Uncategorized « Straight Talk on Managing Bipolar Disorder

Comedy Movies: a cure for the down times

I’ve recently been re-watching my favorite comedies. These help on the dark days. I was watching a lot of drama shows from England and it was just getting me down. Here are a few comedies I like: Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion The Castle Bowfinger There’s Something About Mary Team America. (Warning- this is a very adult puppet movie! ) Zoolander

These are laugh out loud movies. There are not many good comedies in the theaters these days! It’s hard to do an adult comedy.

A friend of mine watches a lot of afternoon TV – junky stuff and it really gets her down. It makes no sense to do this when you have bipolar disorder. It just makes the illness worse. Why not watch a comedy!

I’m not trying to sound like a mother, but I know that watching comedies [ Read More ]

Quick Symptom Definitions: Mania, OCD, Depression

Mania only exists in bipolar disorder. It’s a chemically elevated mood that can be euphoric (happy, creative and sometimes delusional!) or dysphoric /mixed (agitated, depressed and uncomfortable.) Mania is often more difficult to treat than depression.

OCD: A form of anxiety characterized by obsessive thoughts that are seemingly calmed by compulsive behavior- only to show up again! OCD can be treated with antidepressants, but behavioral therapy has the most success.

Bipolar Depression: The downswing of bipolar disorder that is almost always complicated by the presence of other symptoms such as anxiety. It can be present with mania in a dysphoric/mixed episode. It’s not advisable to use antidepressants for bipolar depression as they can cause mania. Bipolar depression is much more difficult to treat than unipolar depression.

Bipolar disorder is complicated. It’s important to know all of its symptoms.

Julie

[ Read More ]

It’s finally happening. Hello Las Vegas!

I used to travel all over the world when I was younger. Japan, China, France, Hawaii. And then the bipolar got worse. I found travelling too stressful and didn’t travel for a few years. Then I came up with a sytem for traveling that limits anxiety and makes it possible for me to have a good time wherever I go. Tomorrow I fly to Las Vegas with a friend. She also has bipolar disorder, so we will be fine terms of taking care of ourselves. We are both on meds, so mania is unlikely. Darn it! 😉

This shows that we can get better. Just five years ago I would not have gone. Now I can’t wait. We can all get better. We can change and do the things we used to do. It’s all possible.

Bon Voyage if you are [ Read More ]

Gayathri Ramprasad: Friend and Light Bringer!

My dear friend Gayathri Ramprasad came to America from India in an arranged marriage. Her family wanted the best for her and she was fulfilling many dreams to finally come to this country. What no one knew was that Gayathri lived with crippling depression and axiety. After years of illness and treatement including ECT and unsuccessful medication treatment, Gayathri found herself in the psychiatric isolation room of a large hospital here in Portland, Oregon. As Gayathri tells in all of her amazing presentations, it was in that room where she decided she could die or be a beacon of light to everyone with a mental illness.

She came out stronger and has fulfilled her promise to herself to be a light in the world. She is my good friend and I know that she still suffers from her depression [ Read More ]

Bipolar Social Anxiety and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders!

I once watched a reality show on becoming a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader when I was at the gym. I had a political interview show on my IPOD, but this was far more intriguing ! First of all, it was a pretty weak premise for a show – as watching cheerleader tryouts probably brings back a lot of bad memories for those of us who were not fond of high school! But there was something very interesting on the show.

The women had to climb up a really high pole and jump off onto a trapeze bar. Yes, that was one of the tasks. There was one candidate who was very scared of heights. She cried the whole way up the pole. But I had to admire her. She got [ Read More ]

Reader Question: Julie, have you heard of these bipolar symptoms?

I just received an interesting question from Heather about OCD bipolar disorder symptoms. She wrote that she didn’t know that OCD was so common in bipolar disorder. (It is!) Then she asked about her obsessive thoughts:

Julie

I don’t understand my own obsessive thoughts or where they came from. I am always thinking about paper cutting my eyeball or slicing my achilles tendon. These thoughts make the relative body parts actually hurt! I have no idea why or when these thoughts pop into my head but I can’t get rid of them! Sometimes I wrap my ankles in ace bandages for the psychological ‘protection’ from the unseen knife. Or last time I was in the hospital having the thoughts about my eyeball, they gave me an ice pack to carry around and cover my eye. It was embarrassing but hey, all of us in there have problems. Do you have any suggestions or even [ Read More ]