==>>Would you like to master bipolar disorder?<<==
Check out all my resources, programs and information
by visiting:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp

Hey,

How’s it going? I have to make it quick because
my mom wants me to go to this thing that’s like
half the day long so I have to be out of here
really quick.

I urgently wanted to send you this email about
something someone emailed me about.

The email went:

“I met this person at a bipolar
support group and he says he never
ever went to therapy and almost
never has to go to the doctor and
he’s stable. Is this true?”
-Jen

When I get emails like this, I think
about all the people in the world of
bipolar disorder that fall for the
Bipolar Outlier.

What the heck is that you are thinking?
SIDE NOTE: Michele who works for me
says that I have an entire bipolar
vocabulary full of words that I have
made up and she says I need to make
a glossary of terms. I am actually working
on this and will post it soon.

Anyway, the Bipolar Outlier is a situation
when you find someone that achieves
success with bipolar disorder without
using normal, common, recommended or
best practices when it comes to treatment.

Wikipedia defines outlier as:

“In statistics, an outlier is an observation
that is numerically distant from the rest of the data.”

Think of the “rest of the data” as what most people
do to achieve success with bipolar disorder. The
outlier is someone who is way off from what everyone
else is doing to achieve success. Make sense?

Let me give some examples.

When ever you hear someone is successful
with bipolar disorder and it seems to not
make sense and run counter to what you
know, ask yourself.

#1. Is the person telling the truth?
Many times people lie in support groups.
It’s sad but true.

#2. Is the person really sick and doesn’t
even know it believes they are doing well.
Remember bipolar disorder is a mood disorder
and people can say and do things that don’t
make sense or are not true. So watch out
for the person that says “hey I do this,
that and the other thing and I know it
doesn’t make any sense but I am super successful…
trust me.” Many times this individual doesn’t
even realize he/she is sick or that his/her
life is a total disaster.

#3. How long has the person being doing
the thing and is it sustainable.
For example, let’s look at eating and
weight loss. If you ran into someone that
says hey I lost a ton of weight and last
night I had a gallon of ice cream.
You may think that eating a gallon of ice
cream could lead to weight loss or sustain
it. BUT, in this case, if the person continues
on this path, they will become overweight
again. So you wouldn’t follow this type
of advice.

#4. Is the person you are talking to the
true statistical bipolar outlier?
There is a small percentage of people
who can do everything wrong and things
that don’t make sense and achieve success
with bipolar disorder but it’s super small
and you would never want to model someone
like this.

We can go out and find people who are
super rich that dropped out of grammar
school, drank all the time, did all
kinds of drugs, went to jail and now
make lots of money but would you model
these people? Of course not. They are
the statistical outlier.

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

So bottom line is don’t get caught up
in modeling or listening to someone who
isn’t doing the right things.

It’s really easy to hear stories and
then think that you are off track when
you really are on track. Mastering
bipolar disorder is a skill and takes
time. But don’t fall for the people
that do “crazy” things and then say
that’s the way to go.

If you are new to dealing with bipolar
disorder, you might not know exactly
why I bring this up. But if you have
been around the block, you know exactly
what I am talking about.

I hope some people post some stories
to others can read and understand a little
better.

I have to run and I will catch you tomorrow
morning.

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,

What’s new? I feel so sick. I ate some
really bad stuff yesterday and I am not sure
what. Anyway too bad for me 🙂

Hey I have been working on a catalog site
with all my stuff. I didn’t realize I have
almost 20 resources for bipolar disorder.
Anyway, check it out:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp

Okay let get going.

I have to head out of my office
pretty fast today because I have a whole lot
of things to do but I wanted to write about
an important concept related to bipolar
disorder that you need to know.

Let me jump right into it. If you
are a supporter of someone with bipolar
disorder, and your loved one is not
stable, you can’t look to this person
to make good decisions.

Sounds like common sense, right? Well
it should anyway, if this isn’t common
sense then we really need to have a
serious talk. Anyway, even though this
should be common sense, many people
on my list make the huge and I mean
HUGE mistake of almost trying to rationalize,
talk to, look for answers to, wait for
a response from a person who is not
stable with bipolar disrorder.

This is absolutely positively amazing to
me.

Let me give you a couple of examples so
you kwow what I mean. Okay first one
comes from my family. Back in the
day right after my mom went into
her “mother of all episodes” she was
in the hospital and then was released
into an outpatient program.

While she was in this program (which
by the way was a total joke and terrible
as I look back), she would come back
home and scream and yell. She was totally
not stable. Anyway, I had taken her
c.redit cards away from her. Why? Because
I am a mean abusive son? NO. She had
over $30,000 of d.ebt and it was growing
super fast.

