Bipolar Supporter Blog

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

Hi,

How’s it going? Today I wanted to write about
something that I have really ever written about
but I find it fairly disturbing.

The other day I was talking to someone who
filled out one of my F.REE consultation
certificates for non medical and non legal
questions because I am NOT a doctor, lawyer,
therapist, etc.

Anyway, this person basically wanted to know
two things.

1. Why his son was sleeping so much in the day
and would be up all night.

2. How he could get his son to start working
right away.

First, I explained to him that I was not a doctor
BUT, I asked him if he informed the doctor about
his son’s condition. He said, “Umm. Well no not really.”
So I highly, and I mean highly recommended that he
contact the doctor and let him/her know EXACTLY
what he was seeing with his son. From a to z and
don’t hide, sugar coat or mask anything.

NOTE-I am really surprised the number of people
that see that something is wrong and don’t
report it to the doctor. I just can’t understand
why people do this. It doesn’t make sense. If
you see ANYTHING that is not “normal” or
doesn’t make sense with either yourself or your
loved one with bipolar disorder, you must report
it.

Doctors are NOT psychics and can’t know things
without you telling them.

Okay so anyway, back the story. So the guy says
okay I can do that and that makes sense. I tell
him that he needs to ask the doctor exactly
how they would like to receive this information
via email, fax, voicemails, etc.

The guy says okay.

Then he said well what about working and bipolar
disorder. I said what do you mean? He said well
he won’t work. I said you mean your son? He said
yes.

I was shocked.

Do you know why? Take a wild guess and then
scroll down for the answer….

SCROLL DOWN

How can you expect someone with bipolar disorder
to work if he is not stable? How does this make any
sense whatsoever? I asked this person this simple
question he said.

Well I need him to start making some money
because he hasn’t made any. I was thinking in my
head, “Well I need a lot of stuff but that doesn’t
mean I am going to get it.”

So I explained to this particular gentleman that
his son has bipolar disorder and is not stable.
Step 1 is to get him stable. After he is stable,
then we can look into things like employment. But
first things first. We have to get him stable.

I then said to him. Imagine how “crazy” it would
be if you asked a stroke victim who just had a stroke
to start working right away. I said to him, “People
would like you were out of your mind.” I said,
you are asking the same type of thing.

I then went on to say, “it seems you don’t think
bipolar disorder is a real condition and is serious
because if you did, you wouldn’t expect your son
to work right away even though he is not stable.”

I then went on to add, would it be fair for your
son to apply for jobs even though he wasn’t stable?
He said, “well the people probably wouldn’t know
at first anyway?” I said, well is that fair? Of
course it’s not fair.

I then told the person he needs a sort of bipolar
supporter mind cleanse and he is way off track.
I told him that I was going to outline what I thought
he needs to do.

I told him.

1. Focus on getting your son stable.
2. Work with the doctor and inform him of your son’s
signs and symptoms.
3. Assume that it’s going to take months for your son
be stable. If it takes less time great but assume longer
than shorter so you don’t get disappointed.
4. Reread what bipolar disorder is and study it carefully.
5. Sell yourself that bipolar disorder is a real illness
and you can’t push an unstable person too hard because
that’s not fair.
6. After your son is stable, look into part time employment
after the doctor/therapist agree it’s okay.
7. If you need money immediately, cut your expenses and/or
increase your income but don’t put pressure on your son
who is not well.
8. Treat your son the same way you would treat a cancer patient
or stroke victim who are in recovery. Meaning if a cancer patient
was in recovery, you wouldn’t expect them to work and make a
fortune right away would you? He said no.

Then I let the person go because I had to run. I must say
I get a lot of calls from people wanting their loved one
to start working right away. I find this disturbing.
How the heck can you expect someone to work when he/she
is not stable? That makes no sense.

When my mom was sick, my brother never wanted my mom
to work BUT he would make comments and jokes about how
she wasn’t working. I didn’t even bother to argue with
him because the stuff he was saying was so stupid it
was not even worth commenting on.

Here’s the thing. You have to help a person become stable
first before you have them employed. If you don’t you
will wind up costing yourself more money in the long
run. For example, if you get a person a job who is
not stable they will probably get worse anyway which
will wind up costing more in medical costs, medication
costs and psychological costs on you and if you start
to depend on the income they are making it will be
gone and that will be a problem for you.

So don’t do it. And give a person with bipolar disorder
who is not stable a break. It’s not fair to put a ton
of pressure on them. If you need money, look to other
ways to get it. Like I said, cut your expenses,
increase your income, etc. There’s more than one
way to skin a cat so to speak as the old saying
goes.

In my courses/systems, nobody went into an episode
and could start working right away. It was a
gradual process. It takes time. I think after 9 months
or so my mom could work part time. BUT part time.
If you check out my interview in my courses/systems
you’ll see what I mean.

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

Well I have to take off for today. I hope you really
think about this email because it’s important.

Have a great day and I will catch you tomorrow.

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? Yesterday I spoke with a person
that is yet another incredible bipolar success
story. This person actually started on my list
a long time ago. Way back when I first started.

