==>>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.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp

Hi,

How’s it going? I really have a
number of problems that I am currently
dealing with as this organization grows
and grows fast. That’s’ why I am actually
writing you about bipolar disorder
at 5:17am on a Saturday morning.

I wanted to write you about something
that I was thinking about yesterday
when I was food shopping.

So yesterday I went to good old A & P.
A & P is a company that sells food. They
use to be huge back in the day but through
lots of bad decisions and mismanagement they
aren’t that big any more.

Anyway I went in to A & P to get my weekly
food really quick. I only have 23 minutes so
I seriously had to make it fast.

I went up and down the aisles and found
what I needed right away. As I was
walking by, I was thinking to myself,
“Food places are so big and it’s so
amazing how much junk they sell…
And the junk looks sooooooooo good.”

I won’t even look at the gym, I kind of
turn my head because they are so good
at packaging junk, they actually make
it looks like health food.

DON’T WORRY THERE’S A BIPOLAR LESSON COMING

Please keep reading…

So going food shopping may be thinking
of going to my friends house the other
day and these two events made me
think of this incredible bipolar
disorder lesson you must know
or else.

The other day I went over a friends
house. It was the strangest thing.

Okay so I went inside and was going to
get something to drink…I always drink
water.

I couldn’t find any. I thought almost
everyone has water in the house.

Not my friend.

I thought he was out. So I went to get
some tap water. If you are out of the US
tap water is the water that comes out
of your sink.

So I had some of that. Then I went to
look for something to eat and it was
amazing what I saw.

Try to guess what I saw and then
scroll down for the answer…

Guess then scroll….

Tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons
of junk food.

It was amazing. I have never seen so many colors
of food in a closet and cabinets. I seriously
thought my friend worked as like a sales rep
for a junk food company. I was so shocked
I didn’t know what to say.

He said, “Dude, what’s up?” I said, “man you
have a lot of junk food.” He said “well
it’s not all junk food and I really don’t
eat it dude. I just have it.”

I was like “yea right. you keep it for
decoration right?”

Then a bunch of thoughts came to my head
about bipolar disorder and something
that’s so important.

Before I tell them to you, I want to tell
you a few things about my friend.

First he has gained a lot of weight
since college. He keeps on gaining
weight monthly it seems. He claims
that he is losing weight but he is not.

He really does eat a lot of junk food
and doesn’t eat healthy.

The problem is, his environment has
bad food in it so he is so likely to
eat poorly. He needs to get rid of the
junk food because if he did, it would
increase his chances of eating right.

Now when you are talking about bipolar
disorder, many people have so many things
inside their home that are bad for
bipolar disorder or temptations. Let’s
talk about a few.

1. Alcohol. If you are dealing with
bipolar disorder or are a supporter you
should not have alcohol in the house.
There is no reason.

2. Guns. I don’t think you should have
these either. I have heard so many stories
of a person going into a depression or manic
episode and grabbing a gun and killing themselves.
Take a look at the old bipolar news and you’ll
see story after story.

3. Illegal Drugs. I don’t even have to explain this
one. Get rid of them.

4. Weird knives and dangerous things. Some people
have lots of killing instruments for show or
something in their place. Like guns, these invite
problems with depressive and manic episodes.

These are my top 4 things you should get rid
of in your house if you are coping and dealing
with bipolar disorder.

You know I use to be 282 pounds when I played
football. After my last season I didn’t want
to be a big giant whale of a former lineman
like so many of my friends so I decided to
get down to 220.

One of the secrets that I learned was to
take out temptation from where I was living.
Today I don’t have temptation. That’s what I
call junk food. I also only have water in my
place and one or two bottles of soda for
friends that wine and complain they hate
water.

I have no other junk food.

BUT, I did violate my own philosophy the
other week. I bought a box of wheat thins
and some crackers. I don’t know why. I just
did. I figured that I could handle it if
they were in my place and that I could control
myself. Well I didn’t and wound up eating it
all really quick.

Shame on me. There is no question if I have
junk food in my house I am more likely to eat
it. If it’s not there, I won’t.

With bipolar disorder, if you have 1 or more of
the 4 things I talked about, trouble is likely
to come soon.

In my courses/systems, one thing that I discovered
when interviewing lots of people featured
was how they “took control of their environment”
by getting rid of things that could create problems
for bipolar disorder.

Actually this is where I got these ideas from.
Person after person that I interviewed warned
of drugs, alcohol, guns and sharp objects
so to speak.

