Bipolar warning. Why I got super angry yesterday

=>PLEASE FORWARD TO FRIENDS, FAMILY AND LOVED ONES <= Hi, I’ve been really busy this week, and I’ve
had to do a lot of my research online instead
of at the library, and I just can’t believe some
of the stuff (garbage) some people are putting
online these days!

I mean, like, you are all smart, and you can
surely see through this stuff, but what about
people who are just diagnosed, or whose loved
one is just diagnosed, or who aren’t as smart as
you are? What if this is the only information
they are seeing?

Garbage! It’s just garbage! It’s sad, it’s really
sad. Especially because it can really HURT
people, people who don’t know any better!

Lots of information online is from people
who are writing on THEORY – stuff
written by people who don’t have bipolar
disorder, or who have never even lived
with anyone with bipolar disorder or
helped anyone who has the disorder.

At least in my courses and systems, I
give you information “from the trenches,”
stuff that I have learned firsthand, from
living with my mom, who has 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

I have never tried to “snow” you or give
you false information, like some of these
people online are doing right now.

Like some people are claiming to have
miraculous “cures” for bipolar disorder,
when you know there is no cure right now
for the disorder. I mean, you at least
learned that from these emails and my
courses, right? If you didn’t know it
already.

This is the strangest thing. I saw
a site that teaches people how
to get off medication BUT it
never stresses the dangers of
what happen when the person
does—the chance they will comitt
suicide or destroy themselves in
some way or others around them.

It actually made me super mad
when I looked at the site. It made
no sense.

I was just amazed someone would
make a site that encouraged the destruction
of a person.

Here’s the thing. Notice how I NEVER
suggest that I am a doctor.

NOTE
I am NOT a doctor, lawyer, or insurance
person. I am NOT offering any medical
or legal advice.

I also HIGHLY recommend that people
find a great doctor and work with that person.

It’s like with friends that have tax problems—
the dumbest thing in the world you can do
is try to teach yourself taxes if you are a business
person. What do you do? You get a great accountant.
Only a fool is his/her own accountant. You don’t
have time to learn about all kinds of tax law.

You get an expert.

NOW, this is to say with bipolar disorder,
you don’t have knowledge in your head. You have
to have a great doctor but also be informed so
you can ask questions and make sure you
are getting great advice.

But back to that website.

I actually have a tool that enables me
to look at other people’s site traffic
and thank heavens it doesn’t get
that much traffic. But it gets some
traffic so that’s scary to me.

But these poor people who are just
learning about the disorder for the first
time, may not know that, or their doctor
may not have told them that, so they may
fall prey to these fake cures or websites
like I just talked about.

These charlatains who are selling these fake
cures are counting on people not knowing
any better, and boy does that make me mad!

I try to reach as many people as I can with
my emails and courses, so people will know
the truth about bipolar disorder. So it makes
me mad that these people who are spreading
LIES and miraculous FAKE CURES and
taking advantage of people who don’t know
any better are hurting these people who I can’t
get to.

So I need you to help. Forward this email
to as many people as you can who you know
have anything to do with bipolar disorder.
Who either have it, are supporting someone
who has it, or know someone who has it, or
are helping someone who has it.

I know I can’t reach everyone who has been
exposed to this false information being spread
on the Internet, but if you can help spread the
truth, together we can be sure that more people
will learn that bipolar disorder does NOT have a
cure at this time, and these people online
that are saying that there is a cure are
LYING!!! That what they are selling is
FAKE CURES!

The truth is, the FDA does NOT endorse
what these people are selling! You can
check that out for yourself. I know I
wouldn’t believe something was a cure if
the FDA didn’t back it up. Would you?
I would at least be suspicious of it.

So help me spread the word about these
LIES being told on the Internet, ok?

Thanks for helping.

Your friend,

Dave

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emails sent to you for F.ree? If so, visit:
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Get More Help On Bipolar Disorder
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

View Past Daily Bipolar Emails For F.REE
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/

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mini seminars designed to teach you information
you can’t learn anywhere else.
http://bipolarcentral.libsyn.com

  1. 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?