Sometimes I forget there are actually people
who have actually been on my list for a long,
long time.

Anyway, this person started on my list and wasn’t
stable. He didn’t really have any supporters
because he had made them all mad. He said that
basically he started getting my f.ree mini course
which he told me kind of was a little “messed
up” because at one point I had to delete it all
and put new messages in and when I did that,
for many people it was out of sequence.

NOTE-When I first started this, I didn’t even
know how big it would get. Pascale actually helped
me and we put some stuff together and then we realized
that he had a lot more stuff to add to the bipolar
mini course. So when we went to add more material,
we realized we had to delete what he had already.
But then people missed a bunch of messages but
there was nothing I could do. It was a mess.
But eventually it all worked right.

Anyway, this person read over my mini courses
but couldn’t afford to get my course. He said
that although I didn’t send daily tips
I had a lot of great information he never saw
anywhere else.

He said one of the best things he did was try
to find a doctor that was good. He said that
he got ideas on what to ask the doctor and that
some doctors were bad. He eventually found one
and was totally honest with the doctor about
how he wasn’t doing well, his suicidal thoughts,
his violent thoughts and the fact he USE to not
take his bipolar medication right.

But he told the doctor he would follow his orders.
He said that they tried a bunch of stuff and
he didn’t feel really right but eventually after
many months he became stable.

He said that eventually he saved up and got
my bipolar survivor course which was it’s name
back then and now it’s the bipolar success course
at:
http://www.survivebipolar.net

He told me it was rather odd that when he was
at support group meetings that he never really
met any people doing well.

I don’t find that odd myself, I find that the norm.
Unfortunately at support groups, they attract the people
generally doing the worst. It’s sad but true. I volunteer
at a ton so I should know. I think the reason is,
the people doing well with bipolar disorder are busy
with their lives and they don’t “give back” and go
to the support groups. The supporters who’s loved ones
are doing well don’t give back either and the only
show up when their problems.

So generally the room is filled with lots of people
who have problems. It can kind of get discouraging.
BUT LET ME TELL YOU.

If you ever think, “Are there any successful people
with bipolar disorder or caregivers?” The answers is
YES! There are lots of them but they don’t advertise
themselves. The most successfully you know may have
bipolar disorder. The thing is, if you have bipolar
disorder and you are a success, you are stable and
don’t look like you have bipolar disorder.

Anyway, I wanted to make this point about bipolar
support groups.

They guy did tell me in the survivor course, that
the bipolar success interviews really gave him
hope as to how well he could do.

I was really excited because that was the reason
I put them in there in the first place. I wanted
people to hear what success people with bipolar disorder
sound like and what they do. I knew for the average
person it’s almost impossible to meet successful people
with bipolar disorder.

Most people don’t have the time or money to go out
and find them.

Anyway, I was really happy that this person was doing
well and most importantly has been doing well. I hate
the I am doing well for a month but then I stop doing
everything I am suppose to and start doing poorly
stories. That really depresses me.

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 in summary with this bipolar success story:

-He took action to become stable
-He made a decision to become stable
-He found a good doctor
-He was totally honest with his doctor
-He was patient with the bipolar medication to work
-He trusted his doctor
-He got information on how to manage his bipolar disorder
-He continues to invest in himself by getting more information
on bipolar disorder and paying for doctor, therapy and medication.
-He has a positive attitude

Those are the key things I pulled out of the talk with him.
I know that lots of people on my list are kind of down
because either themselves of their loved ones aren’t doing
well. BUT, there is hope. On my list there are thousands
of people doing well. I try to point out these stories
so you can learn from them.

Well I have to take off. Catch you tomorrow.

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,

Yesterday I wrote an email about therapy and
bipolar disorder. I wanted to follow it
up with a few quick things.

I think the reason why therapy does so
well with bipolar disorder is because
it helps a person think properly about
the disorder.

A good therapist can help someone
with bipolar disorder:

Accept his/her illness
Not feel ashamed of it
Understand what thoughts are “bipolar” thoughts
versus real thoughts
Help a person realize they need to stay on medication
forever
Help a person realize how hurtful the illness is to
people around
and many other things but that’s a “short” list.

Before 2004, my mom never really went to therapy.
After she went into the big episode, I decided
that therapy was super important for her. I figured
this out because as I was trying to make a plan
to help her, I went to lots of meetings, found many
people with bipolar disorder, read tons of books, guide,
manuals, spoke with many doctors and experts in the field
and they all brought up therapy.

Once I saw that it was important, I strongly encouraged
my mom to go. My dad on the other hand was more difficult.
He had to pay for some of the costs and he felt that
therapy was an “expense” and that it was just sitting
around and paying someone to talk to you. Which isn’t
what it is but that’s what he thought.

So my mom started going and it helped for sure. It
changed the way she thought and it appeared to me,
that my mom had less ups and downs randmoly
throughout the week because of therapy.

Now at one point in the last couple of years, for
some reason, my mom decided to stop going to therapy
for about 6 months. She didn’t tell anyone. It was
when she was undoing all the things that I did to
help her with her bipolar disorder.

