I’m doing a series on bipolar and money.. as it is an issue that affects us all!
Ok, here are some tough changes that can save a lot of money. I know, I do them! These are suggestions for those who are truly in financial straights.
1. Cancel cable. Oh yes, it’s hard. But you will read more, get out more and meet more people. If you keep cable, call and say you are thinking of cancelling and would love a special deal.
2. Replace cable with Netflix if you are really into movies.
3. Go cash only- I bring dollar bills with me when I go out. I plan what I’m going to spend before I leave the house. This changed . If you bring a $20, you will spend a $20- especially if you’re depressed or slightly manic.
4. Have a potluck with friends where there is a limit to how much you can spend. $5 is a good amount.
5. Dive less, walk more. It makes a big difference!
6. Call all of your extra expenses including your cell phone company and say, “I may have to cancel my phone, so I would love a deal.” You may be shocked at the savings.
7. Manage bipolar disorder as best you can- less mood swings means more ability to work and make money. Less mood swings means fewer money mistakes. This is especially true with mania. When I started using my Health Cards for mania, my life changed financially for the better. I write about this in Bipolar Happens! as well.
I could do a list of 50 suggestions here, but I guess it’s good to start with seven! I have found that removing expenses is as powerful as making more money.
Just got a prescription for Seroquel. I talked with my nurse practitioner Julie Foster of Pohala Clinic – A Place of Healing and we decided that a tiny little bit of the med might help with the next onset of psychosis. Seroquel works. It’s awful in terms of side effects. It makes me hungry and it makes my teeth hurt, but I also have mania and psychosis, so sometimes it is a trade off.
No one really likes psych meds. They have TERRIBLE side effects. But as you might have read from my post a few days ago, I was psychotic and crying simply from enjoying my work. That is not a typo. The work was normal and joyful and my brain decided to react with psychotic paranoia.
I respect #bipolar. It’s a nasty illness. I manage many of my symptoms on my own, but when they get overwhelming I use meds. This means I take meds daily for depression and use meds as needed for mania and depression.
My next project is called The Bipolar Dirty Dozen. I will abbreviate this project as BP-D12. It is a long form article for a website that will come out in the next few months. There will be 12 articles on the substances – the Dirty Dozen – that people with bipolar use regularly, but often with negative results. These include stimulants, steroids, hormones, hallucinogenics, herbs, supplements, amino acids and more. Cannabis will feature regularly.
Do I look ‘normal’ to you? Of course I do. My illness is internal. My face looks fine. I’m not #manic, so my eyes look fine. My skin is ok. My face is a little red due to medications, but overall you would never know that I’m dealing with mild #psychotic#paranoia today.
Everything in my life is going well. Everything. Years of hard work to reach my dreams are finally paying off and I can say that life is good. And yet, I’m sitting here almost crying from the psychosis that simply won’t leave me alone.
My psychosis is usually paranoia.
Paranoia is a delusion. A delusion is a false belief that tells me lies that feel real. That is the best way to describe paranoia. When someone is psychotic with paranoid thoughts, please know that they are not in denial of what is happening. The thoughts and feelings are so real that it is simply a part of living for the person. When you are dressed or manic, there is usually behavior that the outside world can see. There are signs that a person is ill.
Paranoia is silent. It will not show up in our body language or eyes at the beginning. In many ways, we live in our heads and still get on with life so well that people are shocked if the paranoia is actually vocalized.
1. The government has known about chem trails for decades and nothing is being done. We are being poisoned from the sky every day and no one will tell the truth.
When you try to talk rationally to the person, it will NEVER work as the paranoid belief is so strong, it’s unshakable
“Honey, the trails after planes are condensation formations that appear behind all jets depending on the weather and visibility. This can be water or ice crystals.”
You have been brainwashed to think this. Those are chemicals.
2. I can’t keep working at my new office. People are standing in groups making fun of me when I eat lunch. I can hear part of what they are saying and I heard my name few times.
“Honey, could they be wondering if you want to join them? Maybe they want to ask you to have lunch with them, but aren’t sure if you want to be a part of their group?”
Mom, that is what you always say. I know the feeling. It’s just like at my last job. They talk about me. I am different. Smarter. They simply can’t accept this and won’t allow me into their obvious clique.
***
If I don’t treat my paranoia from minute ONE, this is what happens.
My paranoid psychosis is always people related at first. I’m positive and believe me, I mean that I feel this 100% and it’s hard to shake- positive that I am doing something wrong and that I don’t fit it. No matter how often people praise me or include me, my brain tells me that I’m an outsider. This then leads to my being suspicion and looking for clues as to what people really feel. Did they smile at me differently? Did they say hi to others and not me? Who you have paranoia, especially if it’s attached to depression or dysphoric mania, you WILL ruin your relationships.
If the psychosis increases, I start to hallucinate and will see faces where there are no faces and cars following me when there are no cars behind me.