There is one interview that’s in all my courses
with an older person who is a major success and
is really good at teaching how to become high
functioning with bipolar disorder that used a gun
to shoot himself when he wasn’t stable.

He is grateful he is alive but said to me,
there was no reason to have a gun in his place
and if he didn’t have it, he would greatly
reduce the chances of something bad happening
again even though he is stable now.

If you got my courses, I am sure you remember
his story. If you are interested it’s in
the bipolar supporter course for adults and
bipolar success course.

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

Right now, think about your environment
and is it good for bipolar disorder? If
not, make some changes.

Well I have to run. Have a great day and talk
to you soon.

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

Hi,

Here is the current Bipolar Disorder news.

Make sure you take a look at the news. I really
work hard to put it together for you :).

To see the news visit:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolarnews344

There’s some really interesting news stories this week.
Take a look at them. Also, write me some feedback by
visiting my blog below.

NOTE-Several of the headlines titles are really weak. I was
thinking that if I turned these in high school I would
get a D. BUT, the content is great so don’t avoid
reading the news because the headlines are really boring.

Here are some of the headlines:

Cardiovascular Disease and Metabolic Risk Factors in Male Patients
DO> Shocking information on the relation between diabetes and cardio
disease and bipolar disorder. My mom found this out the hard way.
Take a look.

Depressing outcomes with bipolar disorder
DO> Great talk on why there are so many kids being diagnosed
with bipolar disorder.

What the Kiwi gossip mags say
DO> This is a really good story to point out what happens
when you are not stable and have bipolar disoder. This
person made a total fool of himself for some time. Now
he has changed.

Professor tells her bipolar story to help others find hope
DO> Great article you must read.

For these stories and more, please visit:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolarnews344

==>> Get 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.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp

Your Friend,

Dave

==>>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.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp

Hey,

What’s new? Hope things are going well
for you today.

I received an email from someone
that said:

“Hey David, I have a quick question.
I don’t want to offend you but how
much of what you say about bipolar
disorder has been researched and
studied? Are there any studies
backing up suggestions you have
like the importance of sleep
and bipolar disorder?”
–Jerry

First let me remind everyone that
I am NOT a doctor, therapist, insurance
person, lawyer, or other kind of professional.
These are my opinions that I am giving.

I wanted to say something and I am NOT
saying this to brag.

As you know, my mom has bipolar disorder,
I have more than 100,000 people on my list.
I have between the #2 and #8 site in
the world for bipolar in google (ahead
of dozens of drug companies and sites like
webmd),

I have 8 people who work for me with bipolar
disorder, I been volunteering helping people
with bipolar disorder and supporters,
for more than 2.5 years, and the #1 most
read blog on bipolar disorder, I have lots
of audio and writing material for helping
people with bipolar disorder and supporters.

Again I am NOT saying this to brag but
to prove a really important point that
I am going to tell you. Again, I didn’t
write that list to brag.

PLEASE READ ON.

When I first got started. I did a ton
of research. I bought ever book. Most
weren’t any good. Then I interviewed
doctors, therapists, and tons and tons
of people with bipolar disorder.

I took lots of notes. I read and analyzed
my notes trying to make a plan or system
that could help my mom.

You know what? At the time, I was
too dumb to know how complex bipolar
disorder was. I assumed that I could
easily figure it out.

Actually this “dumb” almost naïve
little kid type thinking is what
enabled me to help my mom.

If I was thinking more intelligently,
I may have concluded that her
case was impossible.

Over time, I started to see how it all
would come together and what it would
take for her to be stable.

We had some ideas. We wound
up testing them and they worked.

I noticed that when I looked for studies
to back up so of my ideas and concepts
and almost in every case, didn’t find any.

Here is the surprising truth about
bipolar disorder. Much that goes along
with the management of bipolar disorder
is NOT studied. It’s really strange.

Early on, I figured medication is
super important but I knew there had
to be more. The studies do talk about
medication and it’s role in treatment
of bipolar disorder BUT I knew there
were other things as well.

My mom had taken medication almost
every year except the first 10 years
of being diagnosed.

But she still struggled. So I knew
there was more to it.

Then we started looking at stability
being more of an equation like
stability equaled medication +
therapy + sleep + stress reduction
etc.

It is interesting that in the last couple
of years of doing this, things that I
discovered or that someone told me they
knew worked for 10 years or longer are
now being announced as being important.

For example, recently in the news
they have been talking about how
psychotherapy helps with bipolar disorder.

