Living a Full Life with Bipolar Disorder

PS... I was diagnosed with CPTSD .. I guess they call it DID and was also born Transgender but never got to speak about it. just dealing with it now . thanks for letting me share MY th is young and amazing Now I know why being a band director worked for me . I could deal with all the instruments and children .. those are my strengths . Thank you for listening

I am a senior . I have lost my teaching career as a band director too early I was really good at teaching it was natural . I helped many children . They helped me more. I am disabled but made American teach in this year. Going on disability was not the right choice for me . I had many years in. But life had been hard at home without family or support... we could not speak about it at work or ask for help.. I am just here to learn and share... I had trauma all through childhood .But music was my way of dealing with it. I was a music teacher. Now in my sixties I am here to learn. I did not fail. because I went on disability and could not ask for help . No way could I do that . Or go to resource we did not have it. I heeded help . Not to throw it all away. I just want to learn and share is that ok

Yes, I see where you are coming from re: learned helplessness. However, I would like to point out that sometimes depression can last a loooong time. I've had people toss that word my way because I couldn't snap out of it in a year and it sucked. Words can be difficult indeed. But even if they said nothing at all, just the fact that depression is a recurrent thing is enough to make you lose faith in yourself.
In all, I don't think the intent of the article is to convince us to change our life to a drabby existence. It is merely to point out that bipolar comes with a unique set of limitations that you have to accomodate for. However, I can see why you reacted strongly to it. It had sort of a parental tone to it which (sorry natasha) is kind of condescending. But hey, let's face it, the limitations do SUCK. And they damn well suck even more for some people. For example, I met a woman who is bipolar who desperately wants to have children, but she can't. For her it is much too risky. It is heartbreaking. Would I tell her she is doing the mature and grown up thing? Probably not. I think it fair to let her grieve the passing of her desire.

for me ůearned helplness is not a tempoary vulnerability... it's something that is done to the person. Being told you are sick enough times... you start to believe it. You will lose faith in yourself... because others did.
Structure is good... but you will not die if you go sleep later then 10:00PM one day. So to stress about triggers too much or to make trigger of everything... you are harming yourself. And limiting yourself more then needed.

VenusH, I do agree with your last post. I really don't like the use of the words "grown up" and "mature" also. It sort of goes along with "suck it up". It makes a bleak situation even bleaker.
But I do agree that one has to manage their illness, and accepting that isn't "learned helplessness". I hate that phrase. It's assuming the other person is weak and has given up - when the reality is AT THAT MOMENT, the other person really is in a position of weakness and vulnerability. In the throes of depression, there is no fight in you. I've been in that situation, and if you are already feeling hopeless words like "will", and "faith" or even "life" rings hollow.There is a need - for support, structure, meds, etc. Kindness goes a long way also. I suppose time, but I am still waiting on that one :)

Well, teal... Natasha may be talking her own experience, but she claims to be "breaking it to you" (and hating it...) and garanteeing certain outcome and talking of "adult" and "grown-up"* thinking... it sounds preachy, actually.
As for that is working for people... I have issues on my own, so I am not gonna judge others. But are you sure making your "illness" a center point of your life (to the point you will not even go out *one night a year* as hinted in previous article) is a good way to deal with it?
From my experience... learned helplessness is a horrible thing.
It's one thing to adjust unreaistic expectation. It's another to adjust them so much you will be afraid that you are afraid to do anything for fear of upsetting your life.
* speaking of "grown up"... somewhere I read how children laugh about twenty times more then adults. Some people seem to mistake boring for mature. Yes, you have to be responsible... but after you worked hard, payed your bills... nothing wrong with little spontangeity...

I agree with the things you say VenusH and its really great you can stay up all nite you dont stick to a strict schedule and have friends to go out with. With insight you can live this way I do until I get sick. If you are in recovery It helps to do the things Natasha says. People do limit themselves not just people with a mental illness. I dislike your comments "influential bloggers putting limits" and "I know you mean well".
You can disagree with Natasha but as far as I have seen all she has said is what works for her and what accepted practice for managing a chronic illness. It helps to hear that others are having a hard time. It makes me feel less like a failure living on disability and settling for being a volunteer.

I am on disability now. I might not be on disability if I hadn't decided to become a special education teacher. It was rewarding but very stressful, and when a terrible depression hit, I was unable to go on teaching.
Now I'm working part time and thinking about working full time and going off of disability. My office job is not the most exciting or rewarding job, but it is a job that I can handle, can do well, and will not send me over the edge, and I like it although I am not passionate about it. It is a job that I can do on my good and bad days. I wish I would have taken the stress level of a job into consideration before I prepared for a job that turned out to be too stressful. I wish I would have realized that I can only handle so much stress and still take care of myself.
It is hard to admit that you can't do everything you want to do, but bipolar disorder does put limitations on you, and those limitations are different for each person with the illness. It is important to be able to recognize which situations you can handle and which you cannot, otherwise you may spend more days than you'd like being actively ill.

Amen VenusH

There are real liminations and percieved ones. Ones that really exist and ones we let others set on us (doctors, "influential" bloggers, "loved ones", teachers...).
I think uberstrict schedule limits your life a lot... if going to sleep after midnight once could land you in hospital... how about traveling? How about challenging, but fullfilling job? How about getting mere degree? Sometimes you have to pull all nighter. Or sometimes one just wants to unwind. And *sometimes* a night out with dear friends is better then weeks of therapy and all meds in the world.
I know you mean well... but sometimes overfocusing on our "illness" can harm us in the end. Sometimes our fears can become self-fulfilling prophecies. Often people complain about "illness" robbing them of life and opportunities, but it fact it's them who limited themselves, out of fear.
In my life I regret few things I did. But what I regret more? All the things I didn't do. Out of fear mostly...