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for all aspects of bipolar disorder by visiting:
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Hi,
How’s it going?
Hope you are doing well. It’s Saturday so
I hope you have something fun planned.
Actually today I am going to a new bookstore
in Pennsylvania and also to the mall. I really
hate the mall. For some reason walking around
in the mall is like doing 25 sessions on
the treadmill. Anyway, I am going with
a friend and it’s suppose to be quick.
But the reason why I am going to the bookstore
is they have a new book that has some new information
related to bipolar disorder. It’s not about bipolar
disorder but another topic and we can “borrow” some
ideas from it to help us with bipolar disorder–
both supporters and survivors.
I will keep you posted.
I also wanted to ask you something. I am strongly
considering having a seminar in New Jersey. It would
be 100% free. No cost at all.
Here is my problem. I don’t know how many people
will show up. It’s going to be for a couple of
hours. I don’t want to get too big of a place
and spend a bunch of money I don’t need to.
It’s probably going to be in Warren County New
Jersey.
Do me a favor if you or someone else you know
would come please send me an email to
feedbacktodave@mentalhealthworld.net
I am not sure when it will be. Probably on
a Saturday. It would probably start at like 11:00am
and run to like 1:00pm. Then there would be time
for any and all questions. Oh NOT legal or medical
ones because you know, I am NOT a doctor, therapist,
lawyer, insurance agent and not a hedge trimmer.
Actually this is funny. Some asked me if I was “hedge
trimmer.” They thought I trimmed people’s hedges.
I think they got confused. I do consulting for HEDGE
FUNDS but I don’t trim hedges 🙂 LOL.
Okay let’s jump into today topic.
Daylight saving time is coming up. That’s when
you change the clocks in this case BACK. At 1:59am
the times goes to 1:00am instead of 2:00am.
If you want to know the history of it, do a google
search. It’s kind of interesting. It was done to
save money and add extra sunlight.
With that said, there’s a warning with
bipolar disorder.
For many daylight saving changes the way
a person feels. It can affect a person
mood. It can affect a person sleeping
pattern.
This change, can trigger a bipolar
disorder episode if you don’t watch it.
This has happen with my mom. It’s happen
with many other people I know as well.
However, today these people are aware of the
potential problem and have systems in place
on how to mitigate the affect of the change
in time. Also, these people know that if
they are affected for too many days, they
immediately call their doctors and or therapists.
I wanted to point this out because no one ever
talks about these things. Most people have
to learn them the hard way. It’s kind of annoying.
When you get my courses/systems, you find
a lot of these types of things that you would
never think affect bipolar disorder.
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:
http://www.survivebipolar.net
Actually in the next day I am going to talk about
something that happen to me at a bipolar disorder
support group. It’s about how a doctor their basically
would not say anything affected anyone with bipolar
disorder unless it was studied and researched. So,
in the case of daylight saving time, this person
would probably say it would not affect people
with bipolar disorder because there are no studies
that say it does.
Waiting and looking for studies for everything I think
is a dangerous game. Most things are NOT studied and
it takes years and years and years for studies to
come out IF they ever do. There are lots of things
that impact bipolar disorder that are NOT studied.
Why? Well first they don’t have money to do the
bipolar studies and #2, mental illness is not pressing
for people. It’s sad but true. Most studies are focused
on more popular illnesses.
Take a look at where the money goes in let’s say the
United States. It doesn’t go to mental health for the
most part. Take a look at mental health facilities
they are run down. Contrast this against cancer facilities.
It’s night and day. Also notice with cancer there are tons
and tons of studies but with bipolar disorder very
few.
Cancer is big business but bipolar disorder doesn’t
seem to be.
Okay enough of that. So make sure you are watching
out for daylight savings time and how it might affect
yourself or your loved one with bipolar disorder.
Well I have to run. Catch you tomorrow. And if
you have any stories about change in season or
daylight saving time, please let everyone know
by posting.
Sometimes people don’t believe what I say and
would hate for them to ignore what I say, have
a problem, go into a huge bipolar episode
and suffer.