Anyway, I took them away right after she
first went into the hospital. My dad, on
the other hand wanted her to have them?
Why? Is it because he is crazy? He was
at the time sort of :).

It was because she wanted them and demanded
them and he would listen to her while she
was in her episode. It was super odd to
me. I on the other hand would never listen
to anything she was saying when she was
in an episode. Meaning, I wouldn’t take
orders or ideas from her that were clearly
descrtructure and go along with her.

Okay it got even worse. So after I went
through and cataloged all her expenses,
it turned into about many pages of that
yellow paper with lines on it. You know
the one that I can’t remember the name
right now. I think it’s called a yellow
legal pad, (Duh, Dave…sorry I am tired).

Anyway I discovered that she not only owed
$30,000 in c.redit card debt. She owed tons
of other de.bts so I put a plan together.

After the outpatient program and when she
wasn’t stable, she demanded to get her
c.redit cards back. She screamed and yelled
at me on my cell phone. She called me
every name in the book. Relentelessly
she beat on me. I never thogught for one
second to give them back.

Then her bipolar kind of game up on me
and she then put tons of pressure on my dad.
I shouldn’t even say tons because she called
him a couple of times and he immediately
called me and said and I will never forget
this, “Shouldn’t we just give her one
c.redit card?” I said no and hung up.

Anyway fast forward two years and when
I make fun of my dad and ask my mom,
“Looking back mom, are you glad that
I took charge and took your c.redit
cards so you couldn’t spend yourself
into homelessesness?” She says “YES.
thank you.”

If you met my mom and asked her this
she would tell you how her de.bts almost
destroyed her and she wished that I
took them away ealier. She is puzzled
as to why my dad would go along with
her and giving them back.

My mom kind of gets mad that my dad allowed
her to make bad decisions and didn’t stop
her. My dad never stood up to her bipolar
disorder and I did. I am not trying to say
I am a super persn which I am not. I am just
trying to make a point.

Okay, I almost have to take off but one more
case study.

There’s a person on my list. She called. Her
mother has bipolar disorder. She was to me
my father doesn’t know what to do. I asked
even he went through my material which
he has access to (ton of stuff like
what’s here:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp

She said no. He hasn’t. He is waiting for
my mom to snap out of it. I said what?
She said yes he is waiting for my mom
to snap out of it. I said, she needs
to be put into the hospital. She says
well he (the father) agreed to never
put her into the hospital.

I was thinking, “who in the world
would make such an agreement with a person
who isn’t stable?” Do you see the problem
here? Anyway to make a long story short,
the mother has bipolar disorder and is totally
unstable but the father who is the supporter has decided
to let the her make all the decisions? It’s so strange.

I know your like “Dave that makes no sense.” BUT I know
for sure there are thousands of people on my list
doing the same thing. It’s not just them.

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 bottomline is this. Don’t let someone who
has bipolar disorer control you and make decisions
that are destructive. Remember if the person
has bipolar disorder and is unstable he/she
can’t make good decisions that’s the entire problem
with the illness. If the person couldn’t it wouldn’t
be bipolar disorder.

If you have bipolar disorder, and you are stable,
you should do this immediatley. Have a talk with
your supporters and tell them that if you did
go into an episode not to listen to any descrtructive
things that you may say. Do yourself a favor and
set this up today. Don’t wait.

Well I have to run I have soooooooooo many
things to do today.

Have you ever let someone with bipolar disorder
and isn’t stable run the show and make decisions?
If so, please tell everyone your story. Don’t
be shy I told you mine 🙂

Your Friend,

Dave

P.S. Learn about all my resource for bipolar
disorder by visiting here:
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. There
is some really interesting stuff. It costs me a lot
of money to put it together so I URGE you to read
it.

Take some time now.

Visit:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolarnews338

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:

Health checkup: Bipolar depression

Two arrested after courthouse fracas

Benefits and Harms of Pediatric Antidepressant Medications

‘Devotion helped me get through dark days’

Modafinil under study for bipolar disorder

For these stories and more, please visit:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolarnews338

My Resources For Bipolar:

In De.bt Because Of Bipolar Disorder? Get help now.
Go here for more information:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/debtletter/

Interested in Natural Herbs, Remedies And Bipolar Disorder?
Go here for more information.
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/alternativetherapies/

Quickly And Easily Explain Bipolar To People
Go here for more information.
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/explainingbipolar

Need Money Because Of Bipolar Disorder?
Go here for more information
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolarbusiness

Dating Someone With Bipolar?
Go here for more information
http://www.BipolarCentral.com/bipolardating

Want To Marry Someone Who Has Bipolar?
Go here for more information
http://www.BipolarCentral.com/bipolarmarriage/

Need Affordable Health Insurance When Dealing With Bipolar Disorder?
Go here for more information
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/insuranceguide/

Problems With Drugs, Alcohol And Addiction?
Go here for more information
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolaraddiction/

Trying To PREVENT A Divorce From Someone With Bipolar Disorder?
Go here for more information:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolardivorce

Your Friend,

Dave

Hey,

How’s it going? I spoke with several people yesterday
that used their f.ree consultation certificate for
non medical or non legal questions and one thing
that seemed to run through everyone was
how they need what I call a “Bipolar Bunker.”

