Straight Talk on Managing Bipolar Disorder

How I Manage Bipolar Disorder Triggers… and how you can manage them too!

Bp Magazine just shared my trigger article on Facebook. (You can find me on Facebook at Julie A. Fast and Julie A. Fast Books.) I need to read my own articles as it helps me assess where I am a the moment. Bipolar disorder can distort my thoughts and a check in is essential for me to make sure I’m not acting out of the illness and not my true self.

Bipolar disorder and triggers! Oh wow. I needed to read this today! My move to Europe has been a challenge. Of course it has. I had two big bipolar triggers when I got here. I made it through both of them by using the strategies I talk about in the article below. Bipolar clouds my thinking so much that it’s important I have people around me who can help me see reason. I now see how triggers affected my travel in the past. I used to just roam the world without having a plan. Now I have a plan and trigger management is top of the list.

How do you manage your triggers?

I’m interested. I can say that being in England for a few weeks reminded me that environment is everything. I am staying with a friend who seems to understand me. That has made the move possible. People with bipolar get triggered by life events- whether they be positive or negative. I got sick this week, but I used my plan and with the help of my friend, I got through the awful depression episode. We CAN manage this illness. We CAN reach our dreams.

Julie

Click here to read the Bp Magazine article Manage Your Bipolar Disorder Triggers and Cut Your Symptoms in Half!

What is Dysphoric Mania in Bipolar Disorder?

What is dysphoric mania, Julie? I hear this question a lot. We know SO much about euphoric mania, and yet it’s dysphoric mania that causes the most damage. Have you or a loved one experienced dysphoric (mixed) mania? Read more and find out!

The main difference between Bipolar I and Bipolar II is the type of mania. Bipolar I has full blown mania- Bipolar II has hypomania. Bipolar II never has full blown mania- if it happens, the diagnosis is changed to Bipolar I. People with Bipolar I can definitely get hypomanic as well as fully manic!

Euphoric and dysphoric mania…..

There are two types of mania seen in both Bipolar I and Bipolar II : euphoric mania and dysphoric mania . Euphoric is just like it sounds. Dysphoric is harder to understand as we are not used to the word! Dysphoric mania means agitated mania. It’s a very uncomfortable feeling!

There is a lot of mental and physical agitation with dysphoric mania , but a person in this mood swing can be very aggressive and even violent. There are always sleep problems – the person looks haggard and worn out. They may sweat a lot and can look pretty wild in the face. I went through this with my former partner Ivan. He was in a dysphoric mania/psychotic episode for many months. He doesn’t get euphoric mania very often.

I’ve always felt this picture depicts what it’s like to be in a dysphoric and psychotic manic episode:

Whew. This illness is very complicated. If you have bipolar disorder, what kind of mania do you experience the most? If you care about someone with the illness, how would you describe their mania?

I have bipolar II hypomania. I mainly dealt with euphoric mania from age 17 until I was in my 40s. Then the dysphoric mania hit me hard! I force myself to get help when the euphoric mania is here. It’s hard to ask for help during dysphoric mania as you feel like everyone else is the problem.

It takes a lot of practice and self awareness to acknowledge and get help for bipolar mania! But we can change our lives for the better by understanding the signs of dysphoric mania and using a plan to stop the mood swing before it goes too far.

Julie

PS: My absolute worst dysphoric manic episode happened when I tried medical marijuana after dislocating my pelvis in a biking accident. I write a lot about this experience and hope that we can all be aware of external substances that can lead to dysphoric mania and psychosis in people with bipolar disorder.

You Can….Get it Done When You’re Depressed

We can get things done when we are depressed. We can get things done when we are anxious. We can! Here’s my book on the topic. So far today, I’ve used Put Yourself in a Place You Can Work and Be Your Own Drill Sergeant. My biggest issue is focus. Nothing new. The day I crack this problem will be a happy day!

This is the UK version of my book. It’s available all over the world through amazon, but it helps to order it from your specific country. Part of my travels will involve talking with European publishers about translation. It was in Polish at first. Now it’s time for French and Spanish. If you have any publisher ideas, feel free to send them along and my agent will make the call!

Julie

Click here to read more about Get it Done When You’re Depressed on the UK Amazon website.

Click here to read more and order Get it Done When You’re Depressed from the US Amazon website!

Pt. 1 Bipolar Disorder and ADHD Focus Problems

This is me at a sports bar testing my theory of tunnel glasses to counteract my ADHD style swivel head behavior when I have trouble focusing.

Trouble focusing on work because if bipolar disorder?

