I hope everyone is enjoying the new site design!!! Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions about it I can’t wait to start 2011. I just KNOW it’s going to be an awesome year. Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday! With Love, Do you have a question that needs answering? Click here to submit… Tweet70ad345e569ef2e82aaa435500b0c29aLink to this post!
I’m actually glad this question was asked!!! I thought I knew what a clubhouse was, but turns out I had a very limited knowledge of what one really is… As I was doing some research, I learned some new, interesting facts!!! Know you get to learn them, too!!! The thing I liked best about Clubhouses is that the people who utilize them are not ‘clients’ or ‘patients’; they are ‘members’… There’s nothing clinical about Clubhouses… There are no psychiatrists or therapists… They don’t focus on your mental illness or how sick you may or may not be… Clubhouses are voluntarily attended programs that focus on the strengths and abilities of the member… Clubhouses have many different functions… One thing they do is help the members with their education goals… They can help them get their GED or post-secondary education… They assist in all parts of the education process, from applying, [...]
If someone with bipolar denies they have it, even though members in there family have it, and wont seek medical help or support from family and friends, do you believe there last resort for them to realize they have bipolar disorder is to “CRASH”? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wow, what a NOT fun question to answer. It really depends on the person, but I’m afraid the answer is most always yes. The majority of us with bipolar disorder probably had at least an inkling that there was something going on long before we were diagnosed. Our friends and family may have pointed out their thoughts and concerns. In my case I even had friends TELL ME I was manic. But the problem was, I was so terrified of the label and the stigma attached to that label, I refused to confront it. These days, it seems like everyone and their brother’s uncle’s monkey [...]
I have son who is 41. He has Bipolar. His ex wife just died and he has custody of 15 year old girl. A relative wants to have Guardianship over his daughter. If they pursue this what are his chances of being able to take care of her. They are seeking consul from Lawyer. I want him to move on because his daughter is always in the middle of all of this. Please help me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This question is not such an easy one to answer. There are so many variables here that it is hard to separate the black from the white, because in all reality, there is MUCH gray! Much depends on your sons mental status and ability to function. Is he able to take care of a 15yr old? Does the relative have just cause to take the child away from him? And overall, what is best [...]
I was channel surfing and I found some show called 3 lbs on some channel called Universal HD… It was some sort of medical show…I’ve never heard of either, but that’s probably because my mom has around 900 some channels… So, how does this relate to us??? The neurosurgeons performed an experimental surgery called Deep Brain Stimulation… They implanted tiny wires with electrodes into the part of the brain called subgenual cingulate… From what I understand, this controls some of the emotions, self-esteem, sleep, etc… When the generator is turned on, low voltage pulses are continuously delivered to the brain… This is supposed to change how you feel instantaneously… Ok, DBS was originally designed for those with certain motor control problems, such as Parkinson’s Disorder… But depending on where the electrodes are implanted, you get different results… Thus, the studies began for psychiatric disorders… So far, they have done a [...]
How do you feel about how Christmas (and other related Holidays) are celebrated today as compared to when you were younger and/or a child?
As we’ve discussed quite a bit this winter, the holidays can be insanely rough for many of us. Stress, lack of light, cold, family gatherings, money, etc. It all adds up to the inevitable cold plate of anxiety followed by a giant dish of depression for desert. And as if that doesn’t sound appetizing enough, we all get to sit back and WAIT for our meal to be served, knowing it’s on it’s way and is likely to taste about as good as a fresh plate of beetles. (But I mean, if you’re into that thing, that’s all good too!) However, it is finally the end of December, the end of the holidays. After January 1st, no matter what religion you celebrate, the 2010 Holidays will be put behind us until next year. So I don’t know about you, but for me … though I am anxiously awaiting the birth of Christ [...]
I am in a mania state and have been for 4 weeks now. I suffer anxiety and rushing thoughts, am very effected by the noise and people around me. I am getting very irritable. My doctor has put me on beta blockers. They do help to calm me down. I find it hard to cope at work and am worried sick about when I come down I will get depressed. What coping strategies have you realized help calm and focus when hypo??…I don’t want to take mood stabilizers as last time I tried them I was very nauseous and dizzy. Help!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Good question, however; hard to answer. Mania and hypomania are fickle little devils. They come in and take over our mind like they own it. Um no! I own my mind thank you very much! Though I admit it is hard, we need to own our mania/hypomania. (Easier [...]
