications. In other words, some of the changes in the DSM-5 can change how people fundamentally think of certain mental illnesses.

The DSM-5 Cuts the Chord between Depression and Bipolar

And one of the changes in the DSM-5 is the separation of major depression and bipolar disorder into their own chapters. No longer is there a chapter called “Mood Disorders” with both disorder types listed (Can we still call them mood disorders?). Now they each represent a separate category.

This may seem like a small change, and I’m not going to have a fit over it, but I will say that I think it was the wrong move.

Unmet Needs in the Treatment of Bipolar – I Need Your Thoughts

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Apr 23, 2013

If you know my story of bipolar disorder treatment, you know that it hasn’t been a pleasant one. Doctors have fired me and given up on me. I have tried a host of treatments that didn’t work. I have experienced almost every side effect under the sun. I have bumped into holes in the healthcare system that have denied me access to a psychiatrist. I’ve spent years wanting to die. I have seen, and lived through, it all. And I would say there are many unmet needs in the treatment of bipolar disorder. I would say these unmet needs are part of bipolar treatment and part of the system in which treatment is delivered. I don’t blame psychiatrists or psychiatry, specifically. I would say there is plenty of blame to go around.

So when I think about unmet needs in bipolar disorder treatment, there seems to me to be many.

More Worst Things to Say to a Person with Bipolar – Isn’t Everyone a Little Bipolar?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Mar 27, 2013

I’ve written a couple of posts on the worst things to say to a person with bipolar disorder and saying, “Isn’t everyone a little bipolar?” certainly ranks among the worst.

I can’t freaking stand it.

It’s so unbelievably dismissive and invalidating of a medical illness that I can barely fathom it. One very mature person on Facebook simply said, of this statement, “I guess our work fighting stigma isn’t done yet.” That’s an awfully gracious way of putting it.

Isn’t Everyone a Little Bipolar?

The answer to this question is “no.” No, no, no, no, no, a thousand times no. Seriously. To suggest that everyone is a little bit bipolar shows an absolute ignorance of bipolar disorder and of mental illness in general.

Trying Bipolar Therapy You Don’t Believe In – Mindfulness Meditation

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Mar 18, 2013

When people ask me about bipolar treatments or bipolar therapy here, I tell them about the research on the therapy or treatment and I tell them this, “different bipolar treatments and bipolar therapies work for different people so try it and see if it helps.”

And I consider this good advice. It’s absolutely true. Different bipolar treatments and bipolar therapies do work for different people – but that doesn’t mean that I, personally, believe in them.

And, to be clear, it’s not so much that I don’t believe in them entirely, it’s more that I don’t believe in them for me.

Enter mindfulness-cognitive therapy or mindfulness meditation.