  2. Dave
    I too!am frustrated with lies on the internet just to make a buck. I just want you to know that you do & have made a difference in other peoples lives by sharing your education so unselfishley. I know I have. I am currently going thru what you went thru with your mom as far as financially. I am about to file bankruptcy due to the cost involved in supporting some one with the disorder. I have been hit,cussed at & all the rest. but I have not given up yet. I just need to locate a good doctor for my partner. We are currently working with the disability folks trying to get some desperately needed help. I could go on but I won’t.I just wanted to say thank you for the information you provide, and maybe some day we could at least have a phone conversation so I could thank you live instead of an email. Keep up the good work and I will use your information as best as possible. God Bless
    Dave Indianapolis

  3. 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??

  4. hi dave, I just wanted to thank you for your emails I look forward to them daily. I have just been diagonsed with bipolar. It had to take a stay in the hospital but they finally figured out what was wrong with me. I have put my family threw hell. Financially and emotionally I am really suprised my husband hasn’t left me. I never concepted how much money I was gambling. And I can’t even go to the gas station without seeing gambling machines. All the bars where I live have them. So now I can’t even go there. And you are right about the crap that is on the internet about bipolar. I thank God for you and your emails. Keep them coming. TERRI S

  5. 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

  6. Dave-

    I posted on this blog about that site, some time ago.

    It is Tom Cruise Syndrome (Scientology doctrine) heal thyself naturally. These people don’t really have a clue. If they are causing problems then it should be made media knowledge so that it could save newbie’s lives before they are destroyed. Who better to dupe than a gullible desperate BP?! (Not putting us down at all just pointing out that our general nature is to trust others even though we shouldn’t)

    On the site you speak of I am sure they do post a warning you just have to dig really deep to see it. I am sure that I am thinking of the same site you vaguely mention in the email. But like you say it doesn’t mention the ways it will tear a family apart and the person with BP.

    Thanks for mentioning this!!

  7. Dave,
    The problem of BP is very difficult to understand to every one, because like you say”is no cure, right now, for the disorder” (according to FDA).This diagnosis of BP is doing in all the world, and it seems that due to new discoveries in medicine that atribue the illness to phisiological problems, besides hereditary. I think that is having an experience in medicines.If a medicine gives right, great, or else we are going to see…We have the difficult of diagnosis because the necessity of a larger coexistence with BP to establish the phases of the ill.The doctor many times don’t know really what is happening.What to do against the prejudice of the society that must be challenged and educated ?In some cultures it’s almost impossible.The great hole between the system of health and necessities of Bp is greatfull filling by you, with your work of prevention, the more would be connections with BP and what is happen in many schools.So, don’t be angry, and go ahead with God. Thank you. Lilian P>

  8. 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!

  9. I don’t seem to understand all of the behavioral issues with bipolar. I know that my husbands lack of motivation towards anything responsible has driven me to the brink of divorce. what can I do, I don’t want my marriage to fail but I am out of options and patience. Please help my family stay together!!!

  10. 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.

  11. Dave, while you are 100% correct about how aweful it is that some internet sites are encouraging “natural cures” etc., you make a pretty bold statement when you say if the FDA doesn’t back a cure it probably isn’t valid. Did you know Dave that the FDA doesn’t make any statements about vitamins? In fact, there is some evidence that vitamin B 17 prevents cancer, but the FDA won’t endorse that. The FDA is a political government agency…keep that in mind.

  12. 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.

  13. I’m always suspicious when there’s money involved for “miracle” cures. I realize and know for a fact that there is not enough understanding about BP disorder and how our minds work. I believe there can and will be a cure as we better understand how we are put together. For those of us who discussed our make-up with psychiatrists would recall that we consist of the physical body, emotional side as well as our spirit. These are all interrelated in that when you are physically sick you feel bad and are not in the mood to get spiritual. On the positive side, when you feel great, you’re more likely to be healthier and it more easy to get spiritual.
    Our minds are very powerful and can control all three these facets. I’ve seen a documentary “Miracle Man” of a man who had, according to the medical profession, no hope for recovery after a plane crash. By setting his mind on being recovered and after a long period, he miraculously recovered and was able to walk out of the hospital. Similarly there is the story of a person who was locked up in a cooling truck for a weekend. On the Monday one of his colleagues found him in the truck dead due to hyperthermia. The bad thing of this was that the cooling truck was not working and the temperature within the truck was normal room temperature. Thus due to his mind being set that he was going to freeze to death and he believed it, his body responded and he died.
    We must be very, very careful with what or who we allow to control our minds. What we want, think and feel is from the “flesh” and we must not be controled by the flesh but rather the Holy Spirit.
    Back to the “miracle” cures, Jesus and his disciples did quite a few miracle cures however they NEVER asked money or anything else in return for it.
    God bless,we will win!