As a result my mom ALMOST went into another
huge episode but I caught it. If you got
my Course Avoiding The Bipolar Doomsday
Scenario, at:

http://www.bipolarcentral.com/bipolardoomsday/

That’s what the course is all about.

Anyway, after this event my dad changed his
mind about therapy and thought of it as an
investment not an expense. You can save money
on stuff with bipolar disorder but you wind
up paying 10 times more later. For example,
obviously therapy has a cost associated to
it even if you have insurance. BUT, this cost
actually is an investment that saves you money.

Many people simply don’t get this concept.

Through out my courses/systems at:

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

Success story after success story talks
about the important of therapy. I HIGHLY
recommend that you consider it with bipolar
disorder. AND, even if you are a supporter,
many people advocate going to therapy as
a supporter so it’s not just for the person
with bipolar disorder.

Well I have to take off for the day. Have a
great day and I will catch you tomorrow.

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

The Key Bipolar Secret Underrated

Hi,

How’s it going today. I got up super late today. I
have no idea. But it’s Sunday so I guess I am allowed
to get up late.

Anyway, I have to really make this quick because I am
going on a 9.8 mile hike today in the Delaware Water
Gap.

Anyway let’s jump into today’s important bipolar
disorder lesson.

Last night I was interviewing a person by the
name of Bob. Oh yes, you might be thinking
it’s sad that I am a) working on a Saturday night
and b) interviewing people on a Saturday night.
I guess it’s kind of sad but it’s for a good
cause :).

Okay so Bob had about 10 years of really difficult
struggle trying to get stable with bipolar disorder.
Eventually after 8 to 10 years and 6 different doctors,
he found on that helped him get on the right Bipolar
medication which led to him being stable now for
years.

During the interviewing Bob was faced with numerous
challenges like having an alcoholic dad, a mother
that didn’t know what was wrong with him, teachers
that didn’t know what was wrong with him, a drinking
problem himself, a drug problem himself, violent
thoughts, suicidal thoughts, attempts of suicide,
and doctors that fell asleep while he was talking
to them, one doctor that basically said he was a
lost cause and there was no hope, a doctor that
just didn’t care at all or really help and many
other major difficulties.

The thing is, Bob was his own supporter. Unlike
many people on my list with bipolar disorder,
bob didn’t have a wife or kids that were trying
to help him. I must say, this is the first interview
of it’s kind that I have done.

Most people with bipolar disorder have supporters
of some kind. Now they may have alienated them
but they had or kind of have them. Bob on the
other hand didn’t have any one really.

DURING THE INTERVIEW I WAS AMAZED

I was really amazed at Bob. I must say,
I was thinking, “With everything that
Bob had going against him, he should
have been dead.”

I have heard of many people who had far less
going against them and they had wound up
dying in some way. These of course are people
with bipolar disorder that were not stable.

So I was thinking, “What made the difference
with Bob? Why did Bob hang in there until
he found a doctor to help him become stable????”

I was waiting to get the answer during our interview
and then……

IT CAME!!!!!!

Bob finally said the key or the secret. Guess what
it was??????? First take a guess and see if you
can guess it and then scroll down for the
right answer….

DON’T CHEAT 🙂 Guess then scroll

THERAPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s right it was therapy. Even though
Bob didn’t have the great doctor when he
got on his journey to stability, he did
go to therapy and did involve himself
in the church which gave him a kind of
therapy. He did a lot of therapeutic
things.

That was the key for Bob. So Bob had
enough therapy that when he was faced
with difficulties he could work through
it so he could eventually get to the
right doctor.

I was really excited and then I was thinking
“Hey I need to email you guys to let you know
this.” Why? Well because therapy is really
underrated. I am not sure why.

Many people that are dumb or “meat heads” in weight
lifting talk, think therapy is for woman, wimps
or weak people. This is NOT true.

NOTE-“meat heads” is a term used in weight lifting
and football. It’s big rather dumb people who
talk in simple terms and define everything in
terms of it’s level of masculinity/strength. For example,
the “meat head” says to the person with a good
job, family and career, “Dude I am stronger than
you.” To the meat head, therapy is for woman
or weak men. But the meat head doesn’t get
far in life :).

Anyway, I interviewed Bill a couple of weeks ago.
Bill is like 6′ 5” 270, multiple black belts and
he can kill a person with probably one finger but he doesn’t because
he is a really nice guy. BUT he could if he
had to defend himself. Anyway Bill is a “man”
and he said the key with his stability was therapy.

I am not sure why therapy is not talked about a lot.
Now don’t get me wrong medication is super important
but I believe therapy is as well.

Everyone that I interview with bipolar disorder
in my courses/systems that does well goes to therapy.

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

Many supporters go to therapy as well and it helps
them become better supporters. I am not sure why
therapy is not talked about more often. BUT,
I will say therapy runs through 95% if not
more of the bipolar success stories that I
know.

Hey I have to take off now. I have to get
ready for my hike. Tomorrow I will write more
on this subject.

DO ME A FAVOR. If you have great results
with therapy write a story at the link below.
Let’s try to “sell” more people on therapy
so we can help lots of people.

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