I’ve kept a chart of my mood swings for the past year. It’s amazing to see what triggers most of my downswings. Without question, it’s difficult relationships. I knew that this was a problem, but seeing the reality on a piece of paper forced me to make some serious behavioral changes. I have to limit contact with certain people, no matter how much I care for them. I wish I were the type who could have exciting, but difficult people in my life, but as my chart clearly pointed out. I can’t.
There is a mood swing chart and an example of one of my charts at the back of my book Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder. The Health Cards can provide you a lot of information as well. I faithfully chart my mood every night. It’s depressing to see how this illness controls my life, but I at least know I am doing [ Read More ]
Mania only exists in bipolar disorder. It’s a chemically elevated mood that can be euphoric (happy, creative and sometimes delusional!) or dysphoric /mixed (agitated, depressed and uncomfortable.) Mania is often more difficult to treat than depression.
OCD: A form of anxiety characterized by obsessive thoughts that are seemingly calmed by compulsive behavior- only to show up again! OCD can be treated with antidepressants, but behavioral therapy has the most success.
Bipolar Depression: The downswing of bipolar disorder that is almost always complicated by the presence of other symptoms such as anxiety. It can be present with mania in a dysphoric/mixed episode. It’s not advisable to use antidepressants for bipolar depression as they can cause mania. Bipolar depression is much more difficult to treat than unipolar depression.
Bipolar disorder is complicated. It’s important to know all of its symptoms.
I once watched a reality show on becoming a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader when I was at the gym. I had a political interview show on my IPOD, but this was far more intriguing ! First of all, it was a pretty weak premise for a show – as watching cheerleader tryouts probably brings back a lot of bad memories for those of us who were not fond of high school! But there was something very interesting on the show.
The women had to climb up a really high pole and jump off onto a trapeze bar. Yes, that was one of the tasks. There was one candidate who was very scared of heights. She cried the whole way up the pole. But I had to admire her. She got up there, stood up and jumped off. It was pretty safe as she [ Read More ]
You asked me to explain my view on your euphoric mania. It was good for me to write it down. I can see how much more I understand than we first met almost six years ago!
I’ve always thought of mania as a “Euphoric” high, the feeling that we all have at times that is exacerbated with someone with bipolar disorder. You tell me you feel like you can do no wrong, you feel great, you can’t believe you’ve ever been depressed. You can spend money, make big decisions, all with this state of mind. I compare it to making decisions with a depressed mind, you don’t want to do that either.
It’s like two ends of a spectrum and they were really hard for me to get clear on at first.
It may feel great to be on a manic high, but it seems uncontrollable to me. You make decisions that are [ Read More ]
Here is a post I wrote when Britney Spears was first diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Do you think she should come out in the open and talk about the illlness? Or do we expect too much of celebrities? There is no reason they have to be role models. The topic is still interesting as she seemed to do so well and then she was pretty out of it again. If you saw her performaces of recent TV shows such as Good Morning America, she didn’t look well. Who knows!
The following picture was captioned:
Britney Spears is Back! Troubled Singer Britney Spears Performs For Good Morning America!
Isn’t it interesting how mental illness (brain disorders) are often labeled troubling, disturbed and out [ Read More ]
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.
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