Here is a reader question from Michelle. She asks important questions. How DO we get through the days, weeks, months and years when we have focus problems because of bipolar disorder! (By the way, writing this felt like going to the dentist!)
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Hi Julie!
Can you please tell me how you are consistently productive and living with bipolar disorder? I too, am a writer, and I start projects, but can’t finish them. I have boundless energy for awhile, then I crash. I can’t commit to making long term projects with people because I can’t depend on myself that I can follow through. Where do you get your energy? How do you manage on a daily basis? I wake up each day not knowing how I am going to feel. I have to live [ Read More ]
Here’s a pic from last summer. I’m lying on the hammock with the greatest person I have ever met in my life- my nephew David.
He has taught me so much.
He turned 13 this year and the inevitable changes are happening in our relationship. When he turned 11, I started talking with him about the changes he would experience as he became a teenager so that I could prepare myself for when nights at home with Auntie Wee would not be a priority.
I believe we can talk to kids from a very young age about emotions and behaviors so that they can learn empathy, compassion, self belief and personal strength as they get older. I started teaching David about bipolar disorder when he was four. I wanted [ Read More ]
The following is a blog post from two years ago. Now that my depression is better, I’m looking back on life to see where I came from. I was depressed for 30 years off and on. I have a plan that works now. It IS possible to get better. Julie
Will This Depression Ever End and Can Anyone Help Me?
When I’m seriously depressed every single minute feels like I’m living in hell and I am just closer and closer to death.
I sometimes get so depressed that I can’t move my head or have a conversation. I still make myself get out and do things. I cry and I feel I can’t go on, but I do. I feel better for having done something. Every minute when I’m well is filled [ Read More ]
This is a blog post from 2009. I’m sharing it today because it shows how far I have come and how far you can come when you get a management plan that works. I read this and realized that these work and depression episodes don’t happen to me anymore. My depression, mania, anxiety and psychosis are always lurking, but they are under control. I have tools for the situations I describe below. I write about them in my books. I NEVER thought I would have the life I have now, but I do. I’m happy, stable and I CAN WORK!
From 2009
I always know I’m depressed if I wake up and suddenly hear an avalanche of negative thoughts. Sometimes I wake up and think- hmm, what fun things [ Read More ]
My number one tip for managing bipolar disorder? Know what your mood swings look like from the minute they start. The very first thought of mania for example often tells you all you need to know. “The colors are so gorgeous today!” is a thought I get when I start hypomania. I don’t think this way normally. When I’m in an average mood, I will notice colors, but I don’t FEEL THEM PHYSICALLY like I do when manic. I now know that having this simple thought-
‘The colors are GORGEOUSSSSSSS today’
is a sign that I’m not stable. I go into action and make sure I manage the bipolar instead of running around buying 25 new Sharpies, a set of paints and some watercolor paper so that I can [ Read More ]
My answer is completely dependent on how the other person is affecting my bipolar disorder!
I’m at a cafe answering my coaching inquiries and heard these song lyrics:
Loving you was never good for me.
I’ve lived in that world with a few men and I’m very happy to say that I stopped the behavior 100%. I learned that having someone in my life who makes my bipolar disorder worse isn’t an option.
I have a zero tolerance policy for ANYONE who willingly makes my bipolar disorder worse. It’s not about them- I don’t control the behavior of others, but I sure as heck can decide to stay or go.
I made the decision to GO! GO! GO! when my bipolar disorder [ Read More ]
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Mom Brain Podcast
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Here is a reader question from Michelle. She asks important questions. How DO we get through the days, weeks, months and years when we have focus problems because of bipolar disorder! (By the way, writing this felt like going to the dentist!)