What the heck is a bipolar bunker? Well
when you are supporting someone with bipolar
disorder, you take what I call, “incoming
fire.” Incoming fire is the steady stream
of verbal abuse and threats and in some
cases physical abuse that a loved one
that is not stable will project on you.

Many bipolar supporters make the huge
mistake of actually sitting and getting
screamed at and trying to make important
decisions or try to rationalize or
argue back that’s even worse.

As a result the bipolar supporter gets
slowly worn down and eventually destroyed.
How do I know? I use to take a ton of incoming
fire with my mom every single day. Some times
9 hours a day. I am dead serious. I seriously
thought that I was going to die on some
occasions.

I will tell you this. 99% of people do not
have the will nor energy to be able to successfully
out argue the unstable person who is manic with
bipolar disorder.

It’s just not possible.

It took me months to figure this out. Eventually
I said to myself, “self, this is dumb, you need
a better strategy.” So I set myself up
what I called a bipolar bunker.

Basically my bipolar bunker was mobile–it
was my car. This bunker would shield me from
my mom and allow me some distance and breathing
room so I could think with a clear head
so I could make effective strategies to try to
help her.

I actually would drive about 10 minutes away
and put on the radio and sit and make plans
in my notebook. It was during these times
after about 20 minutes of my brain readjusting
to not being screamed at that I could think
clear. If I hadn’t done this, I would have
never been able to effectively help my mom.

If you have bipolar disorder, and you go
into a manic episode you should want your loved
one to setup their own bunker so that you don’t
cause them to want to permanently leave you.

I talk a lot about Michele Soloway who
has bipolar disorder and so does her husband. They
actually setup their own bunkers and want each other
to go into the bunker if they are in an episode. Why?
So the one in the episode doesn’t do or say something
really bad to one that is not in an episode.

I advise all supporters to think about how
and where they can create their own bipolar
bunker so they are not taking incoming fire
and unable to make any good decisions?

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

Some people move out of the house. Get an apartment.
Go live with someone else. You may think that is
quitting on your loved one but it’s not. It’s
called fighting the war from Washington. That’s
what I call it. If you look at let’s say the Iraq
war. The people running the war make decisions in
Washington, DC not in Iraq getting shot out on
a daily basis. Remember you are like a general
in a war. The enemy is bipolar disorder. The enemy
tries to attack you and you have to make sure
that you avoid all those “bullets.”

I hope this all makes sense.

Well I have to run. Have a great day.

PLEASE POST RESPONSES TO THIS EMAIL HERE

Your Friend,

Dave

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.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,

How’s it going?

I heard a really sad story about
bipolar disorder and it brings to mind and important
warning that I repeat over, and over and over again.

Here’s what happen. A friend of mine told me
that in his gym, a woman came up to her and said,
“I’m Bipolar.” and then she began to ramble on
and on about, according to my friend, everything
from what it means to have bipolar disorder, to
her bad childhood, to the fact that she is not
going to be taking her medications any more,
to the fact that her doctor said she should
take her medication or she will get manic.

Then she went on to say she was going to use
natural remedies to control her bipolar disorder.

Then my friend said this woman went around the
gym, made inappropriate comments to many members
and then she started touching people inappropriately.

My friend was kind of excited to tell me because
he said, “You’re in the field so I thought you would
be interested.”

Well I kind of didn’t really want to hear this
story because it’s a sad one.

I just don’t understand why people with bipolar
disorder stop taking their medication. There
are so many negatives when you stop taking your
medication.

NOTE. I am not a doctor, lawyer or therapist
and can’t diagnose, treat or make any medication
recommendations.

BUT, I have seen time and time again when people
go off their medications really bad things happen.
People who do this wind up saying and doing really
bad things.

Just look at this lady in the gym. She made a total
fool out of herself. She also made people with
bipolar disorder look bad. What do I mean?

Well if people saw and hung around the people that
work for me, or my friends with bipolar disorder,
you would think that people with bipolar
disorder are super cool, smart and great to be
around.

But when you are around people like my friend
met in her gym you think that people with bipolar
disorder can be super crazy.

It’s sad but true.

