Hi,

What’s new? Hope you are doing well.

To read this week’s news visit:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolarnews481/

Here are the news headlines:

The Balance Between Pragmatism and Science: Bipolar Overdiagnosis Claims Examined
DO> Wow, what do you think of this article?

Sport and Support Key to Managing Highs, Lows
DO> I totally agree, don’t you?

New Book Offers A True Insider’s View of Life with Bipolar as a 20-Something
DO> Sounds like a great book

Opening Minds Art Show: A Space to Showcase and Enlighten
DO> Great inspiring story

Graduating with a Bachelor’s in Perseverance: The Challenges of Completing a College Degree with Bipolar Disorder
DO> This is a great article for those with people in orgoing to college

‘I wanted to end it all until I found out I was Bipolar’
DO> VERY interesting article, take a look

For these stories and more, please visit:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolarnews481/

==>Help with ALL aspects of bipolar disorder<<==

Check out all my resources, programs and information for all aspects of bipolar disorder by visiting:
http://www.bipolarcentralcatalog.com

Your Friend,

Dave

Hi, how’s it going? Hope you are doing well.

I’m not doing so well after what I just saw. I am watching the news, and I just saw a story that made me sick. There was a candle lit in an apartment building, and several children in the apartment. The parents stepped out for a moment, and during that time the candle caught the entire apartment on fire. Without going into details the results were tragic. And it only took one small candle for it to all light up in flames.

Sometimes that’s the way it is with bipolar disorder, too. Sometimes it only takes one little thing to make everything go wrong. One little candle, so to speak. And the results can sometimes be tragic.

There was one lady, lets call her Susan, who got her first paycheck after starting a new job. This was significant because this was the first time she had been able to work since being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. But the concept of having money threw her into a manic episode. She spent all of her money on things she didn’t need.

She got so focused on her grand plans to go back to school and on studying for it that she forgot to go to work one day and got fired. She lost her apartment, and had no one to turn to for a place to live. She got frustrated and went off of her medications because she believed that they weren’t working since she was in an episode.

After going off of her medications, she became chronically unstable, and her disorder proceeded to ruin her entire life. All because she hadn’t braced herself for what it would be like to get that first paycheck.

If she had predicted that there would be problems, then she could have had a supporter help her manage the money. Her supporters could have checked up on her directly following that to make sure that she was still following her treatment plan and going to work. She could have mentally braced herself for the fact that the money she was getting needed to go for specific things and she could only have, say, five dollars for spending money.

All of this could have been avoided if she and her supporters had realized that this small thing would make a big difference.

I heard a story once, almost a fairy tale. “For want of a nail the horseshoe was lost. For want of a horseshoe the horse was lost. For want of the horse, the rider was lost. For want of the rider, the battle was lost. For losing the battle, the war was lost. For losing the war, the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.”

It’s amazing how something so small can affect something so big, isn’t it?

So when you are helping to make your loved one’s recovery plan, one thing you need to take into consideration is how the little things will affect your loved one. Ask yourself, if they make this accomplishment, how might it affect them? If your answer is that it could affect them in a bad way, or that you are not sure, then you need to do what you can to take precautions just in case. After all, you wouldn’t want that little thing to set off a series of bad things.

What are your thoughts on this?

Well, I have to go!

Your Friend,

Dave

Hi, how’s it going? Hope you are doing well.

Someone commented to me about my email about medication and bipolar disorder.

She wrote: “While I agree with you 99% of what you’ve shared, there is one piece that is not completely accurate. You can be compliant with your medication, meaning taking it regularly and as prescribed. Yet, bipolar disorder is a mystery in some ways. Even on your medication you can have an episode that throws you into mania or depression. While I will always advocate compliance, it’s important to not that even doing the right thing all of the time doesn’t guarantee you will always be stable.”

Wow. I have to admit, she is 100% correct. Unfortunately, no matter what we do it is still possible for a relapse to occur. That’s the problem with the doctors not knowing too much about bipolar disorder yet: They don’t really know what will cure it or stop it.

But it’s not all just a guessing game, either. Scientists take a lot of time and calculations to study which medications will do what, and to what effectiveness. So by the time the medications get to us, there is a good chance that this one medication will help someone out tremendously.

But, once again, she is right. Even if you are on the medication that is best for you, there is still no guarantee that you will never have another episode in your entire life. But here’s the thing: Would you rather have a chance of going into an episode at some point, or the almost-guarantee of cycling through episodes on a regular basis?

Medications still serve a valuable purpose. And it is still best practice to take your medications and to be compliant about the dosages and times of taking them. See, something can always go wrong. But it’s much less likely to go that way when you are taking your medications than it is if you are not.

It’s kind of like gambling. You have one bet that is 75% likely to win, and another that is 15% likely to win. Which do you take? I’d personally take the one that is 75% likely to win any day. It just makes sense. But it still doesn’t guarantee that you’ve got it. After all, there is that other 25% that’s not in the 75%.

It’s also a lot like the decision of whether to wear your seatbelt in your car. Sure, there’s tickets to consider if you don’t. But let’s be realistic: there are much more important reasons to wear your seatbelt. Your life, for instance.

Seatbelts have been known to save many people’s lives in car accidents. But still you hear those stories of people who walked away after an accident when they weren’t wearing their seatbelts. That is rare, by the way. Or you might hear those stories where someone actually gets hurt with the seatbelt on in a car accident.

But you have to stop and think: Sure, they were still hut with the seatbelt on, but if it was that bad of a car accident that they were thrown into the seatbelt, then imagine where they would have been thrown without it.

