I have experienced OCD for most of my life, but I never really understood the term technically.
Many people with bipolar disorder have OCD symptoms, especially under stress. I know that my OCD obsessions come from dating situations, travel and work stress that puts me under too much pressure.
What is OCD?
The initals say it all- Obsessions [...]
Hi, I just received this question from Sandra:
Julie, is irritability a sign of hypomania? I’m also going from calm and patient to incredibly angry in minutes (seconds?). Any ideas? I do have an appointment to see my therapist today.
Answer: Oh yes, mania can cause irritation and anger. It’s called dysphoric mania. You can also be scattered, [...]
My brother just called and said there was an excellent episode of Law and Order- an extremely popular crime TV show here in the US- that addressed bipolar disorder. One of the detectives had trouble with his daughter and thought she was on drugs, it turned out she was manic. Oh yes, some of us [...]
Five mood swings in one day!
I doubt that is a record, but it sure wears me out. In that past week, I’ve had at least 20 mood swings. They are mild, but certainly strong enough to chart. Yesterday I had three distinct upswings. The [...]
I’ve been on both Abilify and Lamictal. Abilify if an antipsychotic used to treat psychotic bipolar symptoms as well as mania. Lamictal is a ‘mood stabilizer’ that’s actually an anticonvulsant drug used to treat bipolar depression. It’s not a drug used to manage mania. But, it does help people with rapid cycling.
Abilify is an atypical [...]
Mania is a strange thing. It completely takes away reasoning if you let it. Last night, I went into a mild upswing around 10PM, but I was able to keep it in check. I knew it was there as it’s been happening all week. While I was in bed reading [...]
I dress like a bum if I’m depressed- especially if I’ve gained weight. One day, my dear friend Janea said something I’ve never forgotten.
Julie, the is no reason a person can’t look great every single time they walk out the door.
She is right. I feel better if I look good.
So I threw out all of [...]
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