Let me address the natural remedy thing. As you
might know, I have a guide on natural remedies
at:

http://www.bipolarcentral.com/alternativetherapies/

If you got this, you know that I spent a ton of
money and time figuring out the deal with natural
“stuff” for bipolar disorder and what was true
and what wasn’t true.

I am so shocked that people get off their bipolar
medications, go against what the doctor says,
don’t even consult the doctor about what they
are doing with their “natural” treatments. It’s just amazing
to me.

It’s simply beyond my comprehension to understand.
I have spoken to Michele Soloway who works for me
and has bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses.

Michele is SUPER high functioning. Anyway her sister
decided one day to get off her medications and eventually
ramped up into mania and then crashed into depression
and eventually took a gun and shot herself to death.

ALL BECAUSE SHE DECIDED TO GET OFF HER MEDICATION

Michele tells me many times, the difference between
her sister alive and dead is the fact she decided
to get off her medication.

Now Michele also tells me that one reason people get
off their medications is because of side effects. They
either think they are going to get them OR they actually
do have some.

But Michele has told me time and time again along with
my own experience with my mom, doctors can help reduce
or eliminate side effects on medications IF they know
you are having them.

What’s that mean? If a doctor knows that you are
experiencing side effects they can work with you
to help you reduce, eliminate or deal with them.
However if you don’t tell the doctor, they never
will know so you can’t get the help.

So there are three important messages here today.

1. Don’t get off your medication and if you are a
bipolar supporter, encourage your loved one to stay
on his/her medication.

2. If you are interested in natural “things” for
bipolar disorder, make sure you talk them ALL over
with your doctor. Period. No debate on this one.

3. If you have side effects or have any concerns
talk to your doctor about them. Don’t hide this feeling.
Tell your doctor and he/she can help you deal with them.

Well I have to take off for now. If you want, please
take a look at 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

Catch you later.

Your Friend,

Dave

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.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,

How are you? Yesterday I was speaking to a
very nice woman who ordered my bipolar
supporter master course. She had some questions
and she used the f.ree consultation form
for non medical and non legal questions.

Here’s her story in a nutshell. She had a son
who has either bipolar disorder, schizoaffective
disorder or another disorder which I forgot right
now.

I think she said for 11 or so years they have
been trying to help him. She and her husband
stumbled upon my site and decided to get
my material.

Right now her son is in the hospital and in a
few days is going to be getting released. She
was asking me if I knew any facilities that
he could go to–like a private care facility.

She mentioned that she felt like she had
found a good doctor that could help her
son but some were advising her that her son
needs to be in a facility that they can make
sure he takes his medication and does everything
correctly. In essence, they handle everything–
total outsourced bipolar care.

She asked for my opinion about the entire
situation and what I would do. Before I tell
you what I said, I spoke to another person
with the same type of situation. It’s kind of
amazing that I get the same types of calls
on the same days. That’s odd to me but it kind
of works that way.

This guy had a son who has bipolar disorder
and maybe schizophrenia. His son was totally
out of control and was put into the hospital.
Everyone in the family says the son is beyond
the father’s control and should be put into
an institution so they can take care of him.
He wanted to know my opinion.

For both people I of course told them how
I am NOT a doctor, therapist, lawyer, etc.
and I can’t offer medical advice. They said,
basically “yea, yea, we know that you write
that 10 times a week.” I kind of laughed
because I always like to remind people.

Here’s the thing I said to them. First I don’t
have a list of “good” facilities to put people
into. I don’t think such a list exists and things
change so much that any list today might not be
worth much tomorrow.

Secondly, I warned both people against what I called
Total Outsourced Bipolar Care (TOBC). Basically
this is when you take someone and you put them
in some place or with someone and that organization
or person will handle the care from a to z with no
supervision from you or your family.

I think this is a bad idea in the mental health area.
We have seen time and time again that many places
really don’t treat people with a mental illness well.
Even the best places. I have seen even good doctors
without friends, families or someone’s involvement
not do the things they are suppose to.

The other day we talked about theory versus reality.
Theoretically any organization that is designed
to take care of someone with a mental illness or
any person should do it really well and try super
hard to help the person. But the reality is,
research suggests that total outsourced bipolar
care many times leads to the mistreatment of
someone with a disorder like bipolar disorder,
borderline personality disorder or schizophrenia.

So if you are considering this because maybe you
are at the end of your rope, please be careful.
Why? Because I find if you think that one person
or one organization will take your loved one problems
completely off your hands, I find that it’s not going
to happen like you think. I really don’t think there
is such a thing as perfect or even really good
total outsourced bipolar care unless you have a
TON and I mean a TON of money.

