Can u be tired from a boss that has bipolar desease? I have diabetes and i cant work with him, cause hes making me sick with my nerves! Im thinking of leaving this job, cause i think that he is not taking well his medication. He is rude, he blackmails and do not have any respect about me. What do you think about this?

I have been trying to get to the new article link in the email but keep getting “page can not be found” error. Does this happen to anyone else??

I am bipolar and I take Cymbalta which really helps. In response to Dave’s email, it is totally irrational to tell a person to get off their meds when you aren’t their doctor. Before cymbalta my anger was so brutal my husband called me an “ogre”, and I knew there was something else wrong with me besides being hot tempered.
I never wan’t to be called a name like that again, thus I stick to the meds that work for me.

Thank you. Victoria

Please who ever have this bipolar disorder,do not stop of any medicine you are taking,it will kill you or kill others

Dave and all,
Damn right, Dave – the snake oil salesmen are out there promising the World when they have nothing worth buying, not even a placebo!
In the UK we have a course called Expert Patients plan. It’s run by the UK’s National Health Service and is a course about managing your own chronic illness. Fundamental to the message is this: we all are experts in our own illness. We may not know the causes of BP and we may not much about the various medications and how they are believed to work. These are the province of the doctor, the expert in this field. However, EACH of us is an expert in our individual illness. WE know better than anyone how it affects us, as we also know how the medication affects us, too. I think it is important to remember this because it is all too easy to allow doctors and other experts to walk over us because they position themselves as being all-knowing. Well, they ain’t! They can never be you or me. We are who we are they are who they are. They cannot see the World through our eyes, not can they experience it as we do. Similarly they cannot experience our illness as we do; so, at best, they only have an inkling of how we feel and how the medication is affecting us. I know of some pDocs who prescribe a formula of medications they think will work for everyone they judge to be in a particular state of BP. They can forget we are all unique and, as such, may react differently to the medication they prescribe. I’ve come across too many folk with BP who complain they feel worse with the meds there pDoc has prescribed and that the doc insists they continue with the meds, dismissing the patients concerns. The “I know best” pDoc is a menace! Carers – remember that!

Roxy
It is typical of most types of depression to leave its victims short of motivation. Look at it from their point of view: Life has no joy for them. They are miserable, and sometimes they are in “pain” in such a way that is indescribable for anyone who has not experienced it. Suffice to say that it is almost unbearable, and sometimes IS unbearable. It seems to them there is no let up. Ity’s like being in a dark tunnel that, as I describe in a song, “gets smaller the further in you go.” In short, living is barely tolerable, if even that! So, what IS the point of doing anything?? They feel nothing they do will make much difference; or if it does, it will only offer transitory relief. In that state, there is no purpose in Life, very little, if any, to stay alive. So, why would there be any point in making an effort to do anything, for anyone?
This is a snap shot of how someone with depression may be thinking. As like as not they may be even be confused – knowing they are not of their right mind, they will not trust their judgement. So, they become indecisive and seemingly indifferent to what you might feel has to be done. For example, you might tell yout husband that you are thinking of leaving you. Well, in that statement of mind he may be of two minds about you, wanting you and wishing you’d go away. In such a case, it is likely he is aware of these contradictory feelings; so, he won’t make any decision to part with you because he doesn’t trust that he would make the right decision!
I’m not sue this will help you keep your family together, but I hope it might give you a small glimpse into what may be his state of mind. As you will surmise, what you glimpse isn’t a pretty sight. But if you think it’s bad for you, imagine what it’s like for him. He can make your choices. He daren’t for fear of making the wrong one because he knows his view of the World is coloured by his illness.
Good luck to the both of you. But if this helps … consider, there is no right or wrong choice, just consequences.

While the internet is a most wonderful invention, we all know that it’s also full of con-merchants making money out of other people’s mis-fortune. A couple of years ago I fell for some of those sites that promised you to make “lots of money while you sleep.” All you had to do was click on certain links or press certain keys and it even looked like it was working at first. But of course you never got any money and eventually the system screwed up your computer. Some of those sites were exposed, but some are still going under different names. I suppose it’s very difficult, if not impossible, even for the police to monitor websites and judge which ones should be illegal or criminalised.