Without a study, I knew that. How?
Well my mom stopped going to talk therapy
for a while after getting stable and
she got worse.

But today they are finally just announcing
it.

Some people on my list ask me if this
or that has been studied or confirmed to
help with bipolar disorder. I say to them
no it hasn’t because most things haven’t
been studied. And for whatever reason,
they don’t seem to be working too hard
on figuring out issues related to
mental health.

When I say they I mean like the drug companies,
governments, research people, etc.

It seems that more money and funding goes to
non mental health disorders. Just look around,
the biggest announcements rarely have anything
to do with mental health.

Announcements are usually bad news. Like
so and so killed so and so. Or so and so
did something really bad.

It’s never this studied concluded that
the introduction of calming music at night
for someone with bipolar disorder decreased
manic episodes by such and such percent.

Announcements are usually news is based on
something dumb like a new movie that
has a totally insane mentally ill person.

The important point here is, if you think something
will work for you or your loved one with bipolar
disorder, talk it over with your doctor and/or
therapist. Don’t wait years or even decades for
a study to come out.

Remember you can’t talk it over with me because
I am NOT a doctor or therapist. I really want
to keep on reminding people. I feel good
because many of the emails that I get all
start with, “I know you are not a doctor,
therapist or attorney but…” so that’s
good. Just want to be clear and not
misrepresent myself.

Anyway, with my mom, she runs any new idea or thing
she wants to try past her doctor and therapist
and they monitor.

One idea my mom had was to use calming music
to sleep better. Many people on my list
recommend this. I looked and there is no
study that talks about calming music and
bipolar disorder but for my mom, it’s worked
wonders.

Her doctor thought it was a great idea and
told her to try it. The results are great.

I hope you understand the point that I am
trying to make.

In my courses/systems, you’ll find that
many of the ideas, concepts and strategies
proven to work are the result of years
of struggle by both bipolar supporters
and those with bipolar disorder.

The reason I put together my material
was to help to reduce the time it takes
to figure it all out. These strategies
work but you won’t find each one backed
up by 57 different studies for the
reasons that I just talked about.

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 hope this email made sense to you.
Let me know your thoughts.

I have to take off. I just got a notice
saying there is a problem with one of my
websites.

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

==>>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.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp

Hi,

How’s it going?

It’s Wednesday. Hope you are doing well.

It’s almost the weekend. What are you doing?
I think I am going to catch a movie.

Well, let me get moving along.

I want to talk about this concept that
I have today that’s a little confusing.
I am going to do my best to explain it
so it makes sense.

I saw a really sad post on my blog
that made me really feel bad that’s
going to illustrate this concept.

I am going to post it here so you can read it.

I want you to read this very carefully.

Here is the post:

“I have been dating someone for 14 months
who has Bipolar 2…he is always manic and
takes seroquel to help him….He also drinks
and quite a bit.

He is quite accomplised in life and owns
his own business.

Therefore he is able to pay an accountant to
handle all of his bills and finances so has no
issues there. He is almost 40 & has never been
married….Now I now why….

I am here to tell you first hand that Bi-Polar
disorder & Alcohol do not mix!!!!

We had six months of Bliss….I thought that
he was the Man of my dreams. Then I began to
see the Dr. Jekly & Mr. Hyde part about him….
He becomes so mean & NASTY towards me when
he drinks.

He says things that other people won’t ever
dare to say. He treats me awful….I never
get an apology.

He has screamed at me, thrown me out, even
once been physical. It is absolutely awful.
I am always on pins & needles wondering when
his switch will come on.

He always tells me that the episode is over
something that he isn’t happy with regarding
me, justifying his actions. I am logical and
know that it helps make him feel better, but
I am a wreck.

I have lost all self esteem, lost weight myself
and in counseling because of this man’s issues
with Bipolar disorder & Alcohol.
The two don’t mix.

This has been witnessed now by several friends
and Family members of his who are SHOCKED!!!!
They point out to me that this is VERBAL Abuse
and very wrong.

I have been on and off with him for the past
4 months every time there is an episode.

I am completely supportive of him and willing
to go to couseling but he feels that there
is no need.

ALCOHOL is bad when a person has Bi-Polar….i
t makes them do things which they otherwise
wouldn’t & turns them MEAN!!!!”

===================================

Here’s what I have to say, first,
I feel really bad for this person.

I get email after email that is like
this.

I believe the problem is the person
doesn’t have what I call a bipolar
supporter deal breaker.

