Hi,
I hope this day is going well for you.
Hey, guess what? I went to the movies last night and saw SAW 5. I told Michele who works for me to tell her husband that I saw Saw 5 and she said, “You saw 5 what?” lol
She didn’t know it was a movie.
I am going to write an email about the important bipolar lesson you should learn from the theme of a movie like Saw.
You probably think I am out of my mind if you know what saw is. BUT, there is a valuable lesson to be learned and can be applied to bipolar disorder.
Okay, I have to tell you about oil and bipolar disorder.
They do go together, really!
I’ll tell you how.
Actually, one of my ex-girlfriends never changed her oil. She was “daddy’s girl.” If daddy didn’t change the oil, she didn’t bother.
NOTE: If she is reading this (and I doubt it), she is going to be super mad at me for posting this but I didn’t use her name so no harm done.
Anyway, she blew up many a car. Transmissions, engines, and a lot of other things got ruined, all because she wouldn’t put oil in her cars.
The longer she had cars, the worse they got.
Why?
Because she never took care of them.
Are cars supposed to totally break down at 30,000 miles? Of course not.
But they do if you do NOTHING to maintain and take care of them.
This is similar to bipolar disorder. You have to manage and take care of it.
Some people think it gets worse with age.
Well, just like my ex-girlfriend and her car, of course if you do nothing to manage it, of course it will get worse. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
If you’re smart, or if you have a loved one with bipolar disorder and you love them, you’ll work harder to put systems in place to keep their bipolar disorder maintained.
If my ex-girlfriend had just kept oil in her cars, they wouldn’t have gotten ruined.
If your loved one has systems in place, they will stay stable.
In my courses/systems, I talk about the importance of having a system in place as part of a comprehensive treatment plan, so that your loved one can have stability and maintain that stability:
In my courses/systems below:
SUPPORTING AN ADULT WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11
SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarparenting.com
HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
For example, to maintain a car, you check the oil, you get regular tune-ups, get the engine checked when necessary, get the tires rotated, etc., don’t you? I mean, you want it to last as long as it can, right?
Well, it’s like with bipolar disorder. You have to have a system, too.
You have to take medication daily, see the psychiatrist and therapist regularly, see the doctor when necessary, have bloodwork checked, stick to a healthy diet, exercise, get the right amount of sleep, etc.
You need a system to keep your bipolar disorder in order, just like you do with your car – if you want to keep your stability.
Your stability is much more important than your car.
So if you have parts in your car that need regular maintenance and you take care of those, you should be willing to take care of the parts in your treatment plan for your bipolar disorder that need regular maintenance as well, because they are even more important.
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David Oliver is the author of the shocking guide “Bipolar Disorder—The REAL Silent Killer.” Click Here to get FREE Information sent via email on how and why bipolar disorder kills.
Post responses below
I have gained 15 lbs in 3 weeks taking seroquel. 250mg at night. I feel better, however I can’t handle the weight gain, any sugggestions?
Wish I “did” have a solution to the “pill-induced” weight gain problem…I Take Lyrica, & have a small, small frame (short too) & have gained 15 pounds I just can’t get rid of causing me all kinds of trouble, incl. back pains. If any one knows the answer I also would love to know.
I also have a VERY important question I need an answer to in regards to a loved one w/bipolar. Do bipolars in an episode pick and choose which persons they will say hurtful things to?? My loved one has been diagnosed w/ bipolar & does this. He will be nice to certain people while at the same time sounding irrational, then in the next heartbeat he says extremely foul, painful things to another. Another thing I don’t understand is that he seems to “remember” alot of the things he’s said.
Great comparison, I like how you have compared not taking care of a car to not treating symptoms of Bipolar Disorder.
Good Morning Dave,
Changing oil, Well I can tell you that when I had an old clunker
my oil always was changed every 3000 miles. The Mercury That I use to own had 250,000 miles on the thing, I had 92,000 on it when I bought it.
I had a beetle that was a 1999. It had been recked. Burt Smith purchased an engine to replace the recked one, needless to say It was a ripoff.
