Straight Talk on Managing Bipolar Disorder

BP Magazine asked all of the bloggers to write about accepting the bipolar disorder diagnosis. This was actually a hard topic to write about. There are a few different kinds of acceptance when it comes to bipolar disorder- I wrote about what it means to me and then had a revelation. Here is the first paragraph of the post and then a link to the magazine blog. (If you don’t have a subscription to the awesome magazine- I highly suggest trying it out. I learn so much- it’s good for family, partners and health care professionals too!)

Blog: How do You Define Acceptance?

I “accepted” my bipolar diagnosis with great joy. I was glad to have a name for what I was going through. I remember sitting in an unknown psychiatrist’s office in Seattle in 1995 after I [ Read More ]

How about that for a title. My friend Zeke Camusio is an entrepreneur who has had a lot of business success. He is also interested in the psychology side of business. He wrote a blog post called How to Stop Worrying Forever. I like the concept. Here is the beginning of the blog and then a link for the rest. How can we apply this to bipolar disorder worry? It’s a good question.

Tuesday, November 01st, 2011 | Author: Zeke Camusio

I think we can all agree that worrying sucks. It’s a waste of energy, because nothing gets fixed by just worrying about it. We worry because we feel that by worrying we are in control of situations, but we all know that this is just an illusion.

I used to be a chronic worrier and for the last couple of years I’ve been [ Read More ]

Here is a question from Jasmin:

Julie,

I have no insurance and BP meds are very expensive, is the medication assistance for a single woman with BP disorder. I know I don’t qualify for medicaid benefits and so often I go without meds because of the price. Does anyone know where I can recieve assistance?

Jasmin

I know readers out there have many suggestions, please send them in for Jasmine and I will post them ASAP.

Here are two tips:

1. All of the drug companies have some form of assistance- from coupons to discounts. Go to the maker of your meds and look for the assistance program.

2. Generic meds are VERY cheap. If you can tolerate them- in other words, if they work for you- check out the Walmart pharmacy program. Some generics, such as Lamotrigine (the generic for Lamictal) can be as little as $7 a month.

[ Read More ]