I defined a bipolar supporter deal
breaker as something that is so bad
that someone with bipolar disorder
does that outweighs any redeeming
quality the individual may
have.

I think it’s super important to
setup bipolar supporter deal breakers
or wise in some cases, you can
get really abused by someone that
is not stable and has bipolar disorder.

Let me tell you one of mine. It has
to do with medication. If my mom were
to stop taking her bipolar medication I would
no longer be her supporter. Not taking
medication is a deal breaker for
me.

Some might think this is harsh but I
don’t. For example, let’s say
my mom’s doctor put her on the wrong
medication and she wind up doing something
like hitting me. NOTE-This hasn’t
happen but I am giving you can example.

If she was taking her medication as best as
she understood and followed what the doctor
said, I would still support her.

For others, violence is a deal breaker.
The first sign of violence and many
supporters will not be supporters
anymore because they have setup
violence as a bipolar supporter
deal breaker.

You see, I really never blame my mom
for something that is NOT within her
control. Taking medication is within
her control. If she takes medication
that was prescribed and let’s say
not prescribed right or it was a new
medication and she did something,
I would still be her supporter.

The woman above have a serious issue
with her boyfriend.

It seems as if she is willing to go
on forever because she has no bipolar
supporter deal breakers.

Now for those that have bipolar disorder
who maybe might think that I am really
harsh with this concept, I am not.

Bipolar disorder is the kind of disorder
that a person with it who is not stable
can get so out of control and they can
create so much destruction. You have
to setup deal breakers for protection
and to keep one’s own sanity.

In my courses/systems, most of the
bipolar supporters I speak to, have
deal breakers and feel they are key.

In my courses/systems for people with bipolar,
the people who are successful encourage
their supporters to have deal breakers
as well.

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

As one person with bipolar disorder put
it, “I never want to put my wife through
what I put her through years ago, I told
her if I got out of control or met certain
criteria she should leave, call the police
or have me put in a hospital…I never want
to hurt her.”

Some people like I said before don’t
have deal breakers. I think not having
deal breakers many times with bipolar
disorder allows the person to not get
well longer and longer. Why? Well
because they know they will always have
that bipolar supporter.

If you are constantly being abused
over and over again, it’s not healthy.

Another thing that I talk about in my
bipolar supporter course for adults
is when to call it quits. I have an entire
chapter on when you should stop being
someone’s supporter.

It’s not an easy thing and that’s why
I devote so much time to it in my
bipolar supporter master course at:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11

This is such a serious issue, I felt
compelled to write about it and use
someone else’s story that was posted
on my blog to encapsulate what I hear
from many bipolar supporters.

I would be interested in hearing people
respond to this entire concept I outlined
today.

I have to go now. Have a great day and
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

==>>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.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp

Hi,

What’s new?

I hope things are going well for
you and you had a good day
yesterday.

I wanted to write about something
that I don’t think that I have written
about before. But it’s a serious
problem that has to do with bipolar
disorder.

I got an email from someone who
asked, “Can you drink when you
have bipolar disorder”

At first I thought, “What a silly
question,” because you see
commercials all the time on TV
about how not to drink alcohol
when taking this or that medication,
whichever one they’re advertising
for. But then I thought, well, they
never advertise for bipolar ones,
so maybe it’s a valid question
after all.

Either way, I decided to answer
it here, because I’m sure there are
more of you out there with the
same question.

First let me say, I have
never had a drink in my life.
I am not saying that to brag
just to let you know I don’t
speak from experience.

BUT, I haven’t jumped off a cliff either
doesn’t mean I have to do that
to know how bad it would be for
me 🙂

But I have done a lot, and I
mean a lot, of research into
bipolar disorder, as you know, and
along with that, there is a lot of
mention about people who have
the disorder who also have problems
with alcohol abuse.

Even by itself, without bipolar
disorder, alcohol can be a huge
problem. See, alcohol is a
depressant. Which is kind of
funny, because people who are
depressed don’t know that, and
they turn to alcohol to make them
feel better when they’re depressed.

And too many people end up as
alcoholics, with or without the
bipolar disorder to deal with as
well. But since I’m only talking
to people who have the disorder,
I’ll only talk about it in relation
to that.

Let’s just talk in terms of your
medications. There are all kinds
of warnings not to take alcohol
with your medication, aren’t there?

So it’s kind of a moot point to even
ask if you can drink if you have
bipolar disorder because of course
you will be taking medication for
your disorder.

