Uncategorized « Straight Talk on Managing Bipolar Disorder

Money is a hot topic in the bipolar disorder world. My weekly blog on the BP Magazine web site addresses the topic with a lighter tone. We have to laugh about the painful stuff sometimes! The pictures are explained in the blog. Make sure to leave a comment. Readers can really learn from each other. Especially when it comes to money!

If I Were a Rich (Wo)man link.

Bipolar disorder affects our work ability. It’s natural that we would spend time thinking about how we are going to make money!

Julie

Hope for Partners of a Person with Bipolar Disorder

I remember when my partner Ivan came out of the hospital after a three month manic/psychotic and then suicidal depression mood swing. I was worn out from the months he was there. It was a terrible time. I then had to face that fact that he was far from well when he got home. Sometimes I wonder how we got through it. This time in my life was the inspiration for my book Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder.

I remember the fear, worry and guilt when I didn’t want to go to the hospital. I remember how unaware I was about bipolar disorder. It still astounds me that the staff at the hospital was very kind and yet gave me no tips on managing our lives when he got home. There are many ways to manage this time successfully. Loving Someone with [ Read More ]

BP Magazine Blog: Do you minimize bipolar disorder behaviors?

Interesting question- many of us would say no. But I’ve found that people who love those with bi-polar disorder do get used to some very stressful, aggressive, scary, uncontrolled and confusing behavior. It’s often easier to let things go than face the issues and know that your life may be miserable for awile.

This is one of my main areas of focus in my family member and partner coaching. It’s so easy to get used to truly unacceptable bipolar behavior- recognizing this and making changes is a huge step towards stability for everyone in the family.

Cleck here for the blog. I’d love to read your comments.

Julie

Click here for more information on my family member and partner coaching.

Football Players, Depression and Bipolar Disorder

A few years ago I decided I wanted to talk to professional football players about bipolar disorder and depression. There is a rookie camp every year where they offer support around relationships, money, media pressure, getting along as a team, etc etc. I thought- I should go in there and tell them what it’s like to have bipolar disorder and depression and how they could see the signs in themselves and others.

Here is what I heard from people- “Julie, pro sports guys don’t want to talk about depression! They will never listen to the word bipolar! That’s for human resources!”

I heard the same thing when I went into Nike and talked about my ideas. As always, society is way behind the curve when it comes to mental illness- here is an article that proves this 100%- It’s not [ Read More ]

Bipolar Depression and Suicide Help

I just received this comment on the blog I wrote on bipolar depression:

” I want to die. Can you help me please. I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and I don’t want to live anymore.”

It’s hard to get these emails- not because they shock me- they don’t, but because I wish I could sit across from the person and tell them why they feel the way they do and that they can get through this.

Since I can’t actually look at the person, I will write him here.

Hi. I’ve been suicidal so many times I can no longer count the episodes. Suicidal thoughts are a completely normal part of bipolar disorder. We get depressed, manic, anxious and paranoid, just to name a few- and we also [ Read More ]