  14. 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

  15. I don’t know what you’re mad at but I was hoping for a herbal substitute, that my friend with bipolar could switch to on occasion maybe once a year to detoxify the physical effects of meds & gain physical equalibrium perhaps make his medication more effective after.Anyone who takes drugs fulltime is going to have physical side effects . He(my friend) talks about having strokes in jail like its normal, I don’t want to tell him I’m suspicious of his medication.

  16. 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.

  17. 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.

  18. Hi David:
    I agree that there all types of scams on the internet. I get at least 300 scam emails everyday, wanting to do everything from the Great Nigerian Scam to getting my checking account info. I only pay attention, when it comes BPD, to the info you provide everyday in your emails. I probably could survive if you took a couple of days off, but I have become so dependent on the info you provide I don’t know how I would manage without it, and for that matter, I don’t know how I managed before I started receiving your emails. I believe in your efforts to provide truthful and honest info for us. I know you must spend a great deal of time weeding through the junk to get to the good solid info you provide to help us who are struggling with BPD in one way or the other. I know there are all kinds of crap available on the internet. Just google it and you get 1,000’s of related topics in mere seconds. I do not have that much faith in the FDA either because I know, that no matter how dangerous a drug is, all the manufacturer needs to do is show results from 2 favorable studies typically 3 different groups of people: Group 1 uses the med, Group 2 uses a placebo, and Group 3 typically uses the placebo throughout the clinical trial. Then after a pre-determined length of time, Groups 1 and 2 switch to where the placebo group takes the real med and the ones who were taking the med are using the placebo, then the adverse effects of the med users are compared to the placebo users. If the results are comparable, then they obtain FDA approval. The company may have to conduct 50-100, or more, clinical trials until they have their 2 favorable studies and are only required to provide the information contained in the 2 favorable studies the manufacturers submit for FDA approval. There are new meds being FDA approved at a fast pace now and are having to be taken off the market because they are causing harm and death to those who use the new drugs. I believe in the 10-year rule, whenever possible, because by then millions of people have been using these drugs and the pharmaceutical companies typically continue doing research to track safety and adverse side effects. If a medication is still available 10 years after the FDA approved it, it may still have side effects that will result in death for some, but should be fairly safe for the majority. You have to remember there is always a margin of error in everything, meaning there will always be some who will experience adverse side effects from a well studied medication that has been on the market for quite a while, the same as a new drug may the right one for you to take and you will find it works wonders for you. I believe Risperdol (I am not sure of spelling) has been around for quite a while now, but it has been “tweaked” and changed, now it has extended release capabilities and is now marketed as a new drug. It is very expensive. My daughter’s Psych gave her samples to last about 3 months, with the hope that she will somehow qualify for some way to pay for it, anyways it worked better for her than anything she had ever used before. She was able to work every day at a good job, after 3 months she would have medical insurance and other great benefits, but she ran out of the medication a couple of weeks before she qualified for medical and quit her job just a couple of days before her benefits started! If only she would have had a few more weeks supply I believe she would still be working the same job and actually getting ahead instead of going back to the rut she is stuck in most of the time. Sorry guys as usual I wrote my long boring book again. I bet you guys are glad I didn’t have time to get on my PC yesterday. Sorry, it seems I get started and I don’t know how to quit. Love and prayers to you all. And thanks for putting up with me!

  19. 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!

  20. Danielle,
    Your choice but in your shoes I’d get a new therapist (if I could.) Remember, you are the expert IN YOUR ILLNESS. She may know about BP and treatments but she does NOT know as well as you how well you react to them! Even if they seem (to her) to be working well, wht is the point of giving you meds that you don’t feel are helping? It’s the same story – what YOU BELIEVE is not possible, what is not working for you, WON’T work for you BECAUSE you believe it won’t.

    There are many ways to skin a cat and there are probably just as many ways of drug therapy for BP. Some will work better for you than others, but those others may work better for other people, because everyone is different. Therefore, you probably have nothing to lose by changing therapist for a change in meds.

    However, I’m no expert except with my own illness! The decision msut be yours.

  21. 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 …

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