As for those charlatans promising miracle cures (usually at a price), apart from preying on desperate people, they also give the genuine alternative practitioners a bad name. Treatments like herbalism, homeopathy and even energy (spiritual) healing has been proven to work very well and help people in many cases. Genuine practitioners of those and other treatments however, NEVER promise a cure and NEVER advise a patient to stop taking medication. They ALWAYS work alongside conventional doctors. A qualified herbalist would ask the patient what medication s/he is taking and know which herbs can work together with it and which are not suitable. A healer may not have taken exams but simply have a gift s/he can use to help people and animals. In Ireland and the UK they are required to be registered. Hands-on healing generally makes you feel relaxed and often renewed. I have never heard of it having a negative effect on anyone. Again, a genuine healer would never promise a cure or ask anyone to stop taking prescribed medicine. Energy healing has been known in some cases to reduce pain and unpleasant side effects of prescribed drugs.

Nightlady “Hands-on healing generally makes you feel relaxed and often renewed. I have never heard of it having a negative effect on anyone.”
I have. I was ona Reiki course and working on a friend of mine. At the time I was moving around her head, especially about a large scare on her forehead. If anyone here knows about Reiki they will understand when I say the heat in my hand increased incredible, such that it was painful for me to keep my hand there. It also became physically painful for her, and even more – she burst out into tears. Whn questioned by the Master what had caused the scar, out popped a traumatic memory – someone had once tried to kill here, inflicting a terrible blow to her head at this point. MY point? Like other healing methods – e.g. hypnosis – these methods can wake up memories that are best at the back of mind, not brought to the fore

Your anger is justified,a true lawyer would say. But your anger I say is healthy,and this blog as an outlet even healthier. If you know of such sites you can report them to search engines. Trouble is there are millions of them probably and in different languages,but that’s free expression,and the abuse of it. All in the name of marketing. But there are people such as you who make the difference,even if small in number.

This is a good drive you have begun and I hope plenty more are encouraged to follow your example and lay off such amateur sites.
As far as the FDA is concerned, they have issued warnings to drug companies to publicize the side effects and for patients to strictly follow prescriptions by doctors.What is then published online is not in their hands, but for media authorities to take action and standardize medicinal websites.
There are sites that allow us to relate our problems via networks such as this or articles. I like to read them every now and then to keep myself updated with what’s going on, and know I’m not the only one who finds everyday of a life challenged. I would like to start a blog myself. Meanwhile I contribute to a site that has benefited me and I hope many in several ways. Take care Dave. I’m with you.

When I have a bp episode, but she gets angry because I always ask abount new medications to try mainly because I’ve been going thru a theripst. T’ve been wondering if I should leave her and find another theripst. She doesn’t like trying anything so when I ask about trying another, she gets very angry with me.
When I bring up the new prescription, she gets very upset.
I am now on the same mediation as I am on the medication I was taking before ECT.
Can anyone help/advice on how to handle this problem. I mean how do you leave a theapist you’ve been with for 8 years.

Marsha. Your choice, but in your position, I’d stay schtum. Why? If he feels the meds are doing him good then they probably are even if the only thing good about them is a placebo effect. Leave him contnt if he is content. Don’t stir up doubt in his mind where there is no doubt because that would be both unkind and risk. Ruisky because tghe upset may throw him into an episode.

The placebo effect is the only good thing I can think of to say about the snake oils! That and …

What’s the difference between a snake oil salesman and a bottled water company in the US/UK/most of Europe and Developed World?
Answer: Nothing. You pay both for nothing!

Dave,
Liked your post. As you say, the power of the mind can change many things. I use self-hypnosis to take away some pain. I can’t yet) do it for a migraine but it works for me for less serious pain. A hypnotist once pushed a need into my finger when I was “put under”. I didn’t feel a thing and it didn’t bleed. I have a friend who “miraculously” recovered from serious brain damage, when he’d be diagnosed as being in a vegetative state. His recovery was not complete but he willed himself to be able to speak, read, write and do calculations. The pace of his brain damage suggested this would be impossible because THAT was the area of his brain that was completely wiped out – it didn’t exist anymore! It was removed by the tarmac on the road when he came off a motorbike! All that was left should have controlled movement. But he willed his brain to re-wire itself. Some he can now read, write, talk and do calculations. But he can’t walk!!! Hypnotists have been able to suggest to burns victims that their skin is cold, leading to reduced scaring. They have also shown that, if you a penny at room temperature into someones hand and tell them it is red hot, it will burn them and leave a blister. HOWEVER, I have not yet heard of anyone being cured of any mental illness by the power of thought. I wonder why this is …