Straight Talk on Managing Bipolar Disorder

Reader Comment: Bipolar Disorder and the Economic Crisis

I just received the following comment on the blog:

I am unable to stop focusing on the economic situation. I can’t seem to stop worrying about the future and this is just feeding into my triggers. If anyone has a good suggestion about this, I would appreciate it.

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Wow, most of us can commiserate with this! I suggest that we all focus on and take care of the bipolar disorder side of the worrying – which will help with the obsessive thoughts. This can help us view the economic crisis realistically.

If you read my past entries, I’ve had some terrific OCD problems this past month. Many of them were financial. That’s normal. OCD symptoms simply mean that an obsession gets in your head and won’t stop talking and talking. This leads to fear that something bad will happen in the future.

Most people have a worry and then it calms down so that they can realistically think about the worry. Those of us with bipolar disorder don’t have that luxury when something triggers our symptoms.

Here are my tips:

1. Talk back to your worried obsessions:

We have a new president coming up and no matter what, things are not going to stay the same. There is a good chance they will get better. I will wait and see.

Worrying about this right now is making me sick. I’d rather take an action to make myself feel better.

People make it through economic crises all of the time. I can do the same.

This helps me a lot.

2. Separate your real thoughts from the obsessive economic obsessions.

When you’re lying in bed and they start, try this:

Rationally examine the thoughts and feelings that are rushing through your head. Pull out the thoughts that are real- such as, I’m worried I can’t pay my rent next month– vs. what is going to happen to the world if our housing marketing really collapses and I can’t buy a house in the future and then I lose my job and my bipolar gets worse and I can’t afford my meds and now I can’t sleep and I have to work tomorrow… etc.

You can see the difference. Remind yourself that the second set of worries is mostly about bipolar disorder as they are a rather nebulous fear for the future. The thought that you might not be able to pay rent is real. Now you have something to work with. Say to yourself: I can take care of one economic crisis worry at a time. Is it realistic that I can’t pay my rent? Has it been that way in the past? Ok, I can see that I need to do something about this. What is the first thing I can do tomorrow to help with the situation? I can get started with that.

This completely rewires your brain and gets you from obsessive fears to rational concerns that you can tackle with your own actions.

Last night, I was lying in bed extremely anxious about the new book that I’m writing – so I said, Julie, what are the realities? You have to get it done. You will and if you can’t, you will get an extension. What are they going to do- cancel the book? Picture what needs to be done and then make a plan for tomorrow. How do you want to work time wise tomorrow? What can you get done. Isn’t it great you can finally work a lot. You will get your project done tomorrow and then you can go to the next step. Just make a realistic plan.

This is calming. I woke up with a plan.

3. Manage your sleep as best you can. OCD type worries really affect sleep which triggers bipolar disorder. I took Ativan last night as I knew it was going to be hard for me to at least get seven hours! There are a lot of sleep tips on this blog.

4. Finally, create an economic crisis/OCD Health Card. I use my Health Cards to take care of all new problems that come up. If you look at my OCD card, you can see we all have the same fears and obsessions!

These tips should help! This is a crisis, not a permanent situation. We make it through crises by taking actions to calm ourselves bipolar wise so that we can focus on what really matters.

There are many OCD entries in this blog- you can click on the right menu to see a list of entries.

Julie

PS: I know a lot of you read this blog from amazon.com. You can read about my Health Cards Treatment System for Bipolar Disorder Treatment System at www.bipolarhappens.com. This system is the basis for all of my books! The actual blog address is www.bipolarhappens.com/bhblog

Bipolar and Recovering from a Hosptial Stay

Bipolar and Recovering from a Hospital StayMood swings are pretty terrible mentally, but they also affect the body physically. I remember when my partner Ivan got out of the hospital after three months. He was just so tired. His body was tired and he needed a lot of time to recover. My mother was on a plane ride during that time and happened to talk to a doctor sitting next to her. She told him about Ivan and the doctor said, “It can take up to a year for someone to get back to where they were before they got so sick.” None of us wanted to believe this! But it was basically true. The good news is that Ivan completely got back to normal sooner than a year, but it was a tough year for sure! It has been thirteen years since then. That seems impossible! He still deals with a lot of mood swings, but overall he is doing very well. He never got that sick again. I am thankful! Julie

Just Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder?

Then yo are at the right place. I remember very well when I was diagnosed. I was 31 and had just come down from a mild manic/psychotic episode after a manic trip to China. I was misdiagnosed with depression, and then finally got the bipolar diagnosis. I was actually very happy to finally know what was going on!