That’s the simplest answer I can
come up with!

Drinking alcohol can be bad enough
in itself, but can be deadly for the
person with bipolar disorder, when
mixed with their bipolar medications.

In addition to this, there are so
many other bad things that alcohol
brings.

It can and usually does cause weight
gain. It causes people to eat more
when they are drinking. It causes
people to engage in relations with
people they normally wouldn’t.
It causes people to say things they
normally would not and get them
into trouble.

It causes them do possibly drive
drunk. It causes people to spend more
money they shouldn’t spend.

The reason why I have this list in my
head because I had this conversation
with a person in the gym that said, “How
come you never ever drink.” I gave her
the reasons.

As much as she wanted to NOT believe
what I said, she had to believe it
because everything was totally true.

This person by the way does drink and
and alcohol has caused many problems
for her.

If you go through my courses/systems
below, you will not find one high functioning
person with bipolar disorder that drinks.
I don’t know of one person at all.

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

And many of the people in my courses USE TO
drink and they indicate it made it almost impossible
for them to get their bipolar disorder under
control.

Oh, I forgot one more bad thing with alcohol.
Some who drink become violent.

I seriously might have 3000 horror stories
of people with bipolar disorder that were
drinking and not stable. If you think that
a person with bipolar disorder who is not
stable is bad, when you add alcohol it makes
it 100 to probably 1000 times worse.

This is going to sound crazy, but I would appreciate
if some people with bipolar disorder that use
to drink would post how bad drinking is on
my blog and warn others.

Now if you have a loved one with bipolar
disorder and that person doesn’t drink and you
the bipolar supporter does, I would recommend
you stop drinking. I would recommend you
get rid of alcohol in the house as well.
It’s just a good policy.

Well, I’m off again! So many places I
have to go.

Catcha.

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

==>>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.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp

Hi,

How’s it going?

I don’t have much time today because
I have a whole lot of things to do.

Let’s jump into today’s topic.

I have gotten my emails from people
totally frustrated with trying to help
their loved one with bipolar disorder.

One theme that I hear is that nobody
in the mental health system knows anything
about how to help them. People feel
essentially that most people in mental
health are totally clueless.

Ever find yourself in this situation?
You have a bunch of problems related
to bipolar disorder and you just
can’t get answers.

I find that when you are feeling like this,
you have to look at a few things. Here
are some of them:

1. Do you have a list of pressing problems
that needs solutions written down AND prioritized?

2. Are your problems specific?

3. Are you asking the right people?

Most people violate number 1 and
2. That is, they really don’t know which
problems they really have and they are not
prioritized or organized at all.

Finally of the people that do have steps
1 and 2 completed, they are NOT asking
the right people for advice/help.

This is a huge mistake that leads to
a whole lot of trouble.

Many questions get directed to doctors
and many times doctors can only answer
questions related to specific things
about bipolar disorder like bipolar
treatment issues, bipolar medications
or generally questions about bipolar disorder.

But there are so many things that are related
to bipolar disorder that aren’t in the list
I just mentioned.

Things like:

-How to get a loved one to take medication
-How to get a loved one into treatment that doesn’t
want to go
-How to get a loved one on disability
-How to get a loved one a job
-What to do when a loved one has been discriminated
against because of his/her’s bipolar disorder
-How to get out of d.ebt because of bipolar disorder
-How to afford bipolar medication when there is no health
insurance
Etc.

These types of questions, doctors many times don’t
have answers.

I actually should say right now:

I am NOT a doctor, therapist, insurance person,
lawyer and any kind of professional. I am just giving
my opinion. You should question any thing that
I say. I provide opinions that are good starting
points for you to do further research. I never
want anyone to believe that I am a doctor because
I am NOT one and that’s why I say this so many
times.

Okay done with the disclaimer and back to my point.

But I find that frustration sets in when people
wind up asking the wrong people things that
they can’t answer or can’t answer well.
Some people can answer but provide such
complex answers or ones far too vague
to be useful.

The bottom line is, you really need to carefully research
who can help you with the questions that you have.
And you should ask potential people you might
think can help you a question like, “How much
experience do you have with [what ever pressing
problem you have]”

By asking this simple question to who ever
you think might be able to help you enables
you to gauge whether or not they
can indeed help you.

I have also found that many times you have to look outside
the mental health industry to get answers/solutions
to your questions or problems. This is kind of confusing
but let me try to explain.