If you aren’t familiar with the word clergy it is a term for Priests, Pastors, or other workers in church who have rank. Does that make sense? Its official definition is a group ordained men to perform pastoral or sacerdotal functions in a Christian church. I have had lots of experience with Pastors and Bipolar Disorder. It has not been too positive, but one thing I have figured out is this. It depends which denomination you are a part of sometimes for the clergy to support you and your mental illness. Personally, I have always gone to a Baptist church. It has been my experience that Baptist Pastors refuse to be educated regarding Bipolar Disorder or any other mental illness for that matter. I have had to work and work with Baptist Pastors. I haven’t been successfull. They think that Bipolar Disorder is because you aren’t right with God. Or maybe you don’t read your Bible enough. Or another common [...]
Ok so I know that’s a bit unfair, considering I haven’t been getting your answers up very timely this week, but um…I like asking questions too! As many of you know, I’ve been a bit busy as I am going through some very life altering changes right now. Though I’ve barely had time to eat regular meals, I have somehow had a few moments now and again to do some thinking. (Which of course occurs while I’m trying to fall asleep) And during these random bouts of deep thought, I’ve been thinking a bit about success and failure. Those two words have spend a good amount of time defining my life, unfortunately with the latter of the two dominating the majority of it. Still, no matter how much failure I’ve been able to pull off, I’m still driven by success. I MUST succeed, eventually. And I wondered, although I know [...]
I was wondering if there is any correlation that is known between migraines and the bipolar illness? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was wondering if there’s any correlation that is known between migraines and the Bipolar Illness? Before having done ANY research on this subject I would have bet my entire annual income (before taxes & deductions !) on my answer and would have been several thousand dollars richer!! Of course whom would I bet…Marybeth? Naw, I couldn’t do that to her. Wait, I know the owner of Apple for letting me use their Mac computer to write my posts! Yeah that could work don’t ya think so? Yeah that would work! I am SOOOO smart!! BECAUSE MY ANSWER WOULD BE A HUGE RESOUNDING YES!!!!!!!! And if you sat down for a bit and really thought about it I’m sure most of you, even most of you men ( I’ll get to that [...]
As some of you have already heard, I did a radio interview this morning with NAMI MI on 1240AM in Lansing. Here is the audio file (I’m hoping to make it prettier and more user friendly, but it’s been a long day!) Please click the link below ~~~Radio Interview~~~ Do you have a question that needs answering? Click here to submit… Tweeta6d3935a7f3d092a724a02b95707fa1aLink to this post!
As some of you have already heard, I did a radio interview this morning with NAMI MI on 1240AM in Lansing. Here is the audio file (I’m hoping to make it prettier and more user friendly, but it’s been a long day!) Please click the link below ~~~Radio Interview~~~ Do you have a question that needs answering? Click here to submit… Tweetb51726f5c34027b8340cd4b09df3b0f8Link to this post!
Why do people with bipolar disorder have to take medications. And what medications are commonly given to them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When a person is diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder there is already a lot of information running through their mind. What do I do now? Is the psychiatrist going to hospitalize me? What’s the next step? It may feel like there’s a lot of unanswered questions. I would highly recommend that you ask every question you can think of. You need to take control of your illness and education is the best step in helping yourself through this rough time. The main reason a person diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder is given medication to control the symptoms. To either stop the manic high or bring the patient up out of a depressed state. It is pretty common for a person with Bipolar Disorder to be diagnosed wrong initially with just depression or unipolar depression. The [...]
Do mental health issues cause you to loose control? Due to serious technical malfunction…(read; EPIC FAIL all on part of author…not our awesome admin MB) todays post…. scrambled eggs. Repairs completed, post now decipherable and reader – friendly. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or crossed eyes. ~~~~~~~Happy Reading~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do Mental Health Issues Cause You To Lose Control? Well, this is a very broad based question isn’t it? There are so many variables with mental health issues. So many illnesses…. so many issues. Let’s see if we can narrow it down just a bit, shall we? First off and right away let me say WE can all lose control at some point or another whether we have a mental illness or not. It’s human nature to become irritable, grumpy and even downright angry from time to time; when the grocery line closes just when it’s your turn or the [...]
…. oh come on … Jeopardy … Alex Trebeck … No? Sigh…. It’s been a long month so far. Even if it’s just started. Funny how that works. So the end of the year is drawing near. Which MEANS!!! The holiday season will be over and we can all sit back and relax. *tosses confetti* All we have to do is make it Twenty more days and then we can welcome in a brand new year! I’d have to say that New Years is probably my favorite Holiday. It signifies the beginning of a new year. A fresh start. A clean slate! Everything reboots on January 1st. What’s not to love about that. And this year, with the coming of some very large changes to my life, I’m looking forward to my fresh start. I’m making plans and resolutions and all sorts of unattainable goals. And don’t forget the champagne [...]
