I really do need to change my heading on the top of this blog! People ask me this question all of the time.
The Health Cards are the treatment system I created in 2000 to help myself manage the illness. I was very sick- I basically couldn’t function in the real world in terms of friends and work. I certainly had a life, but it wasn’t a quality life. So I created the Health Cards and got my life back. You can read about them on bipolarhappens.com
The Health Cards are used by the person with the illness as well as the people who care about them. They work! I have a blog on teenagers and bipolar disorder below. Teenagers especially respond to the Health Cards as they can be done in private and then discussed with parents. I wish I’d had them when I was a teenager!
They are a system to accompany medications- especially when the medications aren’t working as well as we would like them to!
Julie
When you go to bipolarhappens.com- there is a newsletter link at the top of the page. I try to send out newsletters with truly helpful treatment tips- they are a bit more treatment oriented than the blog!
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* A note for reprinting Julie's work**
You now have permission to reprint “Bipolar Happens” Newsletter articles and blogs on your web site, in your e-zine or share them with your support groups, forward to friends, or print copies for your health care providers. Publishing Requirements: Each article must be reprinted in its full form, with no changes.
Please include the following byline at the end of each article.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Julie A. Fast best selling author of Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder, Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder and Get it Done When You're Depressed is a critically acclaimed six-time author, award winning bipolar disorder advice columnist, national speaker, and sought after expert in the fields of bipolar disorder and depression. Julie’s work specializes in helping people manage all aspects of their daily lives -despite the complications that bipolar disorder creates. To learn how to personalize a plan to help yourself or a loved one find and create stability that ensures the quality of life that we all deserve, visit: http://www.bipolarhappens.com
I get so pissed when my mom asks me this question! Of course, I taught her to ask it and I want her to ask it, but it always makes me mad.
I mostly have euphoric hypomania. It is wonderful at the beginning. It’s tricky as it usually comes after a depression- so I desperately want and need to feel better. But I know that what goes up must come down, so I have to be ready for the downswing.
I’ve trained myself by using the Health Cards to go into treatment mode as soon as the hypomania starts. Damn, damn, damn. That is actually mild language for what it feels like to realize that feeling good is actually being manic.
If you have a lot of mild manias, this means that you’re rapid cycling. It means your meds are not working fully or that you or something outside of you is triggering the mania in some way. Like many people, I have a lot more euphoric mania in the summer because of the sunlight.
What a complicated, awful illness this is! Bipolar mania is dangerous. It’s sad that something can feel soooooooooo good and be so dangerous, but it’s something we must accept if we want to get better. Stability is good; mania is bad.
So, when my mom says “Are you manic Julie?” I get pissed, but I always listen and do what the Health Cards say I have to do.
Like everyone, I struggle with doing what’s right for myself versus doing what I want to do.
I’m paying the price. Sleep is always an issue and lately I haven’t been a good girl when it comes to getting to bed on time. In fact, I’m doing things that are counter intuitive. Eating way too close to bed. Eating foods I’m allergic to- which means body pain that makes it hard to sleep.
Drinking too much decaf- eating chocolate and drinking iced tea. They all have caffeine!
Watching TV really late- but that’s because of the Olympics!
I can make so many excuses. Managing sleep is one of the best ways to manage bipolar disorder. I get tired (no pun intended!) or having to monitor all that I do, but if I don’t I feel like I feel right now.
I received such a great email from a reader named Daphne Stevens that I’m posting parts of it on the blog. I think it helps so much for us to see that we all go through the same challenges with this illness. Daphne and I discussed Lamictal and other meds. Here are her comments:
Lamictal, by the way, is my “miracle drug,” too. After two years of trial and error (and a lot of nasty side effects) my doctor and I finally settled on a combination of Lamictal and Seroquel. which levels out both the hypomania and depression. And my depression, while less frequent than hypomania, can be deadly, as you know. Over a lifetime of struggling, I’ve finally learned not to be too afraid of it. I know it will pass, no matter how permanent it feels at the time. Riding it out, being kind to myself, doing what I can, occasionally letting myself collapse into being downright pitiful–it’s part of fighting those nasty lies Depression whispers in our ears.
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She is so right! You can visit daphnestevens.com to read more about her work!
Best Mental Health Advice Column in the United States goes to Julie A. Fast
June 2007
Mental Health America recognizes superlative media coverage of mental health issues by journalists in television, print, radio, online, wire, photography and entertainment. The MHA media awards are the only peer judged competition for mental health reporting in the United States.
Along with 12 other media professionals, Julie Fast will receive a recognition award in Washington DC on June 8, 2007.
"Mental illnesses ruins lives, but it doesn’t have to be this way. I want my readers to know that if I can have a productive life despite being mentally ill, they can do so as well. The Mental Health America award helps me see that my writing does make a difference and it certainly makes me want to continue educating the world on how to treat mental illness successfully. It is possible!” - Julie Fast