Okay, there was a time that my mom came home
from the outpatient program and her insurance
ran out. They basically said she was out of the
program and needed to find a new doctor IMMEDIATELY.

As a side note, I will never forget how stressed
out when this problem was dumped on me.

Anyway my dad panicked. He went to the phone
book and looked for doctors. He called 3. Nobody answered.
He left messages.

He waited a hour for a call back and then looked
depressed and said, and I will never forget this,
“I guess there aren’t enough doctors to go around.”

I then panicked. But I said, I have to do something
different. I called around to ask people in the mental
health field how to find a doctor. I heard the normal
stuff. Referrals. Phone book. Etc. People kind of
thought of it as a lottery. Maybe we would get a
good doctor for my mom, maybe not.

Anyway, it hit me that I had a system of finding
a great accountant. I could use this system
to find a great doctor. I outlined my system
to my dad. He thought it was crazy but said
let’s try. I called mental health professionals
and asked them. This one guy, laughed at me. He
ran an entire program. He told me there was
no way it would work.

I asked him if he had a better idea. He told
me to call into the phone book. Let me back up
and say that I actually did try this. I called
every doctor in the phone book. It was a nightmare.
I didn’t find anyone. It’s so hard to keep track
of who you called. In my opinion it’s almost
an “insane” way of finding a doctor but every
always says it as a good way.

Anyway, I adapted my system for finding an accountant
for finding a doctor and it’s was incredibly
successful. My mom had more than 8 highly qualified
doctors contact me and say they could help.

The only reason that I was able to make this
happen was because I had a specific goal in
mind–find a good doctor and I did NOT listen
to the people who could not help me. If I would
have, my mom probably would still not be better
today.

In my courses/systems below, if you got them, you
see how powerful my doctor finding system is.

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

And many people have commented that many of the
ideas and strategies are unheard of in the mental
health industry. The reason is because most of them
were invented by me or borrowed from other
people in other areas and they were adapted into
mental health. When I first started helping
my mom, I found most of the mental health
system made no sense and was backwards. I kind
of felt like it was from the dark ages.

The key decision I made was to never ask the
wrong people for help. Never listen to people
who have no clue and to constantly try to
think outside the box and realize that most of
the common solutions to problems with bipolar
disorder don’t work well at all so you have
to look else where.

Another tip is to find people who have
already learned what you have learned. This is
how I got my start on how to find health insurance
for my mom. I found one lady that had one key starting
piece of information on how to get discount medication.
It was her idea that really helped me formulate my
entire “cafeteria” approach to getting affordable
health insurance.

Well I have to run. I hope this all makes sense
to you.

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

==>>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.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp

Hey,

What’s new? Still up in Connecticut coming
home today.

How’s it going today? I was thinking about
something last night that’s been on my mind.

You know, I get a lot of emails and calls asking me
some of the same questions, and one of the biggest
questions I get is what NOT to say to someone
who’s in an episode.

There are two big comments you shouldn’t say to
someone in a bipolar episode. The first one is:
“I know how you feel.” Because they will just
get madder at you and say, “There’s no way you
can know how I feel because you don’t have
bipolar disorder.” Or something like that.

And that’s true. You don’t have the disorder. So
you can’t truly know how they feel. And saying
this can sometimes make them so mad (and even
put them into a rage) that they’ll start screaming
at you, which is what you don’t want.

It would be better if you said something like,
“I can understand why you feel the way you do.”
This way you’re acknowledging they’re feelings,
but you’re not antagonizing them, either.
Especially if you stay calm and say it in a soft
voice.

In my courses and systems:

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

The second thing you shouldn’t say is, “I told
you so.” Even if you warned them against
excessive spending, and they went ahead and
did it anyway, and you feel you have every right
to say I told you so… you still need to bite your
tongue.

Because even though it might make you
feel better to say it in the short run, in the long
run, you’re going to pay for it. Your loved one
will get angry and yell at you for it, and it won’t
accomplish anything positive. It will just make
them madder.

These are just two of the things that you shouldn’t
say to a loved one while they are in a bipolar
episode. Of course, there are many more.

The main thing is not to take it personal when
they’re yelling at you, and to stay calm. That way
you won’t yell back at them and say things you
might regret or things that will just make them more
angry at you.

Hey, I have to take off to get ready. I have
a really, really, really, really long drive
ahead of me.

Oh last night, I got a call from someone on
my cell at 3:31 am asking, “Hey, are you
David Oliver and do you help people who
are helping people with bipolar disorder?”