I’m not coaching at this time in order to write a book for couples. My goal is to teach what I have shared with clients for almost a decade. If you have paranoia and want to work, the paranoia must be treated with a program such as The Health Cards or one that works for you. It will not go away on its own.
Cannabis and Paranoia
The worst thing I have experienced in the past few years around my paranoid psychosis is a psychotic episode from the THC in today’s cannabis. If you have psychosis, avoid weed. I will not even use pure CBD as the psychosis still flares. Then, when the psychosis is gone, you can test the cannabis. For myself, my latest trial with hemp based CBD and then flower CBD led to more psychosis.
Take care of yourself. If you love someone who is paranoid, anti psychotic medications work. The side effects are rough, but in terms of being able to function in life, it’s a trade off that many people can accept.
Do you have psychosis? Get help. It’s hard to live with the beliefs paranoia puts in our heads. We need relief.
And one final point. If you have bipolar only, the psychosis will be with mania or depression. If you have psychosis when you are not manic or depressed, this is a separate psychotic disorder and the official diagnosis is schizoaffective.
Over the past few months, I’ve had more stability in life than in the past few years. What has changed? My decisions. As people with bipolar, it’s our job to be detectives into our lives. What makes us sick.. and just as importantly, what makes us well? I know what makes me sick and I am learning about what makes me well.
Preparation for Stability
1. I had to rid myself of the triggers of bipolar before I could add the good items that increased joy in life. It wasn’t the other way around. There was no room in my life for the positive while I was allowing the negative.
A Huge Change that Led to Stability Many Years Later
2. I left relationships with people who had similar symptoms to mine. This doesn’t make these relationships wrong, nor does it point a finger. I simply can’t be in a relationship with anyone who has paranoia, mania or negative depression. It will come out in the relationship eventually and will make me sick. Who I have in my life 100% affects my moods.
These two changes set me free to say yes to what I wanted in life. Today, I work with stable people who are open to my working needs when it comes to bipolar. They know about all of my symptoms including the paranoia. They also know I’m not going to take these symptoms out on anyone in the work place, but I might have to take a bit of time to myself to deal with the symptoms during stressful times.
Removing the bipolar triggers allowed me to say yes to stable people and a stable working environment. It sounds simple, but it took years. If you start now, you can find the same stability. My bipolar will be back. It always comes back. But the space in between the mood swings is growing. One day? Maybe I will be more stable than ill. We can do this!
I used the picture of the bracelet for a reason. It’s so intricate, but each piece matters. Think of each bead and turn of the leather a change you need to make. Soon, they will add up and you will have a piece or art. Yourself!
When my mania has the upper hand and I’m itching to buy 1000 Sharpies or earrings and items I don’t need, I go cash only for awhile. This means taking the debit card out of my wallet and getting a wad of ones and using them to pay for purchases. Nothing calms me down more than counting out $29 in ones if I want to buy a new pen set. I will think before buying. If I’m manic and it’s a debit card, forget it. The money means nothing. Here is a note from a reader who tried this process.
Hi Julie,
I, too, have gone cash only; with the exception of a low limit credit card to purchase books online that can’t be purchased any other way.
I find that I don’t get the shopping rush if I JUST DON’T GO IN THE STORE. This is tough. I had to go to the store recently for some necessities with cash only. However, I spent all the cash. I felt great while I was putting things in the buggy and not so great when I reached in to buy lunch and didn’t have enough to eat. I suggest staying HOME. I really don’t NEED all that stuff, anyway.
All the commom sense things work when ‘well’. Eg. Meal planning for the week or month and going in with only that much cash. Repurposing household items, swapping clothes with a friend, swapping books, even furniture that you are tired of. It still feels new if your friend’s stuff is in your house! I do some couponing, but healthy eating coupons are hard to come by. Give gifts of my time instead of expensive presents. Plan ahead for errands and make one day to get it all done. Saves a lot on gas! Ask people to NOT give me gifts! That helps with the obligation aspect of things and saves a lot of money. Turn the thermostat up a few degrees in the summer and down a few degrees in the winter. For every degree you change, you save 10% of your bill! Be careful not to change it too much as even the furniture and walls heat and cool as well. If you change too much, you still end up using the same energy to re-heat and re-cool all that stuff. If you are really into saving money, UNPLUG all eletronics when not in use. It’s a pain to keep plugging all those things back in, but it can save you a ton of money. electronics have ‘power’ going to them even when they are OFF. TV’s, stereos, COMPUTERS, etc. Stop eating out. You would be surprised at how much you can save. When you can, buy store brands and generic brands of everything. I have also starting hanging my clothes on a backporch line. Saved me about $50.00 the first month. These are just some of the things I try to do.
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Mom Brain Podcast
Listen to Julie’s latest interview on bipolar disorder and mental health in children, teens and adults on the Mom Brain Podcast with Hilaria Baldwin and Daphne Oz.
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