Blogs
Anger can be the match that sparks a dip in your mood or a bout with anxiety, and according to what I've been reading recently this is because the part of your brain that normally keeps a lid on angry feelings is impaired when you're depressed.
I need a job.
Our finances favor it. My husband prefers it. My sanity demands it.
But will my oldest child's psychiatric illness allow it?
Many people aren't good at relationships, particularly at the beginning. What might be a time of excitement and optimism for the average person can turn to anxiety and depression for someone with bipolar. In this blog post, I compare the feelings I experience during the beginning of a relationship - in this case, with Erik, a new love interest - with the mood fluctuations of bipolar disorder.
You cannot always tell a person has an eating disorder simply by looking at him or her.
I stressed that because one of the most common and enduring myths about eating disorders is that the person must be young, female, and extremely emaciated to have an eating disorder.
That is simply not true.
I've seen quite a few doctors and I've talked to quite a few people who've seen quite a few doctors and one thing that constantly comes up - and decreases patient care - is a negative relationship between patients and doctors / psychiatrists. There are many reasons people have a poor relationship with their doctor, but one of them is that people are intimidated by their doctor. And doctors never seem to understand, or compensate, for that. So, quite simply, we have to.
Scientists say that our thoughts control our feelings.
So does that mean that our negative thoughts can actually spiral out of control into full-blown depression? Dr. David Burns says so in his book,”Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy.” I found out about this book from my psychiatrist, who “prescribed” it to me for depression. They call it “bibliotherapy.”
The purpose of gaslighting is to destroy your sanity, and thereby gain control over your ability to perceive the truth. Your abuser does not want you to believe your perceptions. They want you to believe their version of reality. Gaslighting is the art of making someone else believe ridiculous lies; gaslighting is designed to destroy your sanity. And it works.
Accepting the diagnosis of mental illness can seem impossible. It hurts. It can shatter the sense of self you have acquired throughout your life. Pre-diagnosis, you might have felt that your personality was acquired, hard fought. You don't want to be anyone but you. Accepting you have a mental illness is initially terrifying.
When I heard the coroner’s report on Amy Winehouse’s death being linked to alcohol poisoning, I wasn’t shocked but I was indeed saddened all over again. Amy Winehouse was, no doubt, abusing and struggled with an addiction to both alcohol and drugs. Considering this, I think it's important to address binge drinking, alcohol poisoning, and how tolerance to alcohol plays a role in being at risk for addiction, as well as a reason for continuing to drink despite consequences.
The Mystery
Schizophrenia has been an enigma throughout the ages. I have experienced firsthand the alternate realities and monsters that lie deep within the bowels of psychosis. Through a multifaceted approach of medication, the treatment of a sleep disorder and lifestyle changes I have, at least temporarily, been able to ward off the terrifying demons of one of medical science's most feared and misunderstood illnesses. This brings me here, to try to explain the mystery that has eluded so many throughout the ages.
My point being, I'm right there with you. I hate the rollercoaster. I just want to live life without being in a state of constant fight or flight mode, only for his character to change and de-escalate and I fall for the person I fell for all over again.
Exhausting is a horrible word. The understatement of all understatements, if you will.
I wish there were better support groups for this kind of mental health condition.