If you have to put your loved one in a facility for
some amount of time make sure you check in, see
what’s going on, get them into the 5% group of
patients that I talk about in my courses/systems
so they get great care. Make sure that you ask
questions, demonstrate you are on top of things,
etc.

You can’t just put someone with an organization and
think they will “handle it” because most times
they won’t.

I am sure there are thousands of people on my list
that had this done to them and it was a horror show.

Actually now that I think about it, one of the interviews
in my course/system had a horrible situation where he
was put in this “place” that was designed to help
people with a mental illness but the place simply really,
really mistreated him as he remembers. The family didn’t
know it was because they never really checked in.

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 am a huge believe in finding a great doctor and working
with him her to help yourself or your loved one. I am not
a big fan of total outsource bipolar care. Now you might
be wondering what’s the difference between total outsourced
bipolar care and outsourced bipolar care. Here’s how I see
it.

Total outsourced bipolar care is when no one else has
any involvement in the care and a person or organization
outside of the friends and family circle has total say
and handles everything from a to z. I am sure you can
see why this is a problem. It’s just like in government.
If you give a government too much power, bad things
happen. Just look at history.

Well I have to run. Have a great day and I will catch
you later.

Your Friend,

Dave

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.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,

How’s it going? I am writing you today with some
kind of strange. It’s a phenomenon that I like
to call, “addicted to the struggle of bipolar
disorder.”

What’s this mean? Well I noticed that since I have
been doing this for over 2 years now, there are
certain groups of people that never make any
progress. This is both supporters and those
with bipolar disorder.

I started thinking about why this is. Now
as you might know I have several different
resources to help people. Things like
my foundational systems/courses.

SUPPORTING AN ADULT?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11

SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarparenting.com

HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.survivebipolar.net

The people who go through these materials
and really take action do well. NOW, there
are people who for whatever reason haven’t
invested in my course/systems and just read
over my daily emails over a year, articles
and f.ree mini courses and these people do
well too.

So I asked myself, “what’s the deal with
some of the people on my list that are always
having problems with bipolar disorder?”

Yesterday I was in the car for 11 hours
so I had time to do a lot of thinking. I didn’t
have anything else to do so thinking was the
best I could do to entertain myself.

Anyway, I then had some numbers of people
that I use to talk to that were having serious
problems. I decided to call some of them.
I did a lot talking to people and then
it hit me that SOME of the people that don’t
make any forward progress are what I heard
a while ago “addicted to the struggle.”

What’s this mean? I heard this some time
in my life and it always stuck with me because
it was funny to me like “selling your car for
gas money.”

I use this with bipolar disorder. It means that
a person, whether he/she is a caregiver or
has the disorder themselves gets so caught up
in the struggle of bipolar disorder, they kind of
get use to it and almost couldn’t function if
there were no struggle.

They almost create their own problem and really
don’t treat to undo what’s causing the problem.

NOW, before I get hate mail. I realize this is
NOT and I repeat NOT everyone who is not doing
well. It’s some people.

Let’s look at which kind of people. These are
the people that expect the worst from bipolar
disorder, that expect there to be constant struggle,
expect that the right combo of medication will
not be found and as result these people actually
wind up doing things, many times unconsciously
that undermine forward progress with the disorder.

As a result they are always “battling” bipolar
disorder. These people say things like “oh well,
you know how it is, it’s constant problems.”

It means bipolar disorder and people who say
things like this find themselves having life long
problems with the disorder. It’s kind of a hard concept
to explain and it might seem that I am not making
any sense.

But if this doesn’t refer to you, be thankful because
it refers to many people that I speak to that struggle.

If this does seem like you, you need to start to
realize that bipolar disorder can be managed, there is
hope and information to make this happen and you have
to actively take action in a positive way to make
forward progress each day to get to where people like
my mom are, and the people that work for me–high functioning.

Many times, these daily emails can’t have every answer
to every question but serve as something that gets
you thinking about a particular subject. In this case,
it’s the concept of addicted to the bipolar struggle.

Right now, it would be interesting if anyone is willing
to step up and post a story on my blog that they might
be this type of person that I am talking about.

Let’s see what people have to say. I am not sure if
this concept make complete sense to everyone. If not,
maybe tomorrow I will try to explain further and make
it clear.

Before I let you go, let me throw in another example.
My dad and brother before I started helping my mom,
basically said, “oh we have tried everything, nothing
will work to help.” I had a different attitude. I didn’t
think they did that much and I just knew that my mom could
get better and way better. At the time I didn’t know what
high functioning was or meant but that was what I was shooting
for just not using that term.

Anyway, I think that my dad and brother got so use to the
chaos of bipolar disorder with someone (my mom) who
was not under the right treatment plan, they almost became
addicted to the struggle of dealing with my mom.

