I just want to let everyone know that I am working on a number of things.
1. There is going to be a mini course for those that have bipolar disorder and those supporting children. These will all be free and include not only 14 to 19 course lessons but also 50+ tips and also breaking news on bipolar disorder. This should be ready by the end of the month.
2. There is going to be information on finding good legal help when dealing with bipolar disorder (report), a course on getting low cost and affordable health care (course), becoming part of a study with bipolar disorder (book), natural aids with bipolar disorder (book and tape) and getting someone into a good drug rehab program (report).
3. I am also working on more news sources. A number of people commented that some of my last sources require that you pay to gain access to them. There are certain sources that I can’t copy and paste what’s in the subscription area to my site. But, the majority of news is free of charge. The new bipolar news souces will be free however.
4. I am also going to be adding 83 more articles to bipolarcentral.com on various topics. Many articles will be written on a first person basis. Articles for supporting children, dealing with depression if you have it, supporting someone who has depression, dealing with ADHD and bipolar disorder if you have it or you are supporting a child with it and what to do if you have bipolar disorder. This will be done in about 2 months. Lots of articles.
5. I am going to be possibly doing a local seminar on bipolar disorder for free probably towards the end of the year. I don’t have all the details but basically you will come and there will be people presenting information on various subjects. If you are in the area, you should stop by.
6. I will be posting a few success stories on bipolarcentral.com. These will be based on people that filled out my survey to be profiled.
7. I am going to be answering certain questions (NON medical or legal ones) once a week or so in this blog. One day it dawned on me that I have to start leveraging my time or I will be working myself into the ground. At this point I get up to 400 emails a day and tons of phone calls. I am not sure why some people write me messages like, “Hey I just wrote you an hour ago, why haven’t you writen me back?” The truth is, I have many things to do, businesses to run that help fund all this material I put out and personal things to do. Anyway, I will take the most common questions I get and answer them.
8. I will be announcing a new blog and information written in first person on how to support children . This will be coming next week.
9. I created a polling system. You will be able to tell me what areas you would like me to focus on so I can help the most people. I will let you know the link very soon.
That’s it for now. Make sure you check back here really often. I am going to be writing a lot of stuff on this blog. This way I can reach more people.
Let me know what you think.
Dave
Id like to hear some info on the rights of spouses in regard to mentally ill peeps who have been commited for observation.
Thanks
Ray
David……..I appreciate ALL the work and effort your putting into this project. I live in the Seattle area and am pretty sure I am BipolarII. I research everything online, and somehow I was led to your site. So many unanswered questions about this *disorder*, and I personally want to learn as much as I can so I can have a somewhat *normal* life, even though I’m in my late 50’s.
Thanks for being here! L.P.
one more question please- i am not familiar with a blog that looks like this.
Where is the place to click to have new postings mailed to me? or to be alerted? is there not one?
thanks
ray
I too want to say thanks!!!..i dont have much attention span for doing alot of research…(Being Bipolar really sucks )its great to find so much in 1 place
David,
I have 23 year old son. He is bipolar. He currently resides in a group home as well as our home.
Supporting an adult child with mental illness can at times be very difficult.
I have read that there is a correlation between children having been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD and later on developing Bipolar symptoms. Have you any information regarding this topic?
Thank you
Same as ay really. what r the rights of the partner in everyday stuff????
Lou
You’re doin a great job Dave!!
I think that this is going to be a really neat site. For i am always looking for new info to share with my friends.
Dave,
Way to go, it’s a nice site. I’ll been keeping up…
Carol
This is awesome Dave. I never really worked with a blog, but this isn’t too hard to figure out. I have a 9 year old, 7 year old adn 5 year old who are Bipolar. The older two have been diagnosed and the younger one is just now starting to show signs. It’s always nice to get some help. I also do a lot of research and have my own website, but I don’t just do the Bipolar thing. If you have time, check it out and tell me what you think.
http://thescotts.topcities.com/bipolar.html
Keep up the wonderful work!!!!
Monika
Thanks for all your great articles. I look forward to more information available for no fee. I’ve been back to one site I had visited before, and now they want $15. Please! I’m on SSI, spending almost all my cash on prescriptions, stuck in a very high cost of living area living on a friend’s couch. Maybe you could consider discounts on your publciations on a sliding scale. That would be cool. I’d like to get my parents a book.
I would like to know more of what I as a wife of a Bipolar spouse can do to help more. I have been trying to understand all the ups and downs since December. It has been a long trip so far. The meds are working but sometimes I feel as if I am left all alone to take care of 2 small children and one big child. I have read alot but I need more info on what to do and not to do and what to say and not to say. I too was lead to this web site. And it has been very helpful. But, I just feel I need more. This is so NEW to me.