Okay have to run. Catch you tomorrow.
Your Friend,
Dave
P.S. Don’t forget to take a look through the
different programs I’ve put together… each one is designed
to help you with a different area of bipolar disorder whether
you have it or you are supporting someone with it.
You can see them all and get the details by visiting:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp
P.P.S. Check out my F.ree blog with copies of emails
that I have sent in the past and lots of great
information for you:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/supporterblog/
P.P.P.S Check out my F.ree podcast. Hear me give
mini seminars designed to teach you information
you can’t learn anywhere else.
http://bipolarcentral.libsyn.com
David:
Interesting column on Daylight savings time, but I really don’t think this change should affect those who are stable & taking their meds as they are directed.
By the way, the seminar is a great idea! I’d attend if I still lived in New Jersey; I grew up in Sussex County. But, I live in the South now.
RJ
Can someone please let me know if they have found bipolar to be progressive. My mom has always know that there was something wrong with her….but she raised my sis and i alone. Now that mom is 50 well really for the last 10 years things have been really bad. She is here at my house right now..we had a family dinner last night and she was falling asleep in her chair with all the kids just watching her, i would wake her up and say mom y don’t you go lay down and she would say that she was not sleeping.Now this morning she is crying and crying because she can not rememeber her phone #. I told it to her last night at 2 in th morning as she was still up then. I have seen my mom doing good it was many years ago though..or when she has been in the hospital. It has also been years that we have been able to get her into a hospital. I asked her this morning if she wanted to go into the phych ward her in the town i live in. She has been there many times b4. She spent most of her time there when I was 13 to 20. Now she hates that place and says they have no programs
there. I think she really needs to get her meds regulated she addmited a couple of weeks ago that she was was abusing her meds, now she is swearing up and down that she doesn’t and is so mad at me right now. I know she needs to get into the hospital. Y is she so messed up now but was the perfect mom when we were little. Can her bipolar really have progressed over the year. please GOD we need help
Mom is bipolar type 2 with rapid cycling
This is my first time here. And I am so grateful to see that there is a place to come where people understand me and what I live through. I was diagnosed bi-polar as a child of 12. I am now 48, and this past year, possible due to menopause, my stable became erratic.
I would love to come to the seminar. But I live in the South also.
Even on my meds I always feel the change in weather before it ever gets here. But the meds get me through it.
Gosh I can’t tell you how good it is to have found this site. Feels like coming home. lol
Well go figger.. lol. Doesn’t surprise me a bit. I have a number of chronic disease problems.. mostly joint related and have discovered most any change.. even good things can cause an exacerbation (flare up) so while it seems a bit odd, it’s SO good to have a heads up and I’d have to say i’ve had building symptoms for a several weeks now… perhaps related more to the overall change in season than day light savings time.
Whether its one or the other, I appreciate the heads up and would encourage people to be aware that ANY change… bad or good can trigger “issues”. Those of us with chronic disease processes are a bit like “the canary in the mine shaft”.
In olden times, or perhaps even now, if the miners wanted to see if a shaft was safe, they’d send a canary in, if the canary died, they knew it wasn’t safe. I know, poor canary !!!
WE, those of us with chronic dieases are everyman’s “canary in the mine shaft”. Things that others don’t even feel or are a mini blip on the radar, can trigger our symptoms whether it be physical or mental or emotional problems.
OK, and this is where I can say, I know this to be true personally and through research and education towards my degree in counseling psychology… but please don’t ask me to quote the research.. lol
I’ve found to give myself extra “down time” which for me is quiet time, reading, movie watching, a walk in the beautiful fall colors (or drive) can be calming.
As Dave says, or is that me >G<; have a plan for those "bad days". If we have a plan and a backup plan, its so much easier to deal with a flare. (((hugs)) to my daughter and all the bipolar folk… the meds suck, dealing with this damnable disease sucks.. but it CAN be done. Or you can hrumph your way through all this, stumble, trip and find your way through your own trial and error… but, why make it harder when we have Dave’s wonederful guidance 🙂 Betsy
We live in England and my husband who has bipolar did not sleep a wink last night, he said if he doesn’t feel tired he just can’t sleep, we put our clocks back the night before last, hence your message for today.
