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I know I can write a lot about what is not working in our current mental health system. I know that I talk about the abuse many family members and partners experience if a loved one has untreated bipolar. I know that I have compassion for all of us who have the illness, especially if we also have secondary diagnoses such as psychosis.<\/p>\n
Where are the positives? Oh, there are SO MANY. I am alive and you are alive. I know that I have bipolar disorder and a psychosis disorder. This helped me figure out why my life was so chaotic for so many years. I call this my get out of jail free card<\/a>!<\/p>\n I am so thankful for my diagnoses. They saved me. For 15 years, I thought I was the problem. Now, I can figure out if my current melt down is illness or personal choice. This really, really makes a difference in my life for the better!<\/p>\n Another positive? There are books that I can read and learn from every day- at my fingertips. I recently lost my beloved cat<\/a>. It was so intense. I love\/loved her so much. I got online and found help! One vet blog said, “When you lose a pet, don’t worry about how intense your feelings are just because it is an animal. Instead, remember that love is love.”<\/p>\n We are so lucky! Help at our fingertips! This is new for many of us.<\/p>\n There are helplines and hotlines to call. There are people like Martin Baker who write about friendship and mental health and how important online friends can be.<\/p>\n There are easy ways to figure out what is happening when we get sick- we just type in our symptoms and right \u00a0before our eyes, a variety of explanations that we can then peruse.<\/p>\n I need to remember to write about the positives. There are many.<\/p>\n Julie<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I know I can write a lot about what is not working in our current mental health system. I know that I talk about the abuse many family members and partners experience if a loved one has untreated bipolar. I know that I have compassion for all of us who have the illness, especially if we also have secondary diagnoses such as psychosis.<\/p>\n Where are the positives? Oh, there are SO MANY. I am alive and you are alive. I know that I have bipolar disorder and a psychosis disorder. This helped me figure out why my life was so chaotic for so many years. I call this my get out of jail free card<\/a>!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n