Goodbye

It's a shame that noone felt the need to comment on any of my posts.  I've looked at the other blogs and they're all 8+ years old with little to say.  People with bipolar always need support, but apparently not from this blog.  Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye.

Latuda for bipolar depression

I know everyone has seen that Latuda commercial on tv for bipolar depression.  Has anyone tried it?  I found a link to get samples.

https://www.sunovionprofile.com/sp/latuda-bp/samples.html

Christmas has arrived early!!!

Christmas has arrived early and it's called the Fisher Wallace Stimulator.  It's been featured on CBS, Fox News, and in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Elle, The Boston Globe and The Atlantic just to name a few and has been endorsed by several doctors for the treatment of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and such.  This device has been cleared by the FDA and the best news...many private insurance companies, such as Aetna, United Healthcare and Blue Cross often reimburse patients for the purchase of a Fisher Wallace Stimulator® when it is prescribed for the treatment of pain using the procedure code E0720.  

Check it out!  It actually works!!!

http://www.fisherwallace.com

Great project: Make a HAPPY BOX

Sometimes when you're just having "one of those days", it's a great thing to be able to look inside a box of things that will bring your happy back and make you smile. Remember, this is NOT a memory box, it's for NOW!

http://videos.hgtv.com/video/diy-happy-box-0248688 

To start, find a medium sized box, a shoebox or just take a free priority mail box from the post office.  Take some wrapping paper or comics from the newspaper and cover the inside flaps so when you open it, it's already making you smile!

Next, put things in the box that make you happy.  Here are just some suggestions:
1. a piece of bubble wrap (c'mon, you know you like to pop those little bubbles of air)
2. a sample of your favorite perfume or a perfumed body lotion
3. your favorite mini candy bars
4. pictures
5. a favorite cd (music or movie)
6. a packet of microwave popcorn
7. a joke or favorite quote
8. ask your friends or family to write small notes of encouragement
9. your favorite nail polish
10.  bath salts or even better... bubble bath
11.  those new little adult design coloring books you find everywhere these days
12. brownie mix or a packet of hot chocolate mix
13 a timer (if you must cry, set it for 2 minutes and just tell yourself, "That's all I'm all the time I will allow myself to be sad.  It really works!)
14. a stress ball
15. a candle
16. stuffed animal


What would YOU put in YOUR box?

Awesome meme

What do I do if I have nothing to do

Hey bloggers!  It's summer time!  Time to get out there and mix with people, read a good book, go swimming or have other fun activities.  But what can you do when there's nothing to do and you have too much time on your hands.  Focus on someone else and volunteer!  Suggestions: at a nearby park a museum, at the library, or a nursing home Helping other people is good for your soul and allows your mind to be happy in a new way.  If there's one thing I've learned, the best way to avoid a depressive episode is to get out there and do what makes you happy. Keep your mind on something else, trick your brain.  It's a proven fact that when we are focused on something that's rewarding to us, our brains produce more serotonin and lowers our stress level which is better than any antidepressant.  Try it!  Take a leap and put yourself out there.

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/work-career/volunteering-and-its-surprising-benefits.htm

What is something you like to do to have fun?

Best video ever!

Best video ever when you're trying to explain to your friends and family how bipolar works without getting technical. Sometimes when you don't know what to say, you usually get the same two responses:  "Hey, maybe I have it too" and "It sounds to me like you're just depressed, that happens but people don't need medication for that"

So, watch this video, it's just 2 minutes, but I think you'll like it!

http://www.bphope.com/bipolar-stories-video-blog/video-gabe-2016/

How do you explain bipolar to your friends and family?  Do you think it's a good idea to tell people at work?

"Life of the Stormy Mind"

Life of the Stormy Mind by Melissa Coffman

Life inside her mind
was like being blown in
the wind never knowing
if she'd be going up or down.

She lived for the sun
but was swallowed by the
rain more often than not,

slogging through the puddles
of her life barefoot as though
the light would never find her again.

The highs and lows roiling
like thunderstorms around her
brokenness always made the
rays that much brighter when
she found her way out of the clouds,

catching the sunbeams
like daydreams
she dreamt of a
life free from the downpour.

Post YOUR poetry here!  I'd love to read it!

Blessed to have a supportive man

I am so lucky to have a relationship with such a special guy who loves and supports me as crazy as I can be sometimes.  Even I know how scary the depressive episodes can be, but he continues to love me anyway.  After a good amount of time, I started to see myself as high maintenance and unworthy of the baggage I carry with me, but he loves me for who I am even with all my faults.  

Be proud of who you are

When you are feeling sad and vulnerable or paranoid like everyone is against you, just remember that you have a right to these feelings.  Own them, but don't let them own you.

Don't say this to me just because I have Bipolar!

 

  Here are just a couple of things that people should NOT say to someone who is bipolar.  I borrowed them from an online article entitled, "10 things you should never say to someone with bipolar disorder" by Hannah Jane Parkinson

"Are you bipolar?"

Referring to somebody as “bipolar” sort of insinuates that the only thing this person is is an illness. 
Rather, I think it is more polite to say someone “has bipolar” than “is bipolar”. You wouldn’t say that somebody “was cancer”. You wouldn’t say: “This is Maya. She is diabetes.” But people will talk of someone “being bipolar”. Bipolar is a part of my life, sure. But so are friends, family, work. So are words and music and photographs and Diet Coke and daily Google Image searches of Jamie Dornan. I’m not just bipolar.

"Oh yeah, I’m a bit like that"

I’ve had plenty of people say this to me after finding out that I have bipolar disorder. It’s meant kindly, as a means of finding common ground. Except often it comes across as insensitive.
Everyone has ups and downs as a natural course of life; this is why people who are permanently smiley are irritating. Ditto those who seem to look to Grumpy Cat as a role mode, or the newest term "resting bitch face". The difference with bipolar disorder is the extremities of the moods (and the frequency).
Someone without bipolar might go through a period of "craziness" for example "I'm going mad!"”  A person with bipolar, however, during a manic phase, might sweep into Saks Fifth Avenue and announce that they are going to speak to the manager because boy, they have so many great ideas. Have you heard all these great ideas though? Listen to these ideas.
Similarly, feeling down and miserable sucks, and it is something we all feel at times. Grief is a normal process. Feeling fed up is normal. Clinical depression, however, is a devil that chews on bones and gorges on souls and should never be underestimated or undermined.

 Has anyone ever said these things to you? How did you react?

Online support for teenagers does not exist

Why is it that everything I read online having to do with bipolar and teenagers is about "dealing with your teen"?  I mean, people with bipolar already know how they're feeling, TRUST me.  Without some avenue of communication, we can often feel alone, left out, and misunderstood.  I hope this blog gives comfort and support to those who join me on my journey.

Have HOPE

Do you ever feel like the whole world is against you sometimes?  Holding a job is such a struggle.  Every year I move to another school because eventually I have conflict with the people I work with.  And friends?  Don't get me started!  They come and go like the special of the day.  Nothing is constant in life other than medication and the struggle of this condition.

Bipolar is not who am I?

Bipolar robs you of that which is you. It can take from you the very core of your being and replace it with something that is completely opposite of who and what you truly are. Because my bipolar went untreated for so long, I spent many years looking in the mirror and seeing a person I did not recognize or understand. Not only did bipolar rob me of my sanity, but it robbed me of my ability to see beyond the space it dictated me to look. I no longer could tell reality from fantasy, and I walked in a world no longer my own.