***The opinions below are mine personally and the experiences that I have had, everybody’s own situation is different***Originally, when I started writing my blog I created a pseudonym, Bipolar Betty. There are folks I have told about my mental illness and some I have...
Okay, I admit it. Worrying comes natural for me. In fact I will actually admit that at times I am addicted to worrying. As I progressed from parenthood to grandparenthood my worrying accelerated. When my babies laed cuddled in the warmth of blankets, I worried that...
A stigma can be associated with the actual truth or ones ridiculous notion. Whether true or false, it has been my experience that they are (more often than not) unflattering or downright degrading. To be fair, there are moments of ignorance towards the subject. I do...
I’m taking a page out of the bp Magazine for this month’s article. I don’t know how many of you are familiar with this publication or if you personally receive it. I have a subscription and when I get mine in the mail, I read it from cover to cover.One of the sections...
I’m writing a book about my life. In my research I watched a documentary called The Stephen Fry Story – The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive (Click here for the documentary – 2 episodes of 1 hr. each). It’s a fascinating portrait of BPD. It can help...
Many people may incorrectly assume that all Bipolar sufferers have the same kind of symptoms or that there is some kind of “one size fits all” perspective to the illness. This is in part due to the many misconceptions that surround the condition and cloud people’s...
Although I put family and my beloved spouse in a different place, I was just thinking of all my varied friendships so I thought I would comment on them and show how a bipolar lifestyle works in:Being a good Catholic boy, serving on the altar until eighteen, I looked...
Does your life revolve around put it offs, “I’ll do it tomorrow,” “I’ll get to that next week.” Well for probably the past 8 months mine has. About 8 months ago I got out of my first relationship in over 5 ½ years. It had only lasted about 6 months. But it was a good...
This issue is close to heart. Mental illness/Bipolar vs. pregnancy. To conceive or not conceive? The odds of having a child also with a mental illness? What are the medication risks? Because of so many facts that go into these issues, and I could write for days, I...
Over the last 6 months I have been pondering a lot about coming of age in the mental health system. Many times I thought of how many different stages I went through and how I would have loved to know during each stage in my coming into adulthood and later that...
A day of love.Flowers.Cake.Chocolate.But what does Valentine Day really signify?A day where you open your heart to someoneSomeone you admire.Someone you always wish the best for.Someone who has been there for you thin and thick.Why not this year, you open your hearts...
Those of us who have battled Bipolar II long enough know the signs of hypomania. And since a hypomanic episode happens so rarely compared with depression, when one does occur, it feels like receiving a beautifully gift-wrapped present. We unwrap it with...
Days are filled with ups and downs. At moments paralyzed from fear, anxiety and depressive negative thoughts. While at other times feeling driven and focused thanks to medication that appears to work for a few hours each day to pull me out of the darkness that I am...
This is the final article in, what’s turned out to be, a series on How Bipolar Disorder has Been Changed for Me. If you haven’t read the first three they are: 1. How Journaling has Changed Bipolar Disorder for Me 2. How Food has Changed Bipolar Disorder for Me 3. How...
When I saw Britney Spears on the news on a gurney with paramedics, sirens blaring, a team of policemen, two helicopters, chaos, and a lot of paparazzi and she was placed on a 5150 my heart was breaking and tears filled my eyes. I said to myself, Oh my God! Even a pop...
As far as I am concerned , electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most controversial treatment I have received. In 1991, I was hospitalized for six months. I am a very compliant patient suffering from rapid cycling bipolar disorder. If recommended by a doctor I am...
In a week, I will begin my last semester as an undergraduate student.I am taking my last three classes to graduate with bachelors in chemistry.A degree that not only help me further my dreams of becoming a doctor, but the thoughts that I’ve conquered something.I have...
A person may set goals and resolutions for the New Year. It may be regarding a habit that they are trying to break. Sometimes it may be to make an improvement in physical well-being, such as healthier eating, weight loss, or exercise. Additionally, it may include...
In this new year, I am resolving to track my emotions better…Not because emotions are my enemy or anything like that. Maybe a better word to use is I want to appreciate the subtle changes in my emotions more.This is not a new thought of course, but it came to me...
In the United States, the New Year is traditionally a time to reflect upon aspects of self-improvement. Resolutions made as part of a commitment to a lifestyle change are often broken because they are not clearly defined and well-organized. According to a 2007 study,...
So, the New Year rolls around, and suddenly everyone’s talking about getting healthy. After living through another year of struggling to keep my moods stable, my side-effects manageable and my weight from spiraling, I have had to ask myself what “healthy” means to me...
January… The month of new beginnings and fresh starts. The slate is wiped clean of all past doings and the hope for a better tomorrow is so thick you can slice it right out of the air and serve it for dinner! Then what? When the bloom of change begins to whither...
Every year, instead of making a resolution, one of my good friends chooses a word to live by and grow with in the upcoming year. She inspired me to do the same.. . .Healthy [hel-thee] adjective: in good condition; a state of complete physical, mental, and social...
This is the third article in, what’s turned out to be, a series on How Bipolar Disorder has Been Changed for Me. If you haven’t read the first two they are:1. How Journaling has Changed Bipolar Disorder for Me2. How Food has Changed Bipolar Disorder for MeJournaling...
I’m so tearful. I’m embarrassed sitting here at the gate waiting for a plane that will take me away.I cannot even begin thinking, much less speaking, about returning to SO MUCH UNCERTAINTY…without eyes brimming and overflowing. People sitting around...
