There is this myth of a "nervous breakdown." We see this term in news report, press releases and even in our own families -- "Oh, you know Aunt June? She suffered a nervous breakdown." But what are people talking about when they say someone had a nervous breakdown. Clearly, something happened but the truth of the matter the idea of a "nervous breakdown" is a myth.

It is very hard to anticipate bipolar moods and, in fact, many times it's impossible. But there are some life events that evoke bipolar moods that are predictable. Sometimes you can read the bipolar weather report. Read on for when you can anticipate bipolar moods and when you likely can't.

Sometimes you can't see a future with bipolar disorder. I get this. I really do. I have looked into the future with bipolar and it has felt like looking into an endless, black well. But recently, it occurred to me that you can see a future with bipolar disorder, and that future doesn't have to look completely bleak.

Bipolar can wreck your work life. It's just a fact. It can. If you've ever had a severe episode of depression or mania/hypomania, you know this. But what do you do when bipolar disorder wrecks your work life. Here are a few ideas.

Bipolar treatment changes are often brutal, as anyone who has gone through them knows. And in my case, there always seems to be some kind of change going on either to deal with a new symptom or mitigate a side effect. And while there are algorithms for treating bipolar disorder, no algorithm takes a patient through a 20-year course of the illness that doesn't respond well to medication. No algorithm outlines the cocktails the likes of which I, and many others, take. This means that doctors are using their clinical judgment and experience rather than empirical evidence to make treatment decisions. In other words, they're guessing. Don't get me wrong, they're guessing intelligently, to the best of their ability, but guessing really is what's happening with many bipolar treatment changes.

I'm quite convinced wearing rose-colored glasses doesn't help a mental illness. In fact, I'm pretty sure that wearing rose-colored glasses doesn't help most people at all. When I watch people with them on it actually drives me bonkers. Here's why rose-colored glasses don't help mental illness and definitely don't work for me.

Learning how to deal with intrusive thoughts can be hard, but not impossible. In my last post, I talked about what intrusive thoughts are and why people with bipolar disorder may experience intrusive thoughts. I also mentioned that intrusive thoughts can become obsessive thoughts and this means they are particularly important to handle head-on. So today, I'd like to talk about dealing with intrusive thoughts in bipolar disorder.

Money stress in bipolar disorder is a very real thing and stress like this can actually make bipolar symptoms worse. In my last post, "Money Worries in Bipolar Disorder", I outlined why people with bipolar disorder have so many money worries and how horrible and drastic they can be. In this post, I'm going to talk about how to fight money stress in bipolar disorder.

People with bipolar disorder often have money worries. This isn't limited to those with bipolar disorder, of course, money worries are something that many people can identify with, but worrying about money happens more for those with bipolar disorder and I think there are two main reasons why.

Bipolar disorder and self-care is something everyone talks about. Self-care, in general, is just a major topic in the world of mental health. What few people recognize, though, is what realistic self-care looks like. It's not enough to harp on about self-care for those with mental illness, we need to focus on what realistic self-care in bipolar disorder, and severe mental illness in general, looks like.