My brother for example loved to talk about what the holiday
was going to be like. Each year he would make jokes about
it and it was at least a 1 hour conversation before each holiday.
It became built into his schedule so to speak.

It’s strange but true. He wound up getting use to it
along with my dad instead of being proactive and realizing
“hey this isn’t normal and there’s a way to help mom
become stable and not create any problems.” They didn’t think
like that and as a results years and years went by with
my mom off track so to speak.

It wasn’t until I stepped in with a fresh new look
at the entire problem and I guess I wasn’t smart enough
to think that bipolar disorder was chaotic. I found out
my mom had bipolar disorder and I just was like, “okay
well let me learn everything to help her become a success
with it.”

I think if I would have seen or heard horror story after
horror story about people with bipolar disorder or maybe
have been engaged in actively trying to help my mom and
that failed for many years, I might have become addicted
to the bipolar struggle myself.

Does this all make sense to you? I hope so. Well
I have to take off. I will catch you tomorrow.

SUPPORTING AN ADULT?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11

SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarparenting.com

HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.survivebipolar.net

Your Friend,

Dave

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.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,

I have a VERY important bipolar disorder lesson
for you today.

Yesterday was the longest day of my life. I had to drive
10, that’s TEN hours yesterday. My friend competed in a
strongman competition which is a bunch of really big
guys moving heavy objects around.

My friend didn’t do well and it actually led me to
think about a VERY important lesson about
bipolar disorder.

Let me explain the deal. So my friend lost 14 pounds
in 24 hours. Imagine that. I am really serious.
Here’s why. My friend competed at 230 pounds
and did well. But then he had this great idea that
he would compete in the 200 weight class. BUT,
he only thought of the idea 30 days before he had
to be 200 pounds. He started extreme dieting
and eventually lost 16 pounds until the last 24 hours
and then he really had to do extreme things to
lose 14 pounds.

He had to do tons of cardio. He worse multiple sweat
shirts and rubber stuff under him all day and it was
97 degrees. He stopped eating and drinking for 24 hours
as well.

This was an extremely dangerous diet. This is NOT
healthy. What the heck is wrong with my friend
and why did he do this and what does this have
to do with bipolar disorder?

Let me explain. Here was the theory. He felt that
if he dropped from 230 pounds to 200 pounds that
he would be competing against people that were less
strong then the people at the 230 weight class.
He felt that he could drop the weight and then after
the weighins that night he could drink a ton and
eat a ton and gain all the weight back and really be
competing at like 215 to 220 pounds because he would
gain 15 to 20 pounds before the contest the next day.

Just so you are not confused, they weigh you in for
these competitions the night before and you compete
the next day. So the theory was to weigh 200 pounds
Friday night and gain 15 to 20 pounds for the
Saturday competition.

That was the theory. On paper it looked like a perfect
plan. He would drop the weight, make the 200 pounds,
compete against people who were weaker and at 200 pounds,
he would gain the weight back, get back to his old
self and do super well in every event.

The reality was different. Guess what happen?
His extremely dieting destroyed his energy level
and his strength. He did drink a ton and eat
a ton after he made weight. But guess what? He
got sick to his stomach. Had to stay up all
night because he was sick and the next day
was all messed up from losing 14 pounds and then
gaining like 15 pack immediately.

So he wound up placing 5th which is less than
he would have probably if he just stayed at 230 pounds.

What’s this have to do with bipolar disorder? Great
question. I call it theory versus reality.

What’s this mean? When you are dealing with
bipolar disorder, there’s a lot of theory but then
there’s the reality.

Let me give you an example, theoretically all
doctor should be ready to help you or your loved
one because they took an oath to do so and they
want to help either you or your loved one. However
the reality is, not all doctors function like
this. You have to actually persuade or “sell”
doctors into providing great
care for either yourself or your loved one.

Here’s another one. Theoretically there are laws
that say a person with bipolar disorder can not
be discriminated against in a job. The reality is,
people with bipolar disorder and even people who are
caregivers of those with bipolar disorder are discriminated
against every single day all over the world. If you
let people know, you must think carefully about
a plan on how to do this AND what to do if
there are problems.

Here’s another one. Theoretically your medical
files and history should be kept from doctor to
doctor. The reality is, more often than not,
many parts of your medical history related to
bipolar disorder are lost or totally inaccurate.

When I was talking to my friend about his strongman
competition I told him about this concept about
theory versus reality and how most of the times
there’s a huge gap. I told him how his theory of losing
weight and then gaining weight didn’t work out in
reality and he should have tried to find someone
that tried this so they could give him the real
deal and he didn’t have to experience it himself.
He said he learned a very valuable lesson.

