Straight Talk on Managing Bipolar Disorder

Newsletter: Tips to Improve Your Social Life!

Tips to add spice to your social life…

I get really lonely when I get sick. Even though I have a lot of friends, I still miss the company that comes with belonging to a social group. This happens because I work on my own. I think a lot about ways to get myself out in public and a part of a group. Here are some suggestions:

Toastmasters. Wow, what a great group of people. Toastmasters is a worldwide speaking organization. I was in a group for two years and still have friendships with the people I met years ago. If you’re thinking, OMG, I can’t speak in public! Well, that is what it’s all about. It makes you able to speak in public! It’s also a great way to learn how to run an executive style meeting and become a leader in the community.

http://www.toastmasters.org/

Boys and Girls Clubs- what a great place to volunteer! That is certainly a group!

http://www.bgca.org/clubs/

Study a foreign language. Here in Portland, Oregon you can study a language and then find a few places in town where you can actually go have a glass of wine and practice!

Join a sports team. I would do this in two seconds if I didn’t have a bum shoulder!

Go to an evening community education class- or teach one! I can’t believe how many friends I made the last time I taught a writing class.

And if you just like to go out and have fun, I suggest www.meetin.org

Find a place you like to hang out and become a regular.

My college had an alumni association meeting in Seattle and I missed it. Duh!

My high school crown from Hawaii gets together here in Portland. I just have to find them. Duh!

Put an ad on Craigslist and start your own group.

There is a group here called Love Tribe. Wow. It’s huge and people love it. Another community is the Estatic Dance Community. This is very much the Burning Man crowd- but whatever floats your boat!

It’s hard to do this stuff when you’re depressed, which is why it’s good to set it up when you’re well. I have a few rules when I start with a new group. I make a commitment to go to meetings which means I still go even when I’m depressed. I always feel better after the meeting!

Have fun!
Julie

Will Kindle Sales Surpass Hard Copy Sales?

Here is some amazing news:

Amazon Now Selling More Kindle Books Than Print Books

Amazon began selling hardcover and paperback books in July 1995.

Twelve years later in November 2007, Amazon introduced the revolutionary Kindle and began selling Kindle books. By July 2010, Kindle book sales had surpassed hardcover book sales, and six months later, Kindle books overtook paperback books to become the most popular format on Amazon.com.

Today, less than five years after introducing Kindle books, Amazon.com customers are now purchasing more Kindle books than all print books – hardcover and paperback – combined.

I started my writing career with e-books in 2002.

I sold the Health Cards Treatment System for Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Happens! and Tips for Talking with Health Care Professionals as e-books from the very beginning.

I knew that e-books would take over eventually. I know, many people still want books and that is fine, but the future is in products that take up limited space Just think of the possibilities. You can read books you don’t want anyone to see. No one to ask questions when you read books on bipolar disorder in the break room!

Even teenagers can read bipolar books in private.

What do you think about this?

Four of my books are on the Kindle: Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder, Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder, Get it Done When You’re Depressed and Bipolar Happens!

Click here for a special deal on Bipolar Happens! It’s a great book for anyone who is affected by the illness-and teens tell me they love it.

Julie

All available on the Kindle! Take Charge, Loving and Get it Done are available in paperback on amazon.com as well.

Happy Reading! Yes, the books can make you happy because they are so hopeful.

The Health Cards are only available off the website as of now!

Bipolar Disorder and Medications: Lithium, Zoloft, Celexa, Lamictal

Here are some stories that illustrate a fact: bipolar disorder medication efficacy can change over time.

– Lithium: My dear friend Rececca- who has bipolar I- took Lithium successfully for over eight years. Two years ago she had a severe manic/psychotic episode without a major trigger. My coauthor Dr. John Preston calls them breakthrough mood swings. She spent the past two years on Lithium and Zyprexa. It was a tough two years, but she is doing SO well. I just talked with her today and I said, “It’s so great to have Rebecca back!” She said that her husband feels the same. People do get better!

– Zoloft: Another friend was on Zoloft for ten years. It stopped working effectively. She then tried Celexa. It worked for a while, but not as well as Zoloft. So she’s going back on the Zoloft! It’s an art to find out what drug works for you. It is a lifelong process for most of us.

