Recently I found myself in a desperate spiral of of unadulterated, uncontrollable rage that brought me to the brink of what I’ll call ‘manic disillusionment on the brink curtain fall’. I suspect this will be a very long post – I’m not sorry. It’s worth understanding the context of my most recent manic episode: this […]
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I promised myself I wouldn’t do one of these posts. But here we are. I’ll keep it short though: Contact your pharmacy and fill the remaining repeats of your medication and if you have no more repeats ask for a new script with repeats from your psychiatrist. Social distancing doesn’t mean total isolation from the […]
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I knew this day would come: writing about bipolar depression during bipolar depression. Everything is hard. That’s it. That’s all I have. Tomorrow will be better.
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A classic bipolar symptom: irritability. Or is it? The muggles are already at, “blah, blah, blah… we all get irritated” and that’s irritating AF. It you just took the time to READ up, just a little, about what irritability is to bipolar bears and the consequences then maybe you’ll get. what. a. fucking. big. deal. […]
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You’d be forgiven for concluding that I have a pretty jaundiced view of hypomania. I mean I’ve written a great deal about the wrecking ball that is hypomania on all your relationships – from work to play. It’s not all bad though. I say that with a caveat though: it’s not all that bad if […]
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Retrospect is 20/20. I’ve been living with varying degrees of bipolar for as long as I can remember (I’ll chat about the first ‘incidents’ some-other time).
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It’s 00:24. He’s well aware that he should be in bed. That seems like such a waste of time. After all, he could be writing a novel, his next best app, a new and brilliant way of increasing engagement on the learning platform he’s come to call his craft. Sleep? No, not for him. Speaking […]
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To tell or not to tell, that can be the big question with bipolar disorder. It’s your choice. There’s still a stigma surrounding mental illness, so you may want to be less open about it. You really don’t need to tell anyone at work about your bipolar disorder. But in certain circumstances, it can be […]
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First up: the decision to share or divulge an illness with anyone is yours, and your choice alone to make. Now I can only really speak for my own ‘coming out’ story: on the one hand telling the world of my HIV status (yes, I was hypo-manic at the time also, no I don’t want […]
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In confronting my Bipolar disorder I’ve faced significant criticism that doing so has exposed family, friends and colleagues to prejudice and unwelcome questions and stigma related to my “coming out” with various ‘social deviancy’: gay, HIV+ and bipolar) which, in turn, has raised awkward and uncomfortable conversations with their and friends and colleagues.
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Look, there’s definitely some correlation between the frequency and severity of manic episodes related to environmental stimuli. In this posy I postulate some of the things I feel contribute to triggering (hypo)manic episodes and, in some instances, suggest ways to avoid them.
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As much as I hate being “labeled” anything I have to admit that putting a name to my behavior and symptoms over decades of going undiagnosed was a great comfort. It helps to know that there are others out there that are in the same boat as me, and how many.
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[I came back and read thins and it’s all a lot of baloney. I think I was confusing rapid-cycling with mixed episodes…] Run-of-the-mill Bipolar Disorder (BP) is a cycle between usually extreme moods that typically last for a couple of weeks or months and, for the very unfortunate, years. The good news is that BP […]
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The following post contains triggers related to suicide and self harm. If either of these makes you uncomfortable or trigger unpleasant emotional responses you should stop reading right now.
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It’s estimated that there are over 46 million people living with Bipolar, on average 3% of the developed world are living with this manageable disorder. The tragic thing though is that many, if not most, of those that are said to have Bipolar spend years with no diagnosis or worse are misdiagnosed and living under […]
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Glennon Doyal Melton is a supurb storyteller. In this TedX talk she shares how a stint in a mental hospital was the beginning of turning her life around and reveals how the comradery of the patients there that helped her realse ‘I’m not alone’. Her story of overcoming her addictions is truly inspirational and speaks […]
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Turns out it’s much easier to write from experience, so I’m gonna stick with speaking from the heart. Sorry mom. Overshare, probably (see symptoms)… might delete later. My bipolar diagnosis has, in many respects, been life changing. For the most part in the good sense. Something that I wasn’t ready for is the period before […]
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Right, so I firmly believe that Bipolar Disorder (BP) cannot be cured. Since this assertion is so wildly disputed I’d like to get that straight right out the blocks – if you disagree and aren’t willing to engage in meaningful debate you can leave now.
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It’s likely there will be many more posts about (hypo)manic episodes on here I guess – it’s probably a sign I’m heading that way when I post. It is what it is. I also loath the term ‘episode’ … this isn’t “Pleasantville: A limited series”. Here’s what I remember from recent episodes (some of which […]
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The Bipolar ups are called mania, the downs are called depression and a bipolar sufferer oscillates between the two over a period of time – sometimes for days, often weeks and, for some unlucky folk, years at one of the poles.
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