==>>Help with ALL aspects of bipolar disorder<<==
Check out all my resources, programs and information
for all aspects of bipolar disorder by visiting:
http:\/\/www.bipolarcentral.com\/catalog.asp<\/p>\n
Hi,<\/p>\n
How’s it going? Yesterday I was way up in upstate
Connecticut yesterday. It took a really, really
long time to get there but a much shorter time
to get home. <\/p>\n
When I was driving I was actually doing some
thinking about something. I was thinking about
what it must be like to be diagnosed with
bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n
Just the other day I sent an email mostly towards
supporters of people with bipolar disorder
about how there are 5 stages of handling
the diagnosis of a loved one’s bipolar disorder.
Just to give you a quick recap it goes like
this:<\/p>\n
Kubler-Ross defines 5 stages of grieving. These are
Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.
Let\u2019s say that you have just been diagnosed with
lung cancer. <\/p>\n
I think with people with bipolar disorder that many
people who do NOT have bipolar disorder forget
how hard it is to hear “you have a mental illness.”<\/p>\n
I really don’t think I know any supporters who
have really thought about what it’s like to have
the following happen.<\/p>\n
Imagine this.<\/p>\n
You have many years of suffering. You feel good
some days. You feel bad other days. This happens
for years. You have many “relationship problems”
over a long period of time. You are smart
but school bores you. You do well at your jobs
but you wind up losing many jobs. You spend
lots of money. <\/p>\n
Eventually you go to the doctor. The doctor
says you may have this or that. You feel
“crazy.” Some even say you are. Fast forward
many years and eventually you are told
you have bipolar disorder. You probably don’t
really know what that is. You ask. The doctor
who already has used up 18 of his 20 minutes
with you says quickly, “it’s a mental illness.”<\/p>\n
Take this prescription and then see me next month.
The doctor then says, “okay great, have a great day.”<\/p>\n
You don’t get clear instructions, what bipolar
disorder really is, how it’s all going to
work. You’re just told, take this and see
me next time.<\/p>\n
This is a recap of what I have heard from about
100 people about what it was like to be
diagnosed with bipolar disorder. <\/p>\n
Just the other day, I was speaking to this one
friend of mine with bipolar disorder. He said
after he heard he had bipolar disorder he was confused.
He had no idea what that was. The doctor said on the way
of rushing him out the door “it’s a mental illness.”
The doctor then added that he had a chemical problem
in his brain and that he would see him next month.
The doctor added that it was a problem with his
brain.<\/p>\n
My friend said he got no further information at
all. He said he was scared and started thinking
that he would have to have brain surgery to fix
his chemical problem in his head. He didn’t know
what to do and also felt like having a mental
illness made him a “screw up.” <\/p>\n
As a result he spent years denying he had
the illness and eventually came to terms
with it and now does super well with it.<\/p>\n
But he wasted a decade of his life.<\/p>\n
I am writing this email today to supporters
of those with bipolar disorder to kind of be a little
easier on those with bipolar disorder and realize
that a) they didn’t ask for the illness and b)
if they are new to learning how to manage it,
most of the time they got little to know instruction.<\/p>\n
My mom told me over the decades of having bipolar
disorder virtually no doctors she ever had told
her how to live with bipolar disorder or how to
manage it. As a result, she made a whole lot of
mistakes. Obviously the mental health system doesn’t
work that well in explaining these types of things.<\/p>\n
I think that for bipolar supporters, it provides
a level of comfort to know that the reason why
a loved one is doing what they are doing is many
times not because they are doing it on purpose rather
they are doing it because they were never taught
how to manage their disorder.<\/p>\n
BUT, I do have major problems with those individuals
with bipolar disorder, know exactly what they have to do
to manage the disorder and still don’t do it. Those
are the people that create problems for all the “good”
people trying to do the right thing.<\/p>\n
SUPPORTING AN ADULT WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/report11<\/p>\n
SUPPORTING A CHILD\/TEEN WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http:\/\/www.bipolarparenting.com<\/p>\n
HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http:\/\/www.survivebipolar.net<\/p>\n
So imagine my friend faced with thinking
that he had to have brain surgery for his
bipolar disorder. You may think it sounds
crazy but it really isn’t. If someone said
essentially your brain was broken or had
a chemical problem, you might think, “hey
I need brain surgery.”<\/p>\n
There’s a word called “empathy.” You may
not know what it means exactly but it’s perfect
for this email.<\/p>\n
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary:<\/p>\n
===============
empathy <\/p>\n
Main Entry: em\u00b7pa\u00b7thy
Pronunciation: ’em-p&-thE
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek empatheia, literally, passion,
from empathEs emotional, from em- + pathos feelings,
emotion — more at PATHOS<\/p>\n
1 : the imaginative projection of a subjective state
into an object so that the object appears to be infused
with it<\/p>\n
2 : the action of understanding, being aware of, being
sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings,
thoughts, and experience of another of either the past
or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and
experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit
manner; also : the capacity for this <\/p>\n
===============
Take a look at the second definition. Basically
the word means putting yourself in the place of
another and trying to feel what he\/she would feel.<\/p>\n
So the next time you get mad at your loved one,
ask yourself, “If I had bipolar disorder, how
would I want my supporters to treat me?”<\/p>\n
Hey I have to run. But this is some good
stuff for you to think about if I do say so myself.<\/p>\n
If you have bipolar disorder, please make some comments
about what you think about my email. Also if you are
a bipolar supporters make comments as well. <\/p>\n
Catch you tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Your Friend,<\/p>\n
Dave<\/p>\n
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>\n
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>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
==Help with ALL aspects of bipolar disorder<\/p>\n