Blogs
I’ve been in treatment for over a decade now and in that time I’ve had more than my share of doctors. Some doctors have been awful, but some have been great and at the top of their field. And when a doctor at the top of their field sees a treatment-resistant bipolar, they have some treatment options that your average doctor might not think of.
Is it really true that it is better to be late than to never arrive? In my experience with ADHD and tardiness, I'd have to disagree. I say it's better to never arrive and claim some horrible calamity had befallen you than to arrive late. They're more likely to forgive you.
My name is Holly Gray. I live in the Pacific Northwest United States with my 11-year-old son and a cat named Alex P. Keaton. My life has been a search for identity and a series of 180 degree turns that baffled and frightened me. I have been in and out of therapy since I was 14 and up until five years ago, found very few answers in the therapeutic process. I was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder in early 2005. I wrestled with the diagnosis for several years before finally coming to terms with it. In doing so, I learned and unlearned a great deal about dissociation and DID.
There is a sad and self-fulfilling myth out there that you can't completely recover from an eating disorder. We have to fight this pessimism!
Recently, I've received a few messages from people beginning bipolar medication treatment and going through the terrors of medication auditions and, um, the displeasure of the side-effects of bipolar medication. In this video, I try to set expectations with regards to how long it takes medications for bipolar disorder to work, and how long side-effects will last.
Your friends like him and your family already sees him as, well, family. But the problem is that you feel lukewarm about him. You often beat yourself up about not liking him more because he’s just an all-around nice guy, and what’s not to like about him? Unfortunately love works in funny ways and this particular decent guy isn’t tugging at your heart strings.
Breaking up with anyone is tough, but it’s even harder when that person is a nice person. After all, nobody wants to look like the bad guy. Last week I wrote about The Mistake of Settling in a Relationship and examined a few reasons why people settle and some signs you may be settling. So if you know you are in fact settling, now what? You can either stick it out in hopes that somehow this person will magically transform into the man/woman of your dreams, or you can do something about it.
I complain a lot about the lack of common ground out there about eating disorders. There are theories posited in conversation and in the press and even in refereed professional journals giving definitive, yet unfounded theories on the causes of eating disorders. So, why the lack of common ground?
I don't think it is deliberate, or a hidden agenda, or anyone's greed or carelessness. I think it is JUST COMPLICATED.
It never ceases to amaze me how such a simple thing as a timer or alarm can snatch me away from the very jaws of feeling like a failure in ADHD. It also amazes me how often I forget to use that simple device and end up as Failure's lunch.
I mentioned what remission means for a mental illness in a clinical setting: reduction in specific, empirical symptoms by a given amount. In other words, you are given a depression “score” and remission means reducing that score by a given number.
But does that number mean anything at all to the patient in question? If you achieved it, are you "better"? If you suffer from mental illness, what does remission really mean?
Gotta dance? A quick video of my "tap room" and thoughts on "wanting vs. needing" to be active and how I am getting my groove back after dancing started losing the FUN.
Thanks for another great article! Although I wonder if there's at least an astronaut living with Bipolar.
I started Latuda (20 mg) in January 2020. I feel better than I have ever felt in my entire life before and after being diagnosed with BP.
I couldn't go back to life before bipolar disorder, because if I didn't always have it, I always suffer from mental illnesses like depression and OCD. But I definitely wouldn't go back to life before Latuda.
Blessings,
Emma
Again I'm not a preacher. I'm just someone who's life Jesus changed one day after learning about him and calling on him. I hope somehow I was at least a little help to you. If you'd like to talk, I'm here.
They are all high achievers and I'm very proud of them but I too feel like I'm walking on egg shells. They are critical, insensitive and hold me responsible for all the wrongs in the world. I also feel that I can't live my own life and all my choices and decisions are scrutinised. They hold their partners families in high regard and pander to all of their needs. I feel sad, lonely and often depressed after speaking with my eldest son. His partner is moody and demanding and I feel he takes it out on me rather than confront her. I'm 53, single, hard working and just want to start living a life without constant criticism and guilt. I've had enough! I think this generation are entitled, Narcissistic and very selfish.