I just finished an article on bipolar disorder triggers for my column in BP Magazine.
I was going through some serious trigger issues when I wrote it! Do you write things down when you’re sick? I find it helps. I can often see my role in what’s going on if I write about what I’m honestly feeling.
I started seriously examining my bipolar triggers about eight years ago when I created the Health Cards (my treatment plan on bipolarhappens.com )- wow, I was a mess. I walked into situations without thinking and I was constantly ill. I’m a lot more vigilant now. A lot more. The minute I start to get sick, I think to myself- what is going on here? And I examine my life. Often it’s a problem with a person or work. Considering that my life pretty much revolves around relationships and work, this is depressing!
When you say you have trouble finding a comfortable place to work, do you mean creating good physical surroundings? Finding an appropriate setting? Balancing solitude with working with people? Just curious.
Hi!
It’s all of those things. I guess my main problem is brain fog when it comes to focusing on thing I have to do in order. For example, I have a ton of deadlines in the next week. A book chapter is due. I have to get ready for my DBSA (Depression Bipolar Support Alliance) presentation for the September conference and I have to get copy ready for a class I’m teaching. If I have one project- I can complete it very easily. Having five or six projects jumbles my mind. I make a lot of charts! Another problem is that a lot of my work brings money in months and months later- such as writing a book. So [ Read More ]
It’s two am!!! I had caffeine today and this is my punishment. If I didn’t have bipolar disorder, it would not be a big deal. I’d just sleep more the next day or make up for it the next night.
That is not how it works for me. Because I have pretty severe rapid cycling, I can’t risk the highs of caffeine simply because they mess up my sleep so badly! I’ve only had regular coffee a few times this year – I usually drink decaf. But the iced coffee today when it was ninety degress just looked and tasted so good. It sent me way up and I thought I was going into an up swing.
It took me until one am tonight to realize what was happening. Now I have to take my Ativan to sleep and my day will be screwed up tomorrow. I have enough mood swings as it [ Read More ]
Write out this list and put it in your wallet. When the depression starts take it out and read it. Then say to yourself, “If I’m going through something on this list, it has to be depression. This means I have to treat the depression first.”
Depression behavior rarely changes. When you learn your symptoms, you can differentiate them from the real you. If you care about someone with depression, make a list of their top five depression symptoms. Memorize them. This helps you know what you’re up against when their behavior is confusing. You can say to yourself, “I remember this! He always talks like this when he’s depressed! We have to focus on treating the depression instead of talking endlessly about what is wrong.”
This prevents the Bipolar Conversation. I write about the Bipolar Conversation in all of my books!
When I’m slightly depressed and psychotic, it’s hard for me to watch movies. Something odd really happens- I have a voice in my head that makes comments such as
– This is not real, these people are acting – Look at the makeup he’s wearing. I can only see his eyeliner – They are just reading from a script. This is not real – This is no good. This whole thing is fake – That was an odd movement in his face. I call tell he’s not really this character
Now, it’s normal to think about this stuff in a bad movie, but the whole point of a good movie is to suspend disbelief and when I’m depressed, I can’t get lost in a film like I normally do.
When I get the commenting voice, it’s different than thinking- ‘this movie isn’t very good!’ It’s an odd technical [ Read More ]
If you came to this blog through a search engine- you may wonder, who the heck is Julie Fast! Well, I’m a writer who has bipolar disorder. My official diagnosis is Ultra Rapid Cycling Bipolar II. This means I have hypomania instead of the full blown mania found in Bipolar I. I was diagnosed in 1995 at age 31. I experience a lot of depression and tend to get psychotic under pressure!
I started my writing career with a website called www.bipolarhappens.com I sell my Health Cards Treatment Plan for Bipolar Disorder from this site. The Health Cards are what I use to stay well enough to write professionally. I then wrote Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder, Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder and Get it Done When You’re Depressed. I taught myself to write even when I’m depressed- it’s still a struggle.
So, have a look around the blog- visit bipolarhappens.com [ Read More ]
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The health information contained herein is provided for general education purposes only. This site should not be seen as a substitute for an official diagnosis or for professional health care.
