Wisdom for people with bipolar disorder: Obama and Flacco (quarterback!)

Ah yes… it’s Sunday football today. I do love football. The players are such amazing athletes- and their mental stability is also very admirable.  Barack Obama is the same…. No matter what you think of Obama or football, there is no question they know what to do under pressure.  A reporter asked Obama how he handled the stress of the campaign. His answer actually surprised me:  “I don’t let the highs get me too high or the lows get me too low.” My first thought was- wow, that is excatly what I do every day in order to stay as stable as possible. Here is an interesting fact- Obama and I went to the same high school in Hawaii. He was two years before me, but I didn’t know him!  

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I just saw an interview with the Baltimore Ravens rookie quarterback Joe Flacco. When asked how he handled the pressure of being a rookie in the [ Read More ]





Unhappy people watch more tv! I know that used to be me~

I just read the following article on Yahoo.  

 Unhappy People Watch Lots More TV   by Jeanna Bryner

Unhappy people glue themselves to the television 30 percent more than happy people.

The finding, announced on Thursday, comes from a survey of nearly 30,000 American adults conducted between 1975 and 2006 as part of the General Social Survey. While happy people reported watching an average of 19 hours of television per week, unhappy people reported 25 hours a week. The results held even after taking into account education, income, age and marital status.

In addition, happy individuals were more socially active, attended more religious services, voted more and read a newspaper more often than their less-chipper counterparts.

The researchers are not sure, though, whether unhappiness leads to more television-watching or more viewing leads to unhappiness.

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I can actually answer the last question- depression leads to more television watching which then leads to guilt that [ Read More ]





It’s 9:30 PM on a Friday night and I’m…..

HOME! I am practicing what I preach these days. Early to bed and early to rise- it makes such a difference when I have a lot of work to do. I have to send in a manuscript on Tuesday for a book I don’t really want to write.  In the past, this would have made me stressed and ill- these days I know that I have to modify my life in order to keep moving forward so that I can meet my deadline.

I went out with my family tonight to a spiritual event based on Shaman teachings from Mexico. It’s always great to hear different ways of thinking!

In the past, I would have gone to karaoke afterwards- but not tonight.. NO. I am managing the illness instead of letting it manage me! I know that going out late is a trigger, especially with all of the hypomania I’ve been going through.  I want [ Read More ]





Newsletter: Terrible Bipolar Rapid Cycling.. it’s just awful!!!!!

I just went through two weeks of constant rapid cycling.  It sure was tough! I had five distinct mood swings in one day last week. Three were hypomanic, one was mild depression and the other was a severe crying suicidal depression. They all lasted a few hours. I’m doing a lot better today, but I’m tired. 

I wrote other blogs about how I handled the mood swings and was able to keep working and do my regular routines. Then I had about three days of terrible OCD. I told my therapist it was a bipolar perfect storm. I had a tight work deadline, my mom went out of town, a guy at a party started flirting with me and that freaked me out  ( I keep away from flirting these days!), my brother forgot about a concert we were supposed to go to – the tickets were not cheap!-  and then I got some [ Read More ]





Reader Comments Thank You! Mania, no thank you!

I want to say thanks to everyone who sends in reader comments- I want you to know that I read all of them.  It helps me to see that others understand what I go through- and that we can then share our stories with readers!

I was hypomanic manic last night and only got about five hours of sleep. I know it was mania because I’m not tired. It’s frustrating as it’s not a good sign. I’ve been rapid cycling for over a month. I’m doing what it takes to stay stable, but life makes it hard sometimes!

How are you? Is there anything you can change right now that could help manage the illness more successfully?  I’m going to stay at home tonight instead of going to karaoke- which is what I feel like doing. It used to be really hard to stay home when I felt like this, but I’ve gotten better at [ Read More ]





Hope for people with what seems like never ending depression!

I receive a lot of email asking how I manage this illness. I always tell them it’s the  Health Cards (my treatment plan) and that’s true. Medications help as well- but my main technique is being able to remind myself over and over again when I’m super ill- that it’s an illness.

Depression is so physical- it can literally feel like it’s in every cell of our body- and maybe it is.  But then so is diabetes or MS or any other chronic illness. I’ve learned what bipolar really feels like as compared to the real me- and when I get depressed, as I was for most of the day- I spend all day getting better.

I have a plan in place to do this- but it’s still incredibly hard. I am writing this to send out support to anyone who is depressed and reading this blog. Thousands of people come here each month- we [ Read More ]





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