I don’t even know what I said because I was
so tired. I think 10,000 people have my
cell phone number. Last month. I did 12,000
minutes on my cell phone. That’s crazy.

See you.

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

==>>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.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp

Hey,

How’s it going? I am actually in upstate Connecticut
this weekend doing some research.

I am heading out but I wanted to write you really
quick.

You see, I get a lot of emails from people who just
complain a lot about being supporters of a loved one
with bipolar disorder, about how it keeps them
from doing the things they want to do, and
having the life they want to have, etc., etc.,
and that bothers me a real lot.

I’ll tell you why that bothers me so much. Because
I know someone else who is a supporter, who never
seems to complain about it at all! She just goes along
with her life as if she doesn’t even have a problem at
at all with being a supporter! And she just has the best
attitude of anyone I’ve ever seen. She’s has this
real positive attitude, not like the complainers I get
who have a real negative attitude about everything.

Which person do you think I would rather talk to?

You’re right! Because the second person lifts me
up when I talk to her, and makes me feel better.

So we have two different people, both supporters,
both with the same set of problems. So what’s the
difference between them? Their attitude!

In my courses and systems:

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

In my courses, I go over this. I talk about how
you need to have a positive attitude, or it will just
bring you down, and then nobody will even want to
be around you, your own health and well-being will
suffer, and stuff like that. In other words, it just
isn’t healthy for you to have a bad attitude or to
complain about being a supporter of a loved one
with bipolar disorder.

So let’s look at the second supporter. If she has a
bad attitude at all, it’s against the disorder itself.
She says she’s not going to let the disorder rule
her life – that she is the one who is going to be in
control, not the disorder. She says that she has a
choice in how she feels, and she chooses to feel
positive.

I think we can all take a lesson in that.

Furthermore, I find that supporters with bad
attitudes wind up driving people away that
can help their loved ones.

Many people can forgive someone with bipolar
disorder saying and doing things that aren’t
right but when the supporter is saying and
doing things that aren’t right, people
wind up saying, “Hey I am staying away
from that person.”

I find the worst thing to do and say is
to have a poor attitude. Nobody really likes
a supporter with one. Even professionals who
are trained to cope and deal with such
suppporters secretly have told me how
they dred certain bipolar supporters they
have to deal with because they are
so darn negative.

Well, I’m off to another meeting. See
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

Hi,

Here is the current Bipolar Disorder news.

Also, if you have bipolar disorder and haven’t taken
a look at the 7 secrets to living with bipolar
disorder, please do by visiting:

http://www.survivebipolar.net/bipolarsecretsreport/

Make sure you take a look at the news too. I really work
hard to put it together for you :).

To see the news visit:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolarnews343

There’s some really interesting news stories this week.
Take a look at them. Also, write me some feedback by
visiting my blog below.

Here are some of the headlines:

Manic Phase Of Bipolar Disorder Benefits From Breast Cancer Medication
DO>VERY interesting article

Researchers Test Seasickness patches, other current drugs for bipolar disorder
DO> This is amazing

Cancer drug hints at treatment for bipolar disorder

Breast cancer pill helped bipolar mania: study

Huge Increase in Bipolar Diagnoses in Youth, Study Reports
DO> Do you think it’s because of an over diagnosis or because more kids have bipolar?
Read article then decide.

For these stories and more, please visit:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolarnews343

My Resources For Bipolar:

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

==>>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.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp

Hey,

What’s going on?

I was writing really quick before I head
off to the gym.

Someone asked me the other day on the phone
about why I harp so much on m.oney and bipolar
disorder in my articles.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

I have had to put “.” in words so they
don’t get caught in spam filters. I am not
losing it or going in insane just in case
you were wondering :).

Okay, here we go.

I got an email that also said:

“Dave, I love your stuff but why do you
have a tape called Bipolar and Money?
What’s m.oney have to do with bipolar
disorder? I am totally confused?????
Are you saying m.oney can cause
bipolar disorder?”
—Mary

Actually over the last few months I have
talked about m.oney and bipolar less
because it’s not a problem for my mom any
more. Back in the day, it was a HUGE
problem. The stories I could tell you.
The d.ebt collectors I had to deal with.
It was amazing.

But I am reinspired to write more about
m.oney and bipolar disorder.

The one thing about bipolar disorder is, it
winds up costing many people a ton of money.
The person with bipolar disorder and the people
around them.