Good Morning David, I can empathise completely with your comment of “I emailed you an hour ago and am waiting for your reply” and sometimes it is not so nice the way it is said. Doing the work that I do with PTSD sufferers, many usually with abandonment and betrayal issues can set up hornets nests when it comes to their perceptions of what we need to be to them and their expectations of us. You need to be firm and set boundaries so that you too can have a life. What you have set up is truly admirable but dont let it become how you identify yourself as a person. Yes there are a great many people out there David but you are one, I found I had to set up a system where I was not to be seen as the only person that could help the lost and traumatised, I had to teach others what I knew and then they in turn could take some of the workload off me. You have a great and passionate heart David but we cannot do it all on our own, to do so puts our own lives on hold and robbing us of becoming all that we can be. When it gets this big it can become overwhelming and have us feel like we are drowning under the pressure and expectations of others. What I would suggest David is that you set up a chat room where these people can all interconnect with eachother. You can oversee and mentour as needed but you may be very suprised how very well they all help and support eachother which in turn takes a lot of pressure off you.
Kindest Regards
As Always
Bonnie
David I have found this ight to be helpful in a way i have a 10 year old boy that is bipolar and i cant seem to find a dr that can get the right meds for him so we go through alot of raiging and agervation it is soo hard to deal with this i am now looking to try to place him in a (school–home) but it seems to be hard to.the dr keeps telling me there is no place like that for him to go and that i need to just take him and give up my costody of him and let state deal with him….im now looking for new dr! THANKS AND KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!
derbymom;
I was an ADD kid since 3 or 4 (they officially said) and am bipolar II now; am 30, and was diagnosed at 25 after slashing my wrist down to the bone (vertically, “the right way” – I know that’s sick but today I wish it woul’ve worked – just 20 more minutes..)I am sorry about your son and know what you must be going through becauseof what I’ve put my own Mum thru; who always supports me; even when I tirade and smash things or tried to kill my little sister) 2x or have cut my arms ang legs to ribbons.Is your son mostly hyper? (hypomanic)sorry.
My son was identified as ADHD at age 6,& at 24 is moody & agressive.Is this common among bipolar folks? Or adult ADHD people? I worry about the danger of his agression on others.He has been to court-ordered Anger Mgmt Class, with little effect.Any suggestions?
My son was identified as ADHD at age6,& now at 24 seems moody & agressive. Is this common to bipolar,or to ADHD people? I worry about his anger eruptions’ danger to others. He has been to court-ordered Anger Mgmt Classes with little effect. Any suggestions?
thank you for all the information and comments, it does help. My daughter was diagnosed as ADHD from age 6. The older she got, the more I thought it was something other than ADHD. She had violent mood swings to where there was no talking or reasoning with her at all. Until about 3 months ago, they were spaced pretty far apart (monthly) and we just thought she was hormonal. Now they have been happening almost daily and for hours at a time. We found her a counselor and a psychiatrist who diagnosed her as bipolar. She is now trying to adjust to medication and getting the right dosage for her (she is 16). We are seeing some improvement already and are cautiously encouraged. We are there for her, but, don’t really know what to do, since this is new to us. Let’s all keep posting comments and experiences. If anyone knows of an online chat support group, I think that would be very helpful….1 for teens with bipolar and another for parents of kids with bipolar….let me know….Thank you for this site……leslee
Thank you for this site. I am 40 years old. Looking back I have always been bipolar, but it seems to be getting worse. Does it get worse with age? I have lost every job I have ever had and I am to the point now that the depression is too much to take. I forget things more frequently now and if I have to concentrate very long you can just forget it. I am on 3 meds now and sometimes I wonder if it is worth it to even take it. I would like to get disability but I dont even know where to start. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
To the t.h. mom. I don’t know where you live, but I live in Columbia, Missouri. I have gone thru many doctors myself w/my son and youngest daughter that are bipolar. My middle child and I are ADHD. I found a dr. thru a church I was going to for a while.
This dr. is an Addictive Disorder psychiatrist. He is also a christian man, which has been a great big help. He not only treats the patient, but helps the whole family.
I don’t know if this will help your child or not, but two of the things that helped my children, especially my son since he went undiagnosed until he was 17, is that when they are really and not making since is to let them just ramble. Don’t take offense to anything they say. It took me finding out the hard way that this worked for my son. He would always come back and apologize, but most of the time he would talk himself into calmness. Also, if my son could find something to punch that wouldn’t hurt him or anyone or anything else, I would let him punch away so that he could vent his anger. This helped him so that when he couldn’t voice what was going on, he would take his anger/frustration out on the punching bag,pillow, etc. what ever was safe and handy.He would use so much energy that he would finally get so tired that he would calm down.