While fishing through my old journals and day planners I came across something that I wrote on January 22nd of 2010:Every yin has its yang….literally!I just tested this theory out. I was looking for my coffee mug and was starting to become frustrated. I saw there was...
Everything in my life has always been to the max! I want sauce on my pasta, it’s gonna be sauce, with some pasta. If I’m gonna work out, I’m gonna run five miles in the blazing hot sun. Everything has always been to the utmost extreme and I’ve never been able to...
New Years is a time for a new beginning and a fresh start. It is a time to let go of the pain from our past and focus on today, now, and the future. I have a lot of pain from my past, depression, fear, psychosis, anxiety, emotional eating, and low self-esteem. 2013 is...
We’ve finally made it to the end of the year.First of all, I want to congratulate you for making it through one more year.Glad you are alive.Glad you’ve made it through 2012.Having bipolar disorder… you really don’t know when you will just snap.Snap and just do what...
As a New Year, 2013, is just days away there are two things that immediately pop into my mind. First is reflection of the past year and how I would like next year to be different. Second, it starts raining weight loss commercials on the television. For me, having...
Being bipolar we have a tendency to indulge. We indulge in shopping, adventures, hobbies, friends, worries, cares, causes and even eating out. Sometimes we eat out at very nice places. Often, we just eat anywhere. We swipe that card and then load up on what will...
For me, 2012 has been a year of great success, immense loss, incredible opportunity and continual change. I accomplished things that I once doubted I could, lost people and things that I had expected to have for years to come, was presented with chances to do things...
The Mayans made a prediction about tomorrow 12.21.12. They claim this will be the “end of time”. This is being interpreted as being the end of the world, or perhaps the end of the world as we know it. My question is, is this really a bad thing? Think about...
An untreated mental illness can be difficult for not only the person who is suffering from the illness but also for the people who come into contact with the person, most commonly the people closest to the person. On the rare occasion a mental illness that a person is...
Happy New Year to Everyone! I hope everyone had a good Christmas. If not I hope you made it through. This month we are suppose to talk about Heath. When I think of Health the first thing I think of is of course Mental Health. Probably the first thing to do to be...
On Motherhood”You’re a really good mother. Your son is very lucky to have such an attentive mom.”These words were said to me yesterday by a pediatrician. Because I’ve been sick for most of my son’s life, I feel insecure about the...
I’m going easy on myself in the New Year because it will be the first of many in which I have admitted and will responsibly addressed my disorder. So here’s what I’ve decided to focus on: • TIP: Improve my diet by eating the colors of the rainbow. Remember that...
Six days stuck to my bed resulted in a 4-hour wait for a med-check at Urgent Psychiatric Care (UPC) in downtown Phoenix. I resumed the same idiocy of pretending I was sick instead of admitting I was in a downturn. In my defense, at least it only took 6 days for me to...
Ive been toying with the idea of whether or not I have inner peace. Its elusive when I concentrate on practicing it, and Im beginning to think that pursuit of it isn’t the goal…HAVING it is. There are steps I can take to prepare my mind to accept...
This past year my world was filled with quite a few life altering events. Last January I was put on short-term disability at my job because of my bipolar disorder. While trying to get better, I struggled a lot with the decision of leaving my husband, who was in St....
2012 had been a rough year for me physically and mentally. I was in the hospital for psychiatric evaluation at least four times. I had a couple of endoscopes, a hospitalization for my back and even a couple of back procedures including a radio frequency ablation on my...
A mixed episode my latest road-trip from one pole to the other with road foodFor extra fun these last three days–I’ve been experiencing symptoms of a mixed episode. I am wildly rosy and ready to take charge…and simultaneously weeping uncontrollably....
Reading of your recent diagnosis, I was struck by how my story parallels yours in many ways. From the outside, we both appeared to have it all: successful careers, happy marriages, and hopes and dreams for the future. Behind the façade, however, few people grasped how...
I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder a few months after turning 18 years old in 2003. While that seems so long ago, one would think 10 years is enough time to figure out how to perfectly manage my illness and life. The truth of the matter is, I am still learning and...
Some of us are so far from what we imagined our lives would be like; Some have exactly what they pictured; Some are trying to do everything they can to escape the constant reminder that we failed to meet our childhood expectations and dreams of adulthood. No matter...
As I lay in my bed in the early stages of a cold I cry. For about a year I have been trying to gain the strength to stay awake and be in the mood to go to a club in the United States with my husband, as my husband is new to the states as of February. Now this may seem...
The latest that has been going on with me is the tumultuous depression that has spiked in my life due to our (my husband and myself) living situation. I am thirty-one years old. My husband is twenty-eight. We are living in the basement of my parents’ home. This...
Controlling our Bipolar Disorder is a full time job, even during the good times. We have meds, psychotherapy, and other standard treatments. However, have you considered food as a form of treatment? I’ve discovered there are certain foods that help me keep the...
Finals are the dreading exams we take at the end of each semester that not only covers four months worth of material in 50 questions, but covers a large sum of our overall grades. The intense pressure to do well on finals is a nightmare for any college student, but...
This is the time of year that we become reflective and think about all the reasons why we have become thankful.I know I do it. I see it all over the Internet on Facebook and Twitter. People posting why they are thankful. The Internet by-ways are practically flooded...