Me too! I had a talk with a professional coach last night who gave me some really good advice. I could hear the wisdom of his words. I believe what he says and I know I can do it and reach my work goals today- but I first have to manage this illness. I thought I would show you what it’s like. This is finally the second part of my Bipolar Disorder and ADD Focus Problems blog for BP Magazine. My motto is treat bipolar disorder first. My second motto? Keep going until things get done- who cares if it’s… yowza… almost one year later! Part one is below. I’ll on part two for the rest of the day and let you in on the process! Julie

Click here to read part one of my Bp Magazine Blog called Bipolar Disorder and ADD Focus Problems: A Day in the Life of a Swivel Head.

I’ll update this throughout the day. I want to work. It’s my life’s passion. Bipolar disorder does everything it can to make work difficult. Let’s see what I can accomplish today.

Does Your Partner Have Bipolar Disorder?

A reader, Ruth just left the following comment about her relationship with her partner who was just diagnosed with bipolar disorder:

I am 55. My husband is also 55. He is just being diagnosed with bipolar. It explains so much. But he has never been in a depressive state. He has spent over $30k since the first of January – arrested 3 times for drunk and disorderly – he has virtually every symptom of bipolar except depression

Here is my reply:

Hello Ruth,

There are forms of bipolar disorder where the person has more mania than depression. I suggest reading about dysphoric mania. Many people with heavy mania express their depression in a mixed episode- also called dysphoric mania. You can type in “mania” in the subject search to learn more. My book Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder also explains the different types of mania. Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder is my book for partners such as yourself. The book will help you learn about his mania before it gets to the point that he is spending this much money. I used to be a big manic spender as well. We can learn to manage our money when we have bipolar disorder. I always suggest that partners of people with bipolar disorder protect themselves from the manic spending of someone with the illness.

You will now be able to look back and see his spending patterns over a lifetime- when we are diagnosed later in life, so many things become clear. He will need time to adjust. When I was diagnosed, there was a lot of grief. I lost so many years to this illness. We need time to adjust after a diagnosis. Here is a link to an article about the bipolar disorder diagnosis:

I’m glad you are online and finding information. You are not alone.

Julie

I have bipolar disorder and am always honest with everyone in my life about my manic spending. Here are a few pictures of manic spending in full bloom! I work hard to keep my mania under control. It’s WAY TOO EXPENSIVE to be manic!

I have a pen and drawing pad manic tendency- this isn’t too expense, so if I’m really hypomanic, I allow myself to buy pens. It’s embarrassing to show people the results of manic episodes- but pens are pretty benign! Wild manic spending sprees that involved traveling, men, drinking and spending money like I had a money tree are in the past. If you have bipolar disorder, how do you manage your manic spending? If you’re a partner of a person with bipolar disorder, how do you protect your finances from the behaviors of the person you love?

Good questions. I dress all of this in my book Loving. I wrote this after being in a relationship with a wonderful man who has bipolar disorder one. He is such an important person in my life. When two people in a relationship have bipolar disorder, a strong management plan is essential!

Julie

Bipolar Disorder Affecting Your Relationships?

You are not alone! I often read through my past articles for Bp Magazine. I’m reminded that my bipolar disorder management plan is daily. I just moved to Europe. I’m staying with a friend in a beautiful, quite and very remote English village. Well, remote in my city girl way of thinking! I planned carefully for this move. I did all I needed to do to prepare MYSELF. Well guess what? The biggest skills I needed when I got here were my relationship skills! What are your greatest strengths as a friend? Julie

Here is the start of the article called Bipolar and the Relationship Trap from Bp Magazine:

Recently, a friend asked me, “Julie, why don’t you write a book about bipolar disorder and relationships?” “I already did that with my first book for couples where one person has bipolar,” I replied. “I don’t mean couples, Julie!” he exclaimed. “I mean friendships. I can’t seem to keep any friends.”

I know what my friend—a man in his late 30s who struggles with bipolar disorder—meant by this statement. Like me, he wanted good relationships, but often found that bipolar got in the way. In the years after I was finally diagnosed with bipolar in 1995, I managed to lose almost all my friends because of my neediness, irritation, paranoia, medication side effects, and more. In 2001, I hit rock bottom when I received a letter from my best friend (I’ll call her “Melissa”) that changed my life forever. While it was terribly hard to read, this letter ,in fact, saved my future relationships.

Melissa and I had been friends since high school; I was always the aggressive force in the relationship. As my illness got progressively worse, I became weak while she became strong. She started sticking up for herself; I, on the other hand, began to sink into a hole of depression that seemed inescapable. I called Melissa constantly and complained about my life. When she didn’t respond the way I wanted, I became paranoid and angry, telling her she wasn’t a good friend.