The thing nickel dimed me the whole time I owned the thing. Here in
Florida it is so hot that I got tired of not having Air Conditioning, so I got rid of it. I leased a 2008. The colors I wanted inside and out and it has Air.
I’ve had possession of the 2008 since Apr of this yr. I have a little less than 5000 miles on the veh. My first oil chang is free, VW doesn’t like to change it befor 5000 miles the first time. Took it in to have it changed back in aug.
If any thing goes wrong with the car they fix it and I don’t have to do any
unexpected repairs or change the oil. I changed my own oil all the time.
I’m 60yrs old and My body doesn’t permit me to crawl around on the ground for oil changes and repairs.
I had a 1978 Mustang when I first moved to fla. The body looked great but the interior was just a rag. Metal for the floor board. steeming hot in the summer.!!! So ! I think its about time I have a few luxeries in my senior yrs. I have a female impersonater here. I think she lives next door
she is in her 20’s. My child bearing yrs are long gone !! (1978) my baby factory was removed.
The past 21yrs have been laborious employment, construction (bridge building) Hot and freezing weather. Standing for 10 plus hours a day in
a retail position among other jobs, convience stores and ect.
Mens work, laborious, physical positions. needless to say I have worn out my body.
So, I am tired of the preaching about bipolar. I’m tired of eating soup for a week at a time, crackers and just plain doing without. I am going to have what fulfills my physical needs or anything else it costs
Have a good day!!!!!!!!
I was on seroquel, for a time, but couldnt handle high doses. was on 75mg at nite and 25mg in morning. the morning one had me knocked out they had to disgard it coz i just couldnt function. had good nite sleeps though. i didnt gain weight either though.
I was then put on lititium which i resented big time, taken of seroquel, against my own wishes i stayed on the lititum for a year, had it increased from 800mg to 1000mg and still found no lift in my mood was given an anti depressant cymbalta, convinced the doc to take me off the lititum. she did. then last april while in the middle of coming off lititum , i got thick with the doctor felt really low and felt he underminded me. and although this may sound childish STOPPED all meds. I went very bad for approx 3 wks and through my husband support got through the withdrawals, my gp wasnt happy at all, i went into a world that i never want to go back to hence me writing this,after reading check the oil in your car, i feel I’m on a downward slope, my husband doesnt seem to mind when i’m down and as good as he is. would insist on meds if i went up to high {which is when i dont coz its so good} but for low moods thinks I’d be undoing the hard time i went through to come of meds. its low moods i cant stand. my gp has moved, i stopped going to the clinic last april, and popping painkillers like smarties. i feel lost lonely and out of oil. dont know who to turn to, i feel by going back to the clinic i’m admitting defeat. Anyway had to get this off my chest. i dont know if its just a bad wk, maybe and next wk i might feel a bit better.
Christine,
it is so important that you stay on your meds! congratulations for doing that!! My son also gained about 20 pounds on Risperdal. He lost most of it thru exercise. He swam twice a week and ran some. keep exercising and try not to eat large amounts of food.. Hopefully that will help! Linda F Grafton, ohio
I HAVE A DAUGHTER WHO IS HIGH AND NOT SLEEPING, WITTY AND LIKEABLE, GOING THROUGH A SEPERATION WITH HER HUSBAND, AND I THINK OUT OF CONTROL. CAN NOT MAKE A DECISION , IT IS GOING INTO HER WORK ,FORGETS THINGS , IMPORTANT THINGS, REAL ESTATE AGENT NOT GOOD .HAS BEEN IN TREATMENT FOR BIOPOLAR, HELP HELP HELP
HER MOM
Hi
I’m not taking medication and also gain weight. What is weight? In the physical sciences, weight is a measurement of the gravitational force acting on an object. Near the surface of the Earth, the acceleration due to gravity is approximately constant; this means that an object’s weight is roughly proportional to its mass. Now if we move to a world that have a higher gravitational force than what we have on earth are we going to be shocked at our gain in weight or are we going to change the settings on the scale to adapt to the higher gravitational forces. Would we be more satisfied with our weight if we were living on the moon?