One of the major reasons that I spend so much time
talking about f.inances and bipolar disorder because
many times a person goes into a bipolar disorder
episode and spends m.oney without really thinking
it all through. Slowly over time, MASSIVE d.ebt is
incurred. D.ebt that is so large it cripples
the person who has bipolar disorder and all
the people around them.

This happen with my mom. So many people
were suffering that I did a teleseminar
on how to handle this. Actually looking
back that was really cool. I had more
than 500 people on a phone teaching
my methods on how to handle the
situation.

From the teleseminar, I created a course on
h.ow to get out of de.bt faster from bipolar disorder
at:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/debtletter/

If you don’t know how bipolar disorder
can bankrupt someone and then the people
around that person here’s how it works.

Someone has bipolar disorder, he/she
then goes into an episode. Remember
it’s a mood disorder so the person starts
doing things they normally wouldn’t do
and doing many things that are impulsive
like spending money.

The person starts buying stuff with the m.oney
they have and then they can get c.redit c.ards.
Then take out l.oans or find all kinds of ways
to get m.oney to keep on spending.

Then after that they wind up borrowing from
other people close to them and making up
great reasons why they should. People
believe and give more m.oney.

The m.oney starts to feed the mania. It’s
kind of like gas that’s put on a fire
and it makes things worse. The mania
gets worse and worse and worse.

In some cases, people are in episodes
and take out loans, c.redit cards and
other financial vehicles in other
people’s name and use the money.

Then here comes the interest. When you
borrow m.oney you get charged interest.

So the people get into a situation where
the i.nterest is so great they can’t
afford it. They miss payments. Then the
i.nterest rates goes even higher and
it’s more difficult.

Eventually it turns into a super nightmare.

The entire thing is a huge financial mess.

Then it gets worse. All the d.ebt start
to catch up with people and they can’t afford
anything. The stress of the de.bt winds up
causing the bipolar episode to get worse.

By the time someone figures it out d.ebts
can be huge…into the multi tens of thousands
of dollars.

Over the years, I have spoken to millionaires
bankrupted by this process. I have talked to
people who have lost $100,000, $350,000,
1.1 million, 1.5 million. I myself lost
more than $250,000 from bipolar disorder.
It sounds crazy like we (those who have
lost this much) are making it up,
exaggerating or lying. We aren’t. Trust
us. It can happen.

Keep in mind, this is all done with someone
who is in a bipolar episode not when they
are stable. Don’t think that I am attacking
all people with bipolar disorder who are
stable because I am not.

Some people believe that it’s not going
to happen to them.

“Dave, my wife would never do what your
mom did. No offense. She is good
with m.oney.”
Stan

That person stan wrote me more than
2 years ago. He is now b.ankrupt. His
wife destroyed his f.inances. He had
no protection systems. She went into a
super episode and took him down financially.
Before this happen I warned him. He didn’t
listen.

I don’t even know what happen to him. His
phone numbers don’t work. It was really
sad because he was like 60 something.

This is a touchy subject but I want to
bring it up. It’s just so important.

Now, once you have huge de.bts it’s
almost impossible to help someone
become stable. You wind up having no
money for all kinds of things that
require money like, medication, doctors,
therapy, etc.

This problem is so serious I created a program
for people to generate fast cash in this
situation:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolarfastcash/

There were so many people desperate for
ways to get money right away for the bare
essentials so that’s why I created that program.

How Do You Stop/Prevent The Nightmare?

There are a few important steps to be
taken to prevent this disaster from happening
to you.

First, you have to get yourself stable
if you have bipolar disorder or if you
are a supporter help your loved one
become stable.

You do this through everything I write
every day or the information in
my courses/systems:

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

If a person is not stable and has bipolar disorder
there is a huge risk of what I describe happening.

After this is accomplished, it’s is VERY important
to setup systems to protect finances because we know
that if you have bipolar disorder, you
could go into another episode and wind up
spending so much money that it bankrupts
yourself and everyone around you.

Finally you have to work to eliminate the
d.ebt that has been incurred. My mom has
been working on this. She racked up over $30,000
of de.bt and now is almost totally de.bt free
for the first time in more than 20 years.

Anyway, I wanted to write why I hard on
m.oney and bipolar disorder. Some thought
I was crazy because I did.

I would appreciate if people would share
stories of what can happen. There are thousands
of people on my list that think what I described
is not possible. Let’s try to motivate them
to know it is possible.

See you tomorrow. Oh tomorrow is the bipolar
disorder news.

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