A friend recently wrote me and asked if my mania in the eyes hypothesis was about the size of the pupil. Here is my reply.
Some background: If you are not familiar with my work, I wrote an article based off of personal and professional experience that hypothesizes we can see signs of mania in the eyes.In my opinion, this could revolutionize how we think about bipolar disorder. If mania is clearly seen in the eyes, it means this is a physical illness. If we can recognize mania in the eyes, it means we can override a manic brain that is telling us we are just fine. I’m currently part of a Southern Methodist University study to test my ideas. Here is link to the webpage if you would like to read more. My Psychology Today blog: Three Clues to Recognize Bipolar Mania in the Eyes explains my ideas [ Read More ]
How time flies. I had my first bipolar disorder depression downswing at age 19. I had no idea what was happening. I was also psychotic, so you can imagine how few tools I had to take care of myself. I was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 31, but no one taught me how to manage this illness outside of medications. For many of us, medications are not enough and the depression remains. I was very, very sick for a long time. I spent days and often weeks in bed, unable to get on with my life.
ANSWER: Yes, can learn to understand and respect your hallucinations and delusions. For example, I used to get VERY scared that I had a demon following me to harm me. Eventually I saw this psychotic experience for what it was- an anxiety response to a trigger. I still see myself get killed when I have anxious psychosis, but I just watch now. I am no longer scared. I used to see a lot of dead bodies – such as seeing a bag of leaves and just KNOWING there is a dead body in the bag. Now, I have the idea there is a dead body and I say, “Well, I’ve been triggered. I’m psychotic and have to make some changes.”
PARANOIA….The unfounded fear and worry that someone or something [ Read More ]
Julie, I see so many posts of where they self sabotage themselves and sabotage their family.
MY ANSWER: Helplessness and lack of insight are natural symptoms of the illness. Self help is a luxury of the stable people of the world. Many of us with bipolar experience such intense mood swings, we are simply gasping for air and trying to survive. Even when we DO get a diagnosis, the treatment required for us to stay stable feels monumental and insurmountable when we are sick.
For example, we KNOW that depression responds very, very well to taking action such as going on a walk, going to a good health care professional, taking meds or being around people. I have it written down in a book that people can read and use for less than the [ Read More ]
This is the question a new study from Souther Methodist University poses based off of my work on recognizing signs of mania in the eyes. Please visit the website and read more about this potently life changing study. What if we could see that we are manic through a physical sign even when our brain is telling us we are just fine? Think of the possibilities.
Oh my goodness! Our blogs and writings can be so depressing sometimes. It’s easy to write about what is wrong with bipolar disorder and lose focus on the many things that people are doing to positively change their lives for the better!
It’s natural that we want to know our symptoms and what we need to do in order to stay stable, but we also need to focus on what is going well in our lives in order to stay happy!
I love making jewelry. Others are artists, karaoke singers, love working on old cars and are sports fanatics. It’s important that I remember that even though I [ Read More ]
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