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My goal as a coach is to help as many partners and family members of loved ones with bipolar disorder as possible. If this applies to you, please click on the above poll- I can then find out what topics you would find the most interesting in a webinar. Julie Please note that I continue to work with private coaching clients.
 The following is a sample conversation you may have experienced if someone you love isn’t getting the help they need to manage bipolar disorder. Marcee is a 28 year old woman who has been in and out of the hospital since her early 20s. She can’t hold a job, goes through constant boyfriends, drinks beer, smokes pot and gets very, very angry if anyone tries to talk to her about making positive changes in her life. Here is a sample dialogue: Mom: Marcee, I really need you to see how bad things are right now. You never leave your apartment and your dad and I don’t know what do to. We’ve tried everything. You refuse your medications and I know you’re drinking again. What are your plans Marcee? We want to help you. We don’t know what to do! Marcee: (cuts off her mom and yells): Leave me alone mom! Just leave me alone and [ Read More ] My mom is my number one champion in all that I do. She is getting a ‘minor’ surgery today. I once heard that there is no such thing as minor surgery if someone has a knife anywhere near you! I am here at the hospital working until I will take her home. This is great in one way- I always do better when I have to stay somewhere and can’t roam around because of feeling uncomfortable and all ADHD. In other ways, it scares me. Do you have bipolar? Have you thought of the people in your life whom you love and what would happen if they were suddenly gone? I think of this all of the time. I am not concerned about my mother today, it really is routine. But I think of how it will be if she dies. Yes, I am honest about it and use the real words and think about [ Read More ] I just received an excellent question from Mike: Julie, I love these blogs but I have an 8yr old girl with bipolar disorder and everything is about adults. Her anger just gets worse and worse and I don’t know how to teach her the stuff i read from you. the hcp has her on depakote and risperidal, please tell my wife and I how we can help her. I feel so bad that she has to feel this way. ** I will answer this question either tonight of tomorrow. I thought I had time right now, but I am off to a meeting to interview a potential speaker for the Latino Mental Health event that my friend Gayathri Ramprasad is doing here in Portland, Oregon. The childhood bipolar questions are so important and I want to give this a lot of thought before I answer. UPDATE: I have not forgotten this question- I have just been in [ Read More ]  I just received the following email from Jan regarding her 15 year old daughter. I have included my reply in this blog: Julie, I don’t know how to reach you other than through this blog, but I have a 15 year old daughter, diagnosed with bipolar disorder 1 year ago, who also has sleep problems, not the least of which is affecting her ability to function in life, period. She is in a therapeutic school but we have been told as of yesterday that they can no longer manage her and we must make other arrangements. We are desperate for info about programs for adolescents with bipolar disorder and are wondering if you can give us any suggestions or direct us toward people who can help??? Thank you. Hi Jan, I suggest you visit the following website- it has information on the Parry Center inpatient psych treatment program here in Portland, Oregon. They may have [ Read More ] I have a friend who has done everything possible to help his son find a diagnosis. The recent diagnosis was bipolar disorder. His son lived in a treatment facility for a year, went to a special camp in the country, learned more effective communication techniques and truly tried hard to fit in with his family. I have been amazed at how hard my friend and his partner have worked to find out what is happening to their child. The bipolar disorder diagnosis was a catch all- as it often is. It’s not that the diagnosis was wrong, it’s just that it was so vague. Finally, some answers: My friend just wrote and said that his son has a new diagnosis that makes more sense. It’s called Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Here is what I just read in Wikipedia: ** The diagnostic category pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), as opposed to specific developmental disorders (SDD), refers to a [ Read More ] |
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The health information contained herein is provided for general education purposes only. |
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