It’s Sunday evening. At this time, I have 319 email in my inbox. This email haunts me! I think of it constantly. I worry about it and fret that I’m not getting it done.  I can’t answer all of the personal email I get from readers in the way I want to- and yet I have to answer all of my business email.

I’ve been doing so well for months. I got my work done and actually went to bed and got up feeling pretty good.

Unfortunately, the bipolar has been pretty rough for a few weeks. This means it’s very hard for me to work.

Thus, the 319 email.

I wrote a book on getting things done when you’re depressed, so I know what to do.

First of all, it takes less time to get something done that it takes to worry about it all day!

So,  I have a goal to get it all done before I go out of town on Thursday. That is plenty of time.

Secondly, I remind myself that I have an illness that makes it hard to get things done-  I have to keep going and do the best I can.

Bla. Don’t you sometimes feel that we have it too hard? Julie

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Dear Julie,
Do you have any information on how to help someone (my brother) with BP who is required to pay child support, but cannot due to his BP condition?  He is headed for jail b/c he is so behind on his child support payments.  There must be some type of justification in the courts that understands that he cannot work enough to make the payments. It is very stressful for all of us. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thank you,
L.C

 Hello L.C.
 Wow, this is quite a question. The justice system is very used to seeing
 mentally ill people- but are not always up on what to do.
Here are some ideas:

- Get an official letter from his doctor with detail on his diagnosis, the meds he takes and his work ability. Can he get a doctor’s statement that he’s actually not able to work?

- Search your county for a court that is known to understand mental health concerns. He is probably assigned a judge, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Here in Oregon, we have mental health courts- they are changing the way the justice system handles mental illness.

- Find out if he has any rights under American Disabilities Act- this is a long shot, but worth a try.

- And finally, he needs to talk with his partner and explain the situation- he has probably done this many times, but it has to happen.

If he is not able to financially support his children, I am sure she wonders who will. It is not her fault your brother is not able to work and I assume she just wants his help. I think your brother has to look at it from both sides. What would he do if he were in her position?

I, of course don’t know any of the details of the situation, but it seems that there has to be better communication all around. This may be a very frustrating answer to your question as you may have tried all of this already, but if it didn’t work the first time you have to keep trying.

Does your brother use a very effective treatment plan daily so that he can hopefully go back to work one day and support his children? That is a goal that is reachable and one that will certainly help the situation.

Yes, this is complicated, but there are options.

Julie

Hello All,
I’m doing a very special interview with my mother this week on the Julie Fast Radio Show. If you would like to ask her a question, please send me an email and I will try to answer it on the air. I can’t guarantee it will be on, but I will get to all that I can. 

I have to say that my mother is an expert on helping a child who has bipolar disorder. We have worked together to manage this illness for eight years. We have some good tips that can work for all families.

My mother and I will talk at length about the Health Cards and how they literally saved our relationship. (If you’re new to this blog, the Health Cards are the treatment system I talk about on my site bipolarhappens.com)

You can go to www.juliefast.com/radio to send an email. You can also listen to the archived shows from the past two  months. I especially recommend the show with Don Moore- a friend of mine whose daughter has schizophrenia. 

 
I never thought I would be well enough to work again- but it’s happening. I just want to remind you to never give up- just over a year ago I was too ill to work full time, but today I can. I’ve made a lot of scarifies to get here, but it’s worth it. Working is wonderful and I don’t take it for granted!

Julie

I did my radio show this afternoon. It was on parents of children with a mental illness.  I had an amazing interview with Don Moore, a man whose daughter has schizophrenia. I have learned so much from doing the show. I have also known stress unlike any stress I have felt before!

I am simply worn out-  It’s about 8PM my time and all I can think of doing is going to sleep.  I am SO not used to this that I’m not sure if it’s even normal. Bipolar ‘worn out’ is so different- when you’re depressed or have just come out of a mood swing, the tiredness is weariness and unhappiness.

This is just feeling tired I think. There is a difference between stress from reality and stress from an illness.

If this even makes any sense! Now that I am able to work more in the real world- I am experiencing things that are unfamiliar.

Julie

Work - I can work!

I just created a new health card for the radio show. It has really changed my life so much I have to find a way to manage it all. I’m writing about it for my next BP Magazine article. What do you do when you’re 44 and you’ve never really been able to work before? I’ve had many jobs, but never a career that I liked. I was an ESL teacher by accident for years. I then couldn’t work because I was too sick. I remember doing temp jobs and being terrifically miserable. I was way too educated to be stuffing envelopes- and yet I was way too sick to work at a regular job.

Then I created the Health Cards and got my life back. It took me a long time to get here- it took eight years before I was able to work as much as I work now! It’s a lot of sacrifice. No late nights- no new people- no relationship problems- on and on. So I created a radio health card- that helped.

Julie

I always have to remember that not everyone reading this uses the Health Cards – they are my treatment plan for bipolar disorder that I created in 1999 when the meds were not enough for me!