Hi, how are you today? I hope you are doing fine.

Are you familiar with President Obama’s Jobs Program? Well, there is a lesson to be learned from it that has to do with bipolar disorder.

If you live in the United States, you hear all the time that the United States government has to create jobs. So, some people are waiting for Obama to create jobs. But in the meantime, they stay unemployed, and who suffers? Not just them, but their family as well.

How about people who create their own jobs? I have several people who work for me that needed to work and found all sorts of jobs to work at.

For example, one person who works for me sent a letter to me detailing what she could do for me. She offered to work for 30 days for free. She was sneaky, because guess what?

She did such a good job that I hired her! See how creative she was? She didn’t just wait for the

government to make up some jobs. She was proactive and made herself a job.

People said she could not get a job because of her bipolar disorder, but she did it anyway. Why?

Because she couldn’t afford to wait for someone to give her a job. She was proactive.

But here’s the lesson that has to do with bipolar disorder: With bipolar disorder you have to be proactive, too. You have to take action.

You have to get your own medical and mental health professionals (doctor, psychiatrist, and/or therapist). They are not going to come to you, just like a job won’t come to you.

You have to take action in managing your own or your loved one’s bipolar disorder. There are things that you can do every day to improve your situation.

Say you or your loved one is depressed. You can’t just sit around waiting for them to just come out of that depression. You have to take action.

Some things you could do would be:

1. Encourage them

2. Be supportive

3. Be understanding

4. Don’t enable them

5. Give them a To-Do List

6. Offer to help them

7. Talk about what’s bothering them

8. Give them space

9. Have them write everything down in a journal

10. Have them keep a mood chart or diary

11. Make sure they are taking their medication

12. Encourage them to call their doctor

When they’re depressed, they may not even want to eat. You can even help your loved one by cooking healthy meals.

There’s lots for you to do instead of sitting around hoping for your loved one’s bipolar disorder to

get better.

Well, I have to go!

Your Friend,

Dave