It is the same way with bipolar medications. It may not guarantee that you’ll never have another episode in your entire life, but considering the odds that are up against you either way, it is still best practices to take them. Life is full of uncertainties, but when you can improve your chances, it is always a good thing to do so.

Now, what are your thoughts on this?

Well, I have to go!

Your Friend,

Dave

Hi, how’s it going? Hope you are doing well.

I’ve talked to many people over the years who complained about being worn out. Some of them you could tell were at the point of exhaustion.

The conversation usually went something like this: Me: “How are you doing today?” Them: “You know, I’m doing pretty good; I’m just so tired.” Me: “You look tired. Have you been getting any sleep?” Them: “A little. Not as much as I need to.” Me: “Well, why not?” Them: “I’ve always got so much to do. I hurry around doing everything with no time to take a break during the day, and then I have to take a while to wind down before I go to bed otherwise I can’t sleep.”

Me: “I’ve been there, but that’s when it’s time to cut back on some of the things you’re doing.” Them: “Oh I can’t cut back! My loved one needs me and I have to work and I’m not going to drop…” Do you see how this is a self-defeating conversation?

Today it seems like everyone is always on the go. It’s always hurry, hurry, hurry and go, go, go!

Here’s my suggestion for how to combat exhaustion: STOP!

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You can’t drop everything. You can’t ignore things that are really there. You can’t take too much time out of your busy day or you won’t get anything done. You have obligations.

Well that’s all fine, but you have to remember, your biggest obligation is yourself! Your second obligation is your loved one, whom you can’t take care of unless you first meet your own needs. So it is necessary sometimes to stop.

Now, stopping can mean several things. It can mean stopping to take a break. That doesn’t mean permanent; you can get back to things soon. But everybody needs a break.

It can also mean stopping to prioritize. If you don’t have a prioritized game plan, then you might as well be running around in circles. You are likely to do more time wasting and busy-making that way then you are to do anything that is productive. Prioritizing your tasks is a sure way to help you figure out what needs to be done, when, how, and in what order. Some people can prioritize in their heads; others need pen and paper. You might also try calendars and voice recorders. Whatever method works best for you, prioritizing is a healthy thing to do to manage your time and energy.

Stopping can also mean choosing to stop something altogether. Now, this does mean quitting something for good. And sometimes that really is for good: sometimes you need to quit something to keep yourself healthy. If you’ve gotten yourself into too many obligations, then you may need to back off one or two of them. After all, you wouldn’t want to lose track of your obligations to your loved one in the mix of everything, would you?

Other times stopping means you need to put your foot down and say you’re done for the day, even though you have a couple hours yet before bedtime. After all, if you need a few hours to unwind after a busy day, then giving yourself those few extra hours would be wise.

Stopping can mean several things, and it usually means something that will help you to take a break. So, for once, make a point to practice your stopping skills. It just might help. 

What ways do you think you could stop that might help you?

Well, I have to go!

Your Friend,

Dave

Hi, how’s it going? Hope you are doing well.

These past few days I have been emailing a friend about a few things. But here’s the funny thing: I wasn’t getting anything in return. After a few attempts, I began to think that for some reason they didn’t want to talk to me.

But I decided I had better call them, just in case. It ended up they hadn’t gotten my emails at all! Something must have gone wrong with the sending process, or something. It was a good thing that I double-checked. Otherwise, I would have assumed something that wasn’t true. And that wouldn’t have been fair to my friend.

It is always better to double check things.

In the construction business, they say “measure twice, cut once.” Basically that means that if you double- check what you are about to cut, you won’t make mistakes. Now, this may not be a flawless system. But it certainly helps you know you are right or wrong if you double-checked.

This is true of several things when you are dealing with bipolar disorder. Take, for example, medications. If you are unsure about anything to do with medications, it is better to double- check. For instance, if you are unsure about how many pills to take, at how many intervals a day, then you should double- check just to be safe.

Or if you are unsure if your symptoms mean that your medications might need to be changed, then it is better to double- check with your psychiatrist to be safe. Can you see how these things are important? When something is important, you have to be sure.

Another example of how double-checking can help a person with bipolar is double-checking when their important appointments are. Simple enough, right?

Here’s one that’s even more important: How about double-checking whether you are going into a manic or depressive episode by asking for feedback? That’s a big one. It may seem hard to do, but with a little work on communication skills and a little effort to remember to do so, it’s not so bad.

Now, how about bipolar supporters? There are certainly times when we need to double-check things, also. Some things we need to double-check about our loved ones. Like, for example, we sometimes need to double-check that they took their medications. Or we may need to double-check that they are going to their doctor appointments when they are scheduled.

Some things are so obvious that we don’t need to double-check them. For example, the speed that they are talking at, or the amount of sense they are making when they explain things. But other things we do need to double- check about, like whether they are sleeping in an amount that is good for them.

There are things we need to double-check about ourselves, too. We may need to double-check that we are scheduling in time for ourselves. This may seem like it’s optional, but if we are going to be healthy enough to take care of our loved ones then it is really mandatory.

We may need to double-check that the information we just learned about bipolar disorder is accurate. This is especially true if it is something that is controversial, in which case we might not be able to determine which side is “right.” But we can get more facts and opinions on the subject and get a more rounded opinion on it.

There are many things that we can double-check on, and they are all things that can benefit from it. The nice thing about double-checking things is it (usually) doesn’t hurt any. After all, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

What are your thoughts on this?

Well, I have to go!

Your Friend,

Dave