Living with Uncertainty is Hard

I just have a phone conversation with my dear friend Gayathri. She has dealt with serious depression for most of her life. I asked her, “Do you have a hard time with your depression when you’re in a situation where you don’t know whats going on?” She laughed and said, ‘YES! I have learned to live with some of it. But I do get stressed.  We can’t make other people tell us what they are feeling. It’s up to them. And we can’t control when something will happen.” She is so right. I’m going through this right now and can feel the depression and anxiety boiling inside of me simply becuase I am in a situation where I have almost no control and have no idea of the outcome.

I have two options:

Option #1   Let it eat me up and affect my work and other relationships. I can let it grow and grow inside me [ Read More ]





Just plunge in and do it Julie!

I have had a ton of trouble with my meds  (Lamictal) for over six weeks.  I will write more about that in a future blog.   Right now it’s essential that I keep up with work and life to the best of my ability. When a person gets sick due to the illness- it’s sometimes about meds, about life or just the illness itself acting up. For the past ten years my goal has been to work no matter what my brain is doing. It’s hard. Very hard sometimes. But it is possible.  Sometimes a person can only work at half capacity- but that is just how it is. It’s interesting- mood swings don’t affect the quality of my work- they just make it difficlut to..

1. Get started.

2. Keep going.

3. Get it done.

That’s all. Ha ha.  I have sayings that I use when the day is tough- You can do it Julie! [ Read More ]





Posted on February 5th, 2010 | Tags: , | Category: About Julie

33 Tips to Manage Bipolar Disorder- a list you can’t resist!

I wrote my first book- Bipolar Happens!- in 2001. I was amazed that I could actually write.  I started using my Health Cards Treatment Plan for Bipolar Disorder in 1999.  I was able to have a career and write books over a year later.  Bipolar Happens! is a fun book about a serious topic- managing this illness. Many people tell me that this is their favorite out of all of my books.  Here is an excerpt- there are more on the bipolarhappens.com site. This excerpt below is a list- the other parts of the books are tips and stories.

Bipolar Happens! excerpt- 33 Tips to Manage the Illness Successfully

 

Julie





Bipolar Disorder Management Secret….. an answer (not THE answer, but an answer!)

It’s often hard for people with bipolar disorder to know what is reasonable and what is unacceptable. If you’re born with a certain kind of brain- it makes you say and do things that are normal to you. For example, people with bipolar disorder get stressed a lot more easily than the general population. They get more angry- cry more- try to kill themselves more- and definitely get higher than anyone without the illness when it comes to mania.

But that is natural behavior for us! It’s not ok and it’s certainly not a very productive way to live- but it’s what our brains do. So it makes sense that we will all have to learn what is reasonable and acceptable. How can you stop behavior that is unacceptable and non productive?  I have found an answer that took me a long time to master, but I’ve kept at it for 10 years and it’s [ Read More ]





My bipolar disorder treatment plan

Things have been tough- but I’m much better today. I can tell I will be able to work withouth so much PAIN! I am sure you know what I mean. When you get sick- whether it be depression, agitated mania, anxiety, OCD, ADHD stuff- it just makes it hard to sit down and work. I use my tools of course- but it sure is better when I can work wihtout having to use my tools all day.

At least I have them. I recently received a comment asking about my treatment plan. I use my Health Cards treatment plan everyday and have done so since 1999. It has saved my life. I also use the ideas in my books- they are based off the Health Cards. Here are my main treatment plan tips:

1. Have a plan in place BEFORE you get sick. That is what keeps me going- I know that when [ Read More ]





bipolar mood swings and the beauty of a rose

Bipolar is so very weird. When I’m depressed I can look at this rose and see nothing of beauty. I’ve also had experiences where the beauty of something is painful because I feel so left out.

With mania, the rose is too beautiful. I could look into it forever – which is not exactly true as when I’m manic I don’t do anything for very long. My attention would be grabbed by something even more beautiful.

When my ex partner Ivan was really psychotic and in the hospital- I took him a rose- it had a lot of symbolic meaning to him- it was blood red- it caused pain- etc.

Well, it’s pretty obvious that a rose isn’t just a rose is a rose…. ;)

Today I want to just look at the rose for what it is. A beautiful flower.  I live in Portland, Oregon- also known as the [ Read More ]





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