Ok then how difficult is it to check the oil in your car? The only thing one should know is where the dipstick is.
Hope you have a nice day.
Ya, have to laugh, my teenage son won’t do anything for himself, he waits for me to do everything for him, I have to if it doesn’t get done, I hate things disorgenised. He didn’t start out that way, I had him take responsibility for himself to get organisied to go to school, then one day because he didn’t have much time left to do it, he made excuses not to and he’d do it when he came home from school. Of cause he didn’t, now he’s lazy. I was sick of being on his back about it and we would end up argueing, we still do. What happened? I got feed up and stoped pushing him.
To AMANDA: “Going to the clinic feels llike admitting DEFEAT??” Where/when did you come to THAT conclusion?? I KNOW the “highs” are good, but then you “crash” and you have to go the whole psychiatrist-prescribing-new-drugs route all over again.
“Defeat” is NOT applicable when you’re dealing with bipolar disorder. GOING to the clinic is the SMARTEST thing you can do. If you TRULY want to feel better – get stabilized on your meds, not go through the “downs” – you will get yourself to the clinic PRONTO. I know of NO bipolar who ever got better doing it “on their own.” “It takes a village” to combat the mood swings of bipolar, just to “maintain” your stability.
I highly encourage you NOT to look at going to the clinic as being “admitting defeat;” the medical personnel there are trained to figure out HOW to treat your condition – they are there to HELP you, not “criticize” you for coming to the clinic.
Sometimes, our disorder gives us “confused” thinking; I think that is where you are right now. Excuse me if I’m “diagnosing without a license,” but I detect a little bit of depression in your blog. Going to the clinic is the BEST thing you can do at this time. You have my prayers and good wishes to feel better soonest!!
BIG HUGS to all bipolar survivors and those who love us. May God bless you real good.
I guess that explains all my problems…I have not changed my car’s oil in two years. Yes, that is true. I am surprised it is still running. My dad used to change it, but he passed away and can’t help me with anything.
Mr. Satchell: I don’t think you should BRAG unless you want to SHARE your toys.
I think my car ALSO has bipolar disorder. The “service engine soon” light comes on and off, the gas, temperature RPM and spedometer gages are going in all different directions. I feel like my car! Maybe we both need a tune up and some service.
Sorry guy, I keep real close tabs on my engine, am very compliant with meds, visit my therapist regularly, have a strong support system, treat myself well, schedule things that make me happy daily, like gardening, hobbies, daily workout, keeping order in my life, work, manage to stay functional except the yearly fall funky crash, and still cycle. Never yet have
managed to maintain “stability” dispite every drug combination I have tried
over the many many years I have survived this blasted thing. I manage
to maintain a good relationship with my husband, but only because he is
a great guy, and tries to understand this crazy bipolar stuff. He doesn’t have it himself, but can always catch the red flags a week before I can.
Poor guy puts up with so much stuff. Hypomania is not bad, he calls it rocket socks, but crossing the line into over spending really bugs him alot.
Fortunately I never spend joint funds. I never have crossed that line yet.
Just run up my own personal credit cards. Have since gotten rid of those but am still paying for last summers “event”. I wish I knew what stability was.
Hi David,
I suffer from bi-polar, and have been a recipient of your information and one of your books. I was fortunate enough to have a partner (we’re having a break now), who was loving enough to seek your help after a manic espisode. Whilst we were together I forwarded alot of the emails you sent her. Being apart I don’t have ready access to this information at the moment, although it would be very beneficial. I have been meaning to ask her if she could find out if there was a way to direct this stuff to me, so as to make the most of her extremely kind gesture. We have set a time-frame and a goal of us both being happy and healthy, and I have also set the goal of contacting her as little as possible to achieve this. Is there a way, if i give to the relevant details, that this info could be diverted to me, as it is being wasted at this time.
Kind Regards,
Ralph