The other night I went to be ok. I woke up at midnight in a downswing. It’s ridiculous. What on earth is going on with my brain! This illness is hard. I talked myself out of it. “It’s an illness Julie. This isn’t real Julie. Life isn’t that bad. It’s depression.” And I woke up ok. Julie
 Mania peaks in the summer. I always feel better that is for sure. I live in Portland,Oregon and the winters are dark and rainy. The summer is so wonderful when it finally arrives. I have to be careful though. I’ve written a lot about this. If you go to the categories section to the right and click on mania,all of my mania tips are there! I was rapid cycling yesterday- I’m examining what’s going on. A few changes have to be made. I am making them tonight. I will do everything it takes to stay stable. Julie
 I recently did an excellent radio/podcast interview with Deborah Harper of Psychjourney. We talked about the release of my new book,Get it Done When You’re Depressed. Here is a link to our interview. She asked excellent questions and really knew her stuff. All writers dream of interviews that go this well! You can scroll down to see my interview. http://psychjourney.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=Depression There are many other resources on the page as well as a link to my book. julie
I just received a great blog comment,so I will answer it here! Just curious,Julie….I could be wrong as I’m just getting acquainted with you after hearing you speak recently,but in what I’ve read so far in your website/newsletter/blog writing,there’s a conspicuous absence of any sense of spiritual help for your bipolar issues. Is that a purposeful thing? Does faith of some kind have a place in the life of a bipolar person? WriteWoman Hi WW. This is a great question. I’ve done a few newsletters on it. I know that many people find huge comfort,support and information from their spiritual community. I also know that some,like msyelf are not as connected to a group spiritually. I can also say that I’m not super spiritual individually. This is not from choice. I used to be very spiritual –in that I believed that there was a force that watched out [ Read More ] A friend and I had a long talk about bipolar last night. He said that he would not get rid of his bipolar disorder if he had the chance. I was shocked by this as the illness has really caused him serious trouble. I know that I would do ANYTHING to get this illness out of my life. Tonight,I started to think more of our conversation. Here is a letter I wrote him: Hi, I was just going to write in my journal but decided to write you instead. I’ve kept a journal since 1990! Can you believe that! When Ivan (my ex who has bipolar one) was in the hospital I wrote down everything that happened. I recently went back to read them- as I was thinking of doing a memoir- and my memory was actually different that what happened. It was weird. Since I’ve gotten better- it started exactly this time last [ Read More ] Sleep is the Key A friend of mine who writes books on bipolar said,“The main way to manage bipolar disorder is to manage your …. sleep.” He’s totally right. I talk about this in my book Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder. It’s a huge component of a successful management plan. Sleep is also an excellent mood indicator. I know that I’m doing pretty well right now as I can sleep at night without Ativan. When I get sick,I have to use small amounts of Ativan to fall asleep. I monitor it carefully so that it doesn’t build up in my system and make me tired during the day. Three questions: [ Read More ] | |
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