Colette
Daylight savings time could easily affect bipolar disorder because it upsets the circadian (internal) clock. It would take my father several weeks to get back into rythm when the time changed and he was not bipolar.
Liz
I feel affected by the change in light levels every year and I completely fail to understand why we must change clocks back in th winter. Is it so that it will be sunrise as I go to work? Why do we want the sunset an hour *earlier*? I would argue that if it is dark earlier, we’d need to turn on the lights earlier. How does that save anything? That we do this daylight savings annoys me.
Anyways, as you can tell I am affected and I don’t have bipolar. It is a great idea to have a plan around the time change.
If you were to do a seminar, consider taping it and selling some DVDs of it. I live in Canada and I don’t currently have a passport (getting one takes a long time)so coming to a seminar in NJ is out. But I’d buy a reasonably priced DVD.
Really appreciate any info that can help with possibly predicting episodes. I live with someone that is bipolar and had never experienced the highs/lows before. It’s really work to understand and interpret — any info is so very helpful.
David, If you are interested in helping more or reaching out to those that may be interested, why not contact nami, or dailystrength website that has a bp community.
It makes sense that a change in time is going to affect Bipolars because of the need for regular sleep. Anything that would upset the sleep hours can alter a mood
or cause an effect that results in an episode. Being that it’s around the holiday season, which already causes havoc does NOT help. So, be prepared as David has pointed out with a plan of action. I know that less sleep or my sleep being interrupted makes me crabbier. Having loss of loved ones, that passed away, around this time, or anytime and memories of the holidays can trigger a depression or a mania(to try and compensate)
for the loss and feel better.
Sorry David, seminar sounds like a good idea but I’m way too far away
to be able to attend. Keep up with the good topics! I like the comment on extra “down” time and I agree whole heartedly, so I’m off to find that quiet place of beauty. Peggy
Dave, I just have a comment on research and studies on bipolar disorder. Since “it” has become more or less a “designer disorder,” Big Pharma has jumped on the bandwagon. There are many more medications being developed for bipolar than ever before. Consider Abilify and Cymbalta, even Tamoxifen. I agree that more has to be done, but first we have to eliminate the stigma of mental illness before the public will accept more money being spent on bipolar.
I agree that we do need a “quiet place” when things become undoable. Believe it or not, I find typing to be my “fit;” in my first nervous breakdown, whenever I felt “threatened,” I would stiffen up, or throw myself on the floor! Pretty dumb, hunh. But as I have become more stable, I find that typing loosens me up and I am VERY comfortable doing it. In the past, I have typed 121 w/p/m, and that skill alone would get me good secretary/clerical jobs. Now, anybody who can sit at a computer can get a job. There’s no “skill” involved.
Well, I’m ranting, as I have taken twice the normal dose of my pain killer, as I am out of morphine (took twice that dose, too, for intractable pain), and am slightly hyper. Now that daylight savings time is here, I’m going to “sign off” and get ready to take my meds. I have a slightly erratic side effect of my night meds – they give me a “rush” for about an hour after I take them, so if I go to bed right after taking them, I lie awake waiting to sleep, which is uncomfortable. I have learned to just have a cup of yogurt and some chips&dip (which puts on weight, I know, but it is my “comfort food”), and then get sleepy enough to go to bed.
Good luck on your seminar. I agree – tape it and sell it on a “cheap” DVD or CD so the rest of us can learn 🙂
BIG HUGS to all bipolars and those who love them. Don’t forget to set your clocks BACK. My prayers are with you.
David
Comments about time change
! we are going into Standard time and out of daylight savings time
2. We have just as many daylight hours now as before except they are in the morning instead of at night so we morning people can enjoy them.
3. My bad month is March. October is my best time of the year. March I always wound up in the hospital but now I can prepare for it.