SUPPORTING AN ADULT?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11

SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarparenting.com

HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.survivebipolar.net

When he said this, I said to myself, “I really
need to remind everyone on my list that you have
to watch out for theory versus reality with
bipolar disorder.”

So the message for bipolar disorder is, you have
to be careful about things that should be theatrically
actually turn out to be in reality.

Many times you will hear stuff from “experts” like doctors
and therapists that is outside of their scope of knowledge
and then they start talking theory but it’s not reality.
Unfortunately people wind up listening because these people
are good with one thing (i.e. a doctor with medication) so
you assume he/she knows what they are talking about
when you ask them, “how do I get on social security disability.”

So they start telling you things that sound good theoretically
but don’t work in reality. This is just an example there are dozens
of examples I could site. You have to be really careful when
you are figuring out who to listen to with bipolar disorder.

The reason why you read my stuff is probably because I have
lived it and I am telling you the reality according to my
own personal experience or someone else on my team’s personal
experience. Our stuff is reality based.

I will give you one more. Theoretically if you call the
police if your loved one is out of control with bipolar
disorder, they should come, and take your loved one to the
hospital. They should not come and shoot and kill your loved
one immediately–which if you check the news has happened
again and again. The reality is, if you call the police
on someone with bipolar disorder, you have to prep the
police so when they come, they don’t start shooting
at your loved one and kill him/her.

Anyway, I could go on and on but I think you get the idea.

Well I have to run. I have a bunch of things I have
to do today. Have a great day.

Your Friend,

Dave

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.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. There
is some really interesting stuff. It costs me a lot
of money to put it together so I URGE you to read
it.

Take some time now.

Visit:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolarnews337

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:

Bipolar: A Family Affair

Bipolar Disorder: A Mistaken Diagnosis

Wrestling with Bipolar Disorder

Modafinil Add-On in the Treatment of Bipolar Depression

>> Database could improve research on bipolar disorder <<
For these stories and more, please visit:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolarnews337

POST COMMENTS TO THE NEWS HERE

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12584731&postID=6980185083799193117

My Resources For Bipolar:

In De.bt Because Of Bipolar Disorder? Get help now.
Go here for more information:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/debtletter/

Interested in Natural Herbs, Remedies And Bipolar Disorder?
Go here for more information.
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/alternativetherapies/

Quickly And Easily Explain Bipolar To People
Go here for more information.
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/explainingbipolar

Need Money Because Of Bipolar Disorder?
Go here for more information
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolarbusiness

Dating Someone With Bipolar?
Go here for more information
http://www.BipolarCentral.com/bipolardating

Want To Marry Someone Who Has Bipolar?
Go here for more information
http://www.BipolarCentral.com/bipolarmarriage/

Need Affordable Health Insurance When Dealing With Bipolar Disorder?
Go here for more information
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/insuranceguide/

Problems With Drugs, Alcohol And Addiction?
Go here for more information
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolaraddiction/

Trying To PREVENT A Divorce From Someone With Bipolar Disorder?
Go here for more information:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolardivorce

Your Friend,

Dave

Hey,

What’s new? Today I have a really funny story
to tell you about concerning something really,
really important that you can do that has
almost an immediate impact on either your treatment
if you have bipolar disorder or your loved one’s care.

As you might know, I train a lot in gyms. There
are lots of guys in my gym. There are older guys
and there are younger guys. But the guys that are
the most funny are the guys that spend the vast
majority of the day trying to figure out how
to pick up or go out with more and more woman.

So I was talking to this one guy about all
his adventures. I made a comment to him, “Hey
if you spent 50% of the time you spend thinking
about woman on your future and finances you
would be further ahead in life.” He didn’t like
that and said that I was too old to be acting
like an “old man.”

Anyway, he was telling me that he made an
amazing discovery with women and that he would
tell me IF I promised not to tell anyone else
in “the circle”
because he didn’t want his discovery to be
“watered down” by the “lame” other guys
in the “the circle.”

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO YOU FROM ME

Don’t worry this is NOT x-rated and this
is NOT a dating tips email. It’s about
bipolar disorder. You’ll see trust me…

He said he heard from a friend, who heard
from a friend (or something like that), that
there was some guy who was able to get all kinds
of women to make him meals and food of all kinds.
He said, “Dude it’s amazing.” Then he went on
to tell me how it’s working for him and it’s
amazing.

He was super excited and said that it was
guaranteed to work for me. I told him that
I make my own food and it has to be a certain
way so I will stick to doing the cooking for now
:). He called me a “downer” and said that at least
I had the information “just incase.”

What’s his secret? Well here it is. I got permission
to email my entire list of almost 100,000 because
he says nobody’s probably on the list from the gym
anyway because it has to do with “mental” stuff–
according to him.

