Well, to people without bipolar this may seem funny, but I’m VERY excited that I’ve had a week of stability. No mania and not much depression. I know it’s not mania as I just feel like relaxing and enjoying life instead of being on the go all of the time. When I’m manic or depressed I have this inner drive to get things done- which is why depression is so hard on me. Sitting is destructive. Doing things so quickly that I hurt myself is destructive as well. I’m glad to be in the middle.
I did my first teleseminar last night. It went well. I’ve learned to do something to my absolute best ability and then to let it go. This is a hard thing to do when you’re often depressed. I’ve worked on it for years and it’s getting better.
How is your stability? Many of my friends stay stable for years and years, so that is my goal. It is going to happen for me one day! I don’t give up hope because these short periods of euthymia- times without mood swings- let me see what life can be like when I just stick to my plan.
There is hope.
Julie
You try to help! I hate that. I’ve experienced it- believe me. It’s like tip toeing around a mean animal on some days and then they are fine like a teddy bear on others. It’s part of the illness in many ways:
Denial – My friend Janea says, “There is not such thing as denial, Julie. There is ignoring, lying to yourself and stubbornness, but there is no denial.”
She means that when a person gets hopping mad when you mention their behavior and are then able to hear what you say on other days- they are either sick and are not able or won’t control their moods, or they know exactly what you’re talking about and just don’t want to deal with it.
So, DENIAL when it goes back and forth is a river in Egypt!
Unfortunately, there is a true symptom of the illness, especially in schizophrenia where people simply can’t see they have a mental illness. The difference between this and what I’m talking about above is that these people truly CAN’T see they’re sick, even to the point of their own harm.
So, if you love someone who is hot and cold, they can often control it much better than you think!
I recently did an excellent radio/podcast interview with Deborah Harper of Psychjourney. We talked about the release of my new book, Get it Done When You’re Depressed.
Here is a link to our interview. She asked excellent questions and really knew her stuff. All writers dream of interviews that go this well! You can scroll down to see my interview.
http://psychjourney.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=Depression
There are many other resources on the page as well as a link to my book.
julie
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