I always want to say congratulations when I hear that someone has a diagnosis. Not because I think having bipolar is something to cheer about. It’s not. It sucks. But I say congratulations because you at least know what you have and there is a lot of help out there to treat it. It didn’t used to be that way. Believe me! I was diagnosed with rapid cycling Bipolar II in 1995, one year after my partner at the time was diagnosed with Bipolar I. Those were tough years. There were no treatment plans on the market. I was still very ill three years after my diagnosis, and that’s when I create my Health Cards treatment system. If you were just diagnosed, it probably means you’re scared and worried about the future. I was and sometimes still am, but that’s just part of having an illness. I always tell people to think of insulin dependent diabetes when they think about bipolar disorder management. Until the bipolar disorder is really under control, we have to check our moods every day just like a person with diabetes checks their insulin. There are many people who get a diagnosis and find the right meds immediately. There are others, like myself who have mood swings almost every day. It’s a pretty diverse illness! As you can see, I manage my mood swings well enough to have a business and great relationships, so you can do the same. Believe me, if I can manage the illness, you can too. It takes time, but time passes anyway- so you might as well learn to manage the illness now that you have the diagnosis. I had full on bipolar symptoms for 14 years before I was diagnosed. I wish someone had caught it sooner! So, congratulations on your diagnosis. Now you know that there is nothing wrong with you- there is just something different going on in your brain.

Julie

PS: if you are visiting the blog from amazon.com, click here for the actual blog page: www.bipolarhappens.com/bhblog

OCD and Bipolar Disorder

I have experienced OCD for most of my life, but I never really understood the term technically.

Many people with bipolar disorder have OCD symptoms, especially under stress. I know that my OCD obsessions come from dating situations, travel and work stress that puts me under too much pressure.

What is OCD?

The initals say it all- Obsessions that lead to compulsions that become a disorder when they affect a person’s ability to lead a ‘normal’ life.

Obsessions are thoughts- compulsions are the actions a person does to calm the obsessions.

For example, if a person has the thoughts- “I left the stove on. I left the stove on. Oh my god I left the stove on. My house will burn down. I left the stove on. I left the stove on.” the compulsion to calm the thoughts is to go back to the house to check that the stove is not on. Then for a minute, the person feels better and the obsessive thoughts stop. But if the person has OCD, the thoughts come back almost immediately and then the compulsion happens again.

It’s a terrible way to end. OCD can be treated with antidepressants and talk therapy- but it’s a tough illness to treat. People with bipolar disorder usually have OCD in episodes that are triggered by certain situations.

If a person with bipolar disorder has continual OCD symptoms without the mood swings, they are often diagnosed with bipolar disorder and OCD.

OCD is one of the seven classes of anxiety disorders which means it’s all about fear of what might happen. I treat my OCD by removing the trigger than causes the OCD- such as staying away from dating. This has really helped.

If you have OCD symptoms that don’t seem to go away no matter what your mood, it’s a good idea to see a psychiatrist. Remember, people with bipolar disorder have to be very careful about taking antidepressants, so make sure you have a doctor who understands bipolar disorder as well as OCD.

Julie

Bipolar Episode on Law and Order Television Show

My brother just called and said there was an excellent episode of Law and Order- an extremely popular crime TV show here in the US- that addressed bipolar disorder. One of the detectives had trouble with his daughter and thought she was on drugs, it turned out she was manic. Oh yes, some of us have been there.

I didn’t catch the show. It’s great to see bipolar disorder handled correctly in the media. It took long enough!

Julie

Bipolar Rapid Cycling: A mood swing record?

Five mood swings in one day!

I doubt that is a record, but it sure wears me out. In that past week, I’ve had at least 20 mood swings. They are mild, but certainly strong enough to chart. Yesterday I had three distinct upswings. The day before that, I had a few upswings and an intense hour long downswing where I immediately started crying. I’ve also been twitching a lot which means there is something not right with my Lamictal dose.

What is causing this rapid cycling? Though I’m glad it’s on the manic side instead of being constant depression, I know it’s not good for me. I can feel my adrenaline pumping and I feel like jumping out of my skin. The chemicals are racing through my brain much faster than they normally do. I feel like talking to strangers

So, what’s going on? I have to be a detective to figure this out. Here are my ideas:

The weather here in Portland, Oregon has been exceptionally beautiful and sunny. We had a dark summer, so this is fantastic. But it’s mania inducing.

I wrote about a guy thing that was happening at the coffee shop where I write that got me a bit flustered. Though the whole thing could be a manic fantasy in my mind.

My Lamictal isn’t working correctly.

I’m sure it’s a combination, but I’m leaning towards the Lamictal problem. This has happened to me in the past. I took some extra last night to see if I could calm down and stop the Lamictal twitching. I had to take Ativan to sleep.

I will keep you posted.

Julie

PS: If you would like more information on bipolar mania or rapid cycling, you can click on the buttons to your right.