Hi,<\/p>\n
Let me tell you about a friend of mine. This friend of mine never loses a coin toss. Do you know why? He has a special coin. This coin is a two-headed coin! So he can never lose! Ha-ha!<\/p>\n
Well, let me tell you about another friend of mine. This is like a two-sided story. But it isn’t funny.<\/p>\n
Bill’s mom has bipolar disorder. And she suffers from depression much of the time. And when she does, she can’t even get herself out of bed. She is one of the sad stories. It seems like the doctors can’t ever get her medication right, and even when they can, she forgets to take it half the time. She really struggles with her bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n
But let me tell you about the other side of the coin. Bill’s wife, Michele, has bipolar disorder, too.<\/p>\n
And I want to tell you about Michele because I think it is important that you hear about a successful person with bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n
There was a time when she was not such a good example, however, There was a time when she struggled with her bipolar disorder too. See, Michele wasn’t diagnosed with her bipolar disorder until she was in her forties. So before she was diagnosed, she went through many episodes where<\/p>\n
she would be terribly depressed \u2013 so depressed that she tried to kill herself five times. Five times!<\/p>\n
She would also go into bipolar manic episodes where she would spend excessive amounts of money, sometimes more money than she had, and she went into great credit card debt. She even got married in a manic episode more than once! She had terrible manic episodes. And then she would crash into even worse depressions. This went on for years.<\/p>\n
She was even in hospitals and institutions five times for her bipolar episodes, all before she<\/p>\n
was finally diagnosed! In fact, she was misdiagnosed so many times that it took until her<\/p>\n
forties before she was finally diagnosed correctly, and by then she was really messed up! In fact, by then she was convinced that “they” were going to lock her up forever and throw away the key.<\/p>\n
She had no hope for the future.<\/p>\n
But finally, she found the right doctor who put her on the right medications, and she started to<\/p>\n
stabilize with her bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n
Today, Michele is stable, and has been so for many years. She is happily married to her best<\/p>\n
friend of ten years, and they have been married for four years now. He is her supporter, and does a great job of it \u2013 he has been able to keep her out of the hospital for many years, even when she was close to full-blown bipolar episodes.<\/p>\n
You see, Bill is a success story, too. He also has bipolar disorder. But he learned early on how to<\/p>\n
manage his disorder, so much so that he is able to take care of not only himself, but a wife and a mother both with bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n
Now Bill and Michele run a successful home-based business and live a relatively stress-free life<\/p>\n
helping other people with mental illness by sharing their stories of recovery.<\/p>\n
Well, I have to go!<\/p>\n
Your Friend,<\/p>\n
Dave<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hi,<\/p>\n
Let me tell you about a friend of mine. This friend of mine never loses a coin toss. Do you know why? He has a special coin. This coin is a two-headed coin! So he can never lose! Ha-ha!<\/p>\n
Well, let me tell you about another friend of mine. This is like a two-sided story. But it isn’t funny.<\/p>\n
Bill’s mom has bipolar disorder. And she suffers from depression much of the time.<\/p>\n