I met a man two and a half years ago on an internet dating site and I have discovered that he has bi-polar. Not because he told me, but I found out. I also found out about all of the lies and other women. Even a sensible person like me cannot separate the deceit from my feelings of betrayal. I threatened to walk away from the relationship if he didn’t tell me the whole truth, but he kept on lying and I had to do some dirty digging to find out the truth. Because of this, I have asked him to leave and he is now threatening suicide. I’m trying to balance emotion with concern for him, whilst not giving him false hope for the future. I believe if he cared for as he said, he would have shared this with me a long time ago. I really understand how [...]
I am currently living with this wonderful intelligent girl, But she has Bi-polar. Lately she has been having rages and lashing out at me. Which has upset me. As well as she has made comments about suicide. We live in a house full of people but i am the one that she lashes out at. people say its cause I am the only one that’s close to her. I have considered going to her psychologist anonymously and asking that they call her up and tell her to come in for a “check up”. She drinks up to 5 red bulls a day, Coffee, has her Medications, Smokes weed and drinks beer after work. I know that this is most definitely not helping the situation..seeming these are all artificial uppers and downers. The first time she lashed out at me is because she said “its ok to be an alcoholic and [...]
So my best friend is bipolar I. She doesn’t like to take her meds because as soon as she starts feeling better, she *thinks* she’s better. when she’s around, she’s the greatest friend — gets me like no one else. we’re next to inseparable. She’s tall and blonde and i’m short and brunette, but i swear we have the same mother somehow, somewhere, in some realm on this planet My main problem at the moment is that i asked her to be my maid of honor next summer. She was so thrilled and pretty much expected it and go soooo excited (almost manic-like) about what she’d do to help and everything. Well, since then, she’s been pretty much m.i.a. She cancelled the day of my david’s bridal appointment. every time i call, i get her voicemail. I know she’s out doing things because her facebook tells me so. She’s out [...]
Lately it seems like any little thing could trigger one of my manic episodes and waiting for medication to kick in just isn’t enough. What can I do in the mean time to try and keep my household happy and not walking on eggshells around me (children) or threatening to walk out the door (boyfriend)? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first thing I would do is talk with your doctor about ways to make it through those hard moments. The ones that seem to last forever. Your doctor can give you tips and techniques for the times your medication is not helping enough. (Such as broad spectrum lights and or adding Omega 3′s to your diet) I also suggest sitting down with your family and making sure everyone is aware of what symptoms you have. With kids, this is hard, but expose them to as much as you feel comfortable and I think [...]
~~~~ Accepting A Stepparent With A Mental Illness ~~~~ Ahhhh….……becoming a stepparent. Remember those kids in High School you know the perfect ones? Popular, good looking, wore all the latest styles (they seemed to have a different flippin outfit for everyday for at least a month!) had the perfect friends, car….and well just the perfect life! And those of us really shallow ding-a-lings who secretly hated them but wanted to be just like them (or so we thought at the time). I know right about now you’re most likely thing “and this has what to do with being stepparent?”. There is a point to this, no seriously there really is I promise! Anyway, thank the lucky stars, moon, heavens….whatever, we all grew up and realized how NOT important all that stupid, shallow High School stuff was!! Well a couple of years ago I felt exactly like one of those shallow [...]
I know Marybeth recently posted a question about the holidays, and asked whether or not they are stressful for you, but I have another question concerning holidays-but more than just the ones up coming!!! What holiday is your favorite and easiest to get through??? There are so many different holidays, for so many different religions, I’m just curious… How do you make it through this holiday??? What makes it so good??? Ok, I know this is multiple questions in one, but they all go together… And I’d like to get a few tips on how to get through each holiday!!! So tell me-what is your favorite holiday and why??? God bless!!! Do you have a question that needs answering? Click here to submit… Tweetcc4584fa77f58b2e708340fcb966e6cbLink to this post!
Do you wear any kind of ‘medical jewelry’? Bipolar could potentially make you act in public in a way that would seem “criminal” or disruptive. Do you feel that wearing medical jewelry might ensure you’d get taken to a hospital instead of jail? There have been too many stories of people with mental illness being harmed by nervous law enforcement. How confident do you feel about your law enforcement being able to handle a psychiatric emergency? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have to admit, I’ve been pretty excited about this post. It was something I’d never even thought of. I mean Medical Jewelry is for people with diabetes and other such ailments…right??? WRONG In researching this further, I came across a site called “American Medical ID“. The site gives a list of those who qualify and SHOULD be wearing one of these forms of identification. Here is the list: Below is a partial [...]