Just a couple of tips that I thought might help.
To T.H.
I can sympathize w/your problem about the dr’s. I can give you a couple of tips that worked for my boy when he was younger and I didn’t know that he was bipolar. He wasn’t diagnosed as bipolar until he was 17.
When your son gets into one of his fits (as I call them)find something safe for him to punch, such as a punching bag, pillow, etc… so that he won’t hurt anybody or anything around him, let him punch for as long as it takes for him to work thru his fit.
He will finally quit and he will be more relaxed. Also, the other thing that I do is when he is feeling like the world or even just a particular person is against him just let him talk. Let him say whatever he feels for however he wants. JUST LISTEN and don’t take whatever he says personally. What I have found when letting my son do this it gets his frustration out. If their is something that he says that does need to be addressed I wait until he is not in one of his moods, as I call them. Always approach calmly. Chances are that he probably won’t remember what he said. As I said, he was rambling to aleviate his frustration.
Also, try to find a dr. that deals w/addictive disorders especially since bipolar people usually always end up w/an alcohol or drug problem. I have finally found one in the town I live, which is in Columbia, Missour. His name is Dr. Thomas Briedenstein. I met him through a church I attended for a while. He is a highly respected dr. and is so nice. He actually listens to both, the parent and the patient. He offers up suggestions to help all along the way. He also has 2 sons that is ADHD. He can truly relate to your frustrations.
Also, don’t give up on your son. Their was a point and time when I was ready, but somehow I found the strength to keep going and it has paid off.
He is off his meds, not by my choice, but he is doing well and trying to get into the service. He is finally holding down a job and trying to support himself.
I have had a lot of conversations with my son. I have burned up alot of cell phone minutes w/him, but he is finally not as angry as often. He is finally accepting responsibility for his mistakes.
Dr. Bridenstein kept assuring me that he would get their but I was going to have to have a lot of patience. My son has only liked 2 of the dr.’s of all of the ones he has been seeing since he was 8 years old. Dr. Briedenstein is the 2nd one. The first one he actually liked was Dr. Burch at the University of Missouri, Green Meadows, psychiatry clinic. It seems that w/my son it had to be a male and they had to be able to speak English very well for him to be able to connect with the Dr.
Just a few thoughts to pass on.
I wish you luck. I will help any way possible. I truly understand your frustrations.
Debraha
my daughter has been asking for something to “punch” on for a long time….she says a pillow just isn’t cutting it anymore and squeezing my hand hurts!!….I am going to look for a punching bag and gloves…..I’m glad to hear that someone here has tried it too…..Thank you for all the great input!…..Leslee
I’d really like to hear the rights of parents who have children 16 yrs. and above w/ bi-polar. The state I live in (Tennessee) just wants to ignore the problem or place these kids in mental health facilities.
Thanks.
in laymans terms what the hell is a blog?
I do appreciate all the hard work you do!
A blog is a weblog… or a online journal of sorts.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
David, please don’t let the few angry and unappreciative responses get to you. Those folks are probably not in a place where they can accept help, anyway. Just pray that they seek help when they are ready and willing to accept it. What you are doing is time consuming and a LOT of work. There are way too few resources out there like the ones you offer, least of all a place for people to get together and share their hurts, ideas and discoveries. The more people we have like you, who really CARE about other people, the more understanding it will bring to the public about bipolar and how difficult it is to cope with, both for the people coping with it and for the people who love them. When people understand, the good ones will try to help, and as a result, more interest and funding could go to finding ways to help people who have it, or (and it gives me chills to think about it!) find a means of preventing or even curing it. Keep that beacon shining, David. The smart ones will follow it!
I hope the blog keeps going….it’s great to hear from people who are going thru the same issues (whether you have the disorder or are a parent or caregiver of someone who does)….reading what you all have to say has been a help to me. My daughter is newly diagnosed, so any and all information and words of wisdom are appreciated!!….Thank you, leslee
David, I think a great “presenter” for your seminar you are planning would be a “civil rights” attorney. They are FULL of information. (And usually willing to do the seminar for free because its good for business.)
testing
EMERGENCY-EMERGENCY-EMERGENCY
I REALLY NEED TO BE TAKEN OFF YOUR LIST BECAUSE THIS IS A WORK COMPUTER SITE.
THIS WOULD CAUSE UNNECESSARY EMBARRASSMENT TO MY HUSBAND (THE ONE WITH BI-POLAR)
THANKS,
K. ANN EMERSON
e-mail address:
emersona@unionps.org