I’m not doing too well today. I haven’t been doing well for a few days actually! A few days ago I had catatonic depression. My mother came over and helped me clean my room. That helped a lot!

Yesterday I was up and down. I decided to go to a movie last night so that I didn’t have to hear my depressed thoughts. That helped a lot!

Today I am fighting IT again. But it won’t win! It never does.

Bipolar depression is a scary thing, but I remind myself all day long- It’s an illness.

Today is a tough day in terms of work. I have an article due for BP Magazine and it’s a struggle. I just remind myself of what my books say. I don’t have to feel like doing something in order to GET IT DONE!

It’s 7PM. I am going to finish my article and get to bed early. As always, my plan is to go to bed feeling better than when I woke up. I will accomplish that tonight!

Bipolar disorder is an illness. You probably see yourself in what I write- because we share an illness.

I want this to go away forever- but it just hangs around sometimes! It’s an illness.

You will be able to read my magazine article in the fall. Because I’m going to finish it right now….

Julie

My mother is a genius when it comes to helping me with bipolar disorder, but it didn’t start out that way. It took her many years to know how to help me. I created my treatment program (The Health Cards) over eight years ago. There was definitely a learning curve for my family. When someone has bipolar disorder, family members want to help, but they rarely know how. All of the comforting techniques that work on others don’t work when a person is in a mood swing. Family members have to educate themselves.

It’s natural to say, “But you have so much!” when someone you love is depressed. It never works. It’s natural to say, “Why can’t you just focus? It’s a really simple thing to clean your house.” It’s natural to say, “It’s just dinner? Why is it so hard for you to cook dinner?” These questions are pointless as the person with bipolar doesn’t know the answers until they learn to manage the illness.

I always say, “You don’t have to understand why a person can’t do things when they’re having mood swings, but you can believe that what they’re going through is real and help them find a way to get better.”
Empathy is great, but it’s not really possible unless you have bipolar disorder- support is what matters to us.

Here is what makes my mother special:

1. She is not scared like she used to be.  The Health Cards have given her a tool that works, so she knows what to do when I get sick.  For example, when we first started using them, she had to say, “Get out your cards, Julie. You’re psychotic. What do you need to do?” If I was too sick to get them out, she said, “I’m getting your psychotic card out now Julie. I will see what it says to do.” As you can see, this gives us tools when I’m too sick to help myself.

2. She is often the first to read my manuscripts,  so she knows my tips really well!

3. She isn’t embarrassed that I have bipolar and tells all of her friends she is proud of me.

4. She educates others. I just had a call in radio show, (you can listen to it from juliefast.com). She gave a great piece of advice. She said, “When you have to tell someone that your child has bipolar disorder, remember that the person you’re talking to probably has no idea what it is. It helps if you explain it while you give out the information. I say, ‘My daughter has bipolar disorder. You may have heard about it as it’s in the news a lot. She has mood swings and it can be really tough, but she works hard to manage it.” This lets others know it’s an illness and not something to be ashamed of.

My mom is a genius because she educates herself in order to help me. I am indebted to her and proud of her.
 
Julie

You may have noticed that many people with bipolar disorder take Abilify.  

 Abilify is an antipsychotic medication- also known as a neuroleptic. It’s a newer antipsychotic, so it’s called an atypical anti psychotic! Whew. It, along with the other atypicals such as Risperdal and Zyprexa have less side effects than the older drugs such as Thorazine and Haldol.

 This doesn’t mean they don’t have major side effects. They still do, but they’re easier to tolerate for many people.

 The main plus of Abilify is that it doesn’t seem to have the weight gain problems associated with drugs such as Zyprexa and Risperdal.  That is a plus.  On the down side, Abilify can be extremely sedating for some (ME!) or very agitating for others (my friend Sherri).

 It’s always a trade off. Abilify can help with mania and suicidal thoughts.

 Many people with bipolar disorder take anti psychotics. They just aren’t talked about as much as the mood stabilizers!

 julie

Many people come to this blog from search engines or links- but most come from my website www.bipolarhappens.com. This is where I sell the treatment plan I use to manage the illness. The plan is called the Health Cards Treatment System for Bipolar Disorder. Yes, I need to get a better name! I created them in 1999 when I was too sick to function and the medications were not working for me.

They work. I have used the plan every day for over eight years. Yes, every day! Without the Cards, I would not be here. When I found Lamictal in 2005, things got a lot better. It took that Lamictal a few years to really work- and now, combined with the Health Cards- I have a plan that keeps me functioning.

My family and friends know the system inside and out- the Cards taught them how to help me.

I will have to get a section on the blog to let people know exactly what the Cards are before they read the blog! That makes it easier to understand my ramblings!

If you want to read more about the cards, visit www.bipolarhappens.com

Julie