Keeping a job sounds like a simple task, yet my bipolar disorder wants to get in the way of that.
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Category: Bipolar Disorder
This can be a tough situation. Your psychiatrist has your best interest at heart, but chances are, he will stick you on something without a word about its side effects.
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Antidepressants and Bipolar Disorder
If you have bipolar disorder, you have almost certainly been put on an antidepressant before, but did your doctor ever tell you about the risks associated with bipolar disorder and antidepressants?
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Bipolar Psychosis
Below is a link to fellow blogger aswiftrecovery’s personal experiences with bipolar psychosis. She shows us its progression with time and the many different forms it takes from seeing things and hearing things as well as having delusional thoughts like everyone is out to hurt you. Her’s is an invaluable account to understanding psychotic episodes in bipolar disorder.
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Electroconvulsive Therapy (Electroshock)
No other treatment in psychiatry is so shrouded in mystery as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or electroshock as many know it by. In this post I recount my experience getting my brain zapped repeatedly.
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My Meds
What follows is a complete list of every medication and procedure I have ever been on/used.
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Running Wild: A Manic Episode
Nothing sounds more like bipolar disorder than spending sprees, grandiose thoughts, and suicidal ideation. What follows is my worst manic episode that led to my first hospitalization.
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Creativity As Therapy
So often is the case that creativity goes along with bipolar disorder, and it is underutilized in this suit-and-tie world we live in.
Personally, I’m a writer and that is my outlet. I both turn my emotions into prose and in doing so, I release those pent up feelings that smother me. I pour out my thoughts onto paper and manifest a physical map to my condition.
The great example is my autobiography/memoir. Bipolar disorder had created so much chaos in my life, but putting it down on paper, I was able to analyse my behavior. Why did I act the way I acted? How can I change, so it won’t happen again? But most importantly of all, what can I control, and what is beyond my ability to change?
Music, painting, theater, and so much more can all be a conduit for releasing emotions and creating a road map to the chaos inside.
The world pushes us to the 9-to-5, but it takes more than money to truly live. Take charge and be the next Earnest Hemingway, Vincent van Gogh, or Carrie Fisher. You just might feel better for doing so.
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My First Mental Hospitalization
The mental hospital is a mysterious place for many, and no one ever wants to be inside one. It has derogatory names like the “nut house” and the “looney bin,” but it saved my life. Here is my attempt at destigmatizing mental hospitals.
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Manic: An Episode Deconstructed
What does a manic episode look like? In this post I first describe an episode of mine, then break it down piece by piece explaining the ins and outs of the episode.
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Lithium
If you’re bipolar, you’ve probably heard about lithium. Your psychiatrist might have even tried to put you on it if you’re not already. So what is lithium, besides a miracle that is?
“If people had a better understanding of how mental illnesses work, they could better understand how medications work…”