Shirley
Hi David,
Sorry I cannot attend. If I lived close by I would. I live all the way here in California.
Right now I am adjusting to new meds and I haven’t noticed anything different about daylight savings time and my moods. I’ve been bouncing off the walls so to speak. BPD is rapid the last week and when I go to see my pdoc again (soon) I will have to tell him.
I would love to come to the seminar but I live in Scotland… far too far away. I’d like to say how greatful I am for all the support. As I have already stated I have been a sufferer since i was thirteen, I am now in college studying mental health and it is by far the hardest thing to do. My classmates remain unaware that i have bipolar as I do not wish to become a “guinnea pig” for them. This is the hardest thing i have ever done but I am determined to get more attention on Mental Illness’ as it is far too underestimated!
Thanks for all your help David.
David thank you for the insight on the warning signs of mania. My wife and I went to the New Jersey shore we had a fabulous time. We talked about the signs of mania and depression. When she saw those warning signs my wife never realized that they were the forerunner to an episode. My wife’s says she is eternally greatful. James
My husband has a major episode around daylight savings time each year, but he doesn’t take precautionary measures. This year is worse then ever. He left me & the kids, ran off w/ some guy he met @ a gay bar, got fired from a good paying job, pawned stuff, & blew a bunch of money. Id been hospitalized & missed work 4 ulcers & gallstones. I really need him 2 get it together for me just this once & take care of things, but as always any bit of stress drives him 2 drink and drug, leave me in pain with shutoff & eviction notices 2 care for the kids (1 is autistic). He knows the signs but LOVES 2 be manic which gets ugly paranoid delusions, & hallucinations. Im mentally exhausted & hardly remember the person I was b4 bipolar took over our home. My husband is not the same person & shows no remorse or accountability 4 his words & actions. I am trying hard to not hate him for robbing me & the kids of the husband & father we deserve. His noncompliance 2 get treatment & take his meds as the doctor orders just 2 purposefully push himself into mania is 2 much. Then we have 2 put up w/ him bottoming out & depressed leaving the stress & responsibility all 2 me. He sees this we have talked. Im trying to keep some compassion but I cant do this anymore. Today I filed for a protection order for the drug para, threats 2 hurt me, & take our son & run. I then filed a missing person report MIA 5 days now, & a mental health warrant. The stress from all this pains me mentally and now physically. I just wish things would quiet down so I can rest & heal.
Hi, I really feel sorry for you, I have had or still having the same experiences with my husband. He is now taking citalopram 20mg and it’s not working for him, I need to find a doctor who knows about bipolar all our doctor is saying is that he is depressed, even though he has tried to kill me and himself this year. He has spent all our money he has no friends anymore and drinks too much, either sleeps too much or doesn’t sleep at all and I never know what kind of mood he is going to be in. Sorry to hear you have children who have to suffer all of this.
ANYONE KNOW OF ANY SPECIALIST DOCTORS WHO KNOW OF BIPOLAR IN WAKEFIELD WEST YORKSHIRE.
my big problem is that the system is such a mess- My severely ill daughter has been in and out of psych hospitals ( four times in the past month) – only to be released because of Pt advocates. She then gets out and creates a bigger mess because the disease has made her into a monster- she broke my nose, was threatening at her daughters pre-school. spits at people. The PD are not helpful in fact they tease and cajol her- told us it is a family problem. She is a hospital as I write- i hope she can get the help she so desparately needs. Louise
To CATTYK: I feel sooo sorry for your having to deal with this exhausting time. Your husband sounds like he absolutely REFUSES to get help for his bipolar, which leaves you to maintain your family, essentially, without his help.
I suggest that you take the kids and go to a relatives, or even a safe-house for abused wives (perhaps a motel?), to get your thoughts straight about how to handle this situation. It might wake him up that you would stand up to him and just LEAVE.
Please – do SOMETHING. You are physically and emotionally worn out and not thinking straight. Ask your family doctor for a referral to a psychologist (I don’t think you need a shrink) to constructively work through all the issues.
God bless you real good. My prayers are with you and your family.