-Lamictal: As many of you know, I made a huge mistake a year and a half ago- I reduced my Lamictal because I thought it wasn’t helping enough with my depression. I didn’t realize it was helping me in so many other ways. When I finally got back up to my normal dose- the drug worked better. No kidding. It helped my depression a lot more than in the two prior years. I now find that I am struggling again with my Lamictal. It’ always a challenge!

Don’t give up on your bipolar meds. The right meds can change your life!

Julie

Normal Worn Out vs. Bipolar Disorder Worn Out

I did a presentation this week on the topic of parents of children with a mental illness. It was amazing to speak with Don Moore, a man whose daughter has schizophrenia. I learned so much from doing the event.

I am simply worn out- It’s about 8PM and all I can think of doing is going to sleep. I am SO not used to this that I’m not sure if it’s even normal. Bipolar ‘worn out’ is so different- when you’re depressed or have just come out of a mood swing, there is tiredness weariness and unhappiness.

This is just feeling tired I think. There is a difference between tired from reality and tired from an illness.

Does this make sense to you? Now that I can work so much more- I am experiencing things that are unfamiliar.

Julie

PS: I love to find pictures that fit a topic. When I typed in ‘worn out’ in Google images, I saw a lot of worn out shoes!

Hello Blog Readers!

Thank you so very much for all of your comments and kind words. As you can tell, I’m not able to answer each comment individually- though I want to! I read all of them- every day.

My new meds regime is still working- the depression has been cut by about 75%. Yes, that much. When I do have a down day, it’s pretty severe which is interesting. I just wrote about it. But I’m so thankful that I finally have some relief. This is my nephew David being silly. I am astonished at how much more emotional energy I have now- I can just hang out with him without feeling miserable. He says he can notice the difference.

If I can get so much better at age 48, there is hope for everyone. I mean that.

Once again. Thank you so much for your kind words. They have kept me going for many, many years!

Julie

PS: Feel free to answer any comment- we all have so much information and can help each other in many ways. I like your advice as well!

Bad Bipolar Depression Down Swing

Bipolar Down Swings

I’m in quite a doozy of a downswing. I have many different kinds of bipolar downswings. This one is a sadness about my past down swing. I’m thinking of a person I once loved very much who ended our friendship when he got married. I remember my ex who got very sick this year and didn’t want my help. The music I’m listening to as I write this is making me sad. I’m at a library writing my latest book and when I look out the window I see so many happy people walking around the farmer’s market. Last night I went to an event that was a lot of fun, and yet all I could do was think of how I didn’t fit in and that I didn’t fit in anywhere. I’m worried that my nephew will die before I do and then I worry that I would never survive if something happened to my family. I have the thought that I would rather die first. My diet is a mess. I sprained my toe. I’m worried about money. The summer is over and the weather is getting dark. My book draft is due on Monday and I feel very behind. I have an event to go to tonight for NAMI and I feel pressured to go even though it was my idea and my choice to say yes! I feel that I will be like this forever.

Welcome to the insidious, dangerous, lying bipolar disorder down swing. Can you believe all of that went through my mind just as I wrote it! This is one nasty illness. People without bipolar disorder may say, “But Julie we all go through this!” Actually… no, not at all. No one without depression goes through this because it’s NOT REALL. It’s a mood swing manufactured by an illness. If you read down about four blogs you will see the normal me who had a quiet brain and was just getting on with my day! Then this. Nothing changed. I’m under the same work pressure I’ve been under for months. My financial picture is the same. My relationships are fine. I’m able to work today. And my friend got married two years ago and my ex and I broke up way before he didn’t want my help when he got sick! It’s always hard for me to listen to certain songs when I’m sick and there is no freaking way that everyone I can see out my window is happier than I am.

This is an illness that creeps up on me and wants to ruin my life. Well, I simply won’t let it! I write in order to get the language of depression down on paper. Then I can look at it objectively. The Health Cards taught me to do this. If you look at my depression Health Cards you will see that exact same thoughts that I wrote about above. That’s because it’s an illness with set patterns. I won’t let it get me down. I will do my writing and get outside and go to my event tonight and have fun. I will not let this depression control my life. I’ve gotten good at these techniques!

Julie