Anyway, this guy is really funny and half of what
he says doesn’t make any sense but it sounds funny
especially when he uses all kinds of words that
I don’t really understand (modern day slang words).

So here’s what he says. He claims that when he meets
some girl he talks a lot about how he loves home
cooking especially his mom’s. Then he “drops” hints
about people that he really likes that make him
things to eat. He then talks a lot about how he
isn’t good at cooking. He says by doing this
over time “she” subconsciously wants to cook for
him.

She says he has seen “amazing” results
“super fast.” He says that he is getting
all kinds of meals cooked for him.

WHAT’S THIS HAVE TO DO WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?

After I heard this technique I was thinking,
“hey, I use a technique like that with doctors
and mental health people.”

He was like, “Dude, what the heck are you talking
about.” I told him forget it, it wouldn’t make
sense to you. Anyway let me tell you another story.

Okay, when my mom first went into that big episode,
her doctor at the time was a total joke. He was
HORRIBLE! I would call. He wouldn’t answer. I would
call and he didn’t make any sense. Then I would drive
down SUPER MAD!!!!!!!! Demanding answers. He never
had any. He was so clueless it was almost like he
was doing it on purpose.

Anyway, after my mom went to the hospital and stayed
there for like 2 weeks some how she lost him. You know
I am not sure how he kind of became detached from her.
Meaning he was no longer her doctor. He had hospital
doctors and then outpatient doctors. I am not sure
if she said she didn’t want to see him anymore or
what. I actually have to check that and get back to
you at a later date. Anyway, it’s not important.

So while my mom was in the outpatient program, the
doctors there were nice people but clueless. They never
had answers to anything. They didn’t know anything. Nice
people but not helpful.

Then I was super frustrated. At this time, I started
to formulate my doctor finding system in my
courses and systems:

SUPPORTING AN ADULT?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11

SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarparenting.com

HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.survivebipolar.net

So I became really frustrated with the entire
experience. Now that I think about it, I realize
why so many people almost lose hope. If you start
talking to a few doctors who have no clue you
kind of think it’s hopeless. NOTE, there
are tons of good doctors out there, look at my
doctor finding system and you’ll find tons if
you follow the system.

Anyway, here’s what happen and this is how it
relates to the kid with the dating secret.

Once I started to find good doctors and talk
to them, I ALWAYS dropped hints of:

How the other doctors were horrible
How I HATED doctors that didn’t have answers
How I HATED when doctors didn’t return my calls
How I HATED doctors that didn’t take my mom’s illness seriously
How I wanted to have the licenses taken of all bad doctors
in the mental health field
How I HATED doctors that didn’t want to talk to either my dad
or myself
How I HATED doctors that didn’t show any care of concern

I know that hate is a strong word but at the time, I needed
to use strong words.

NOTE-If I was talking to someone other than a doctor
like a therapist or mental health worker, I told them the
same thing. So you could just insert mental health worker or
therapist where I wrote doctor and that’s what I did.

I did this will all the people and an amazing thing
started to happen.

The people started to do what I wanted them to do.
They treated my mom with respect, they helped, they
took calls, they followed up, they listened, on
and on. I think I subconsciously forced them to do
what they were suppose to.

NOTE-This doesn’t mean that I think woman should make
food for men. I don’t think that at all. But, the kid
telling me the secret made me realize one way I got
these mental health people inline. I was using a
similar concept.

So the strategy that worked for me and can work
for you is to drop hints of all the
bad people you worked with and how you didn’t like
them and most importantly what you expect. You should
be direct with what you expect but you can drop lots
of hints of old bad stories of old bad people.

When you do this, the new people don’t want to be
like the old bad people and they do things differently.
If they don’t, vote with your feet and move on. Find
good people. Refuse to accept bad treatment and
care.

One last final note. Many people tell me they
are in a small town and can’t find doctors. They
are in a big city and can’t find doctors. They are
in the South and can’t find doctors. In the north
and can’t find doctors. There are good doctors EVERYWHERE.
No matter where you are in the United States and Canada. I
am not sure about other countries because I don’t know
other countries well. But tons and I mean tons of people
in other countries report the same thing.

Don’t get caught up with the there’s no doctors
here thinking. That’s bad thinking. You may have
to drive 1 hour or so but they are there. Use my
doctor finding system if you have to.

Okay well I have to take off and start working.
Actually I have to go to the gym first and then start
working but I have to finish early today. I have to
help my friend out with some training tonight. He is
competing in a strong man competition this weekend
in Maryland.

Don’t forget, tomorrow I will be sending out
the news. Catch you later and have a great day!

Your Friend,

Dave

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.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