My roommate Dan just told me he stayed up until 3:00 AM watching the internet coverage of the Japanese earthquakes and resulting tsunamis. He said he was very upset by what he saw and that it was, ‘like watching CGI in a big blockbuster movie.\u00a0 But it was real.”<\/p>\n
I lived in Japan for three years- my mom lived there for five. We know the country well. I remember many small earthquakes and how we all would do the drills in case the aftershocks were bigger.\u00a0 No one could prepare for what happened yesterday.<\/p>\n
You may wonder why I am writing about earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan on a bipolar blog.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I’m writing to ask that people with bipolar disorder turn off the television, get off the internet,\u00a0 fold the newspapers and stop the conversations if the discussions are making you sick.\u00a0 This is a big request. It’s easy for us to watch and watch something unfolding in almost real time. To see the ships sucked under the bridge or the burning houses sliding into the ocean.<\/p>\n
I was there just a few minutes ago- I started to think of where I would have been when the tsunamis hit- where my friends are now- what would happen if…. and then I realized I had to take my own advice. I know enough.\u00a0 I am not going to watch the coverage any more. I’m not going to look for more videos or find the images on TV. I turned it off.<\/p>\n
When it comes to world disasters, I learn the basics and then focus on the most basic fact of my life: bipolar management comes first. This is why I don’t own a TV. I don’t read the newspapers and I don’t listen to NPR.\u00a0 I need to know something once- and then move on or I will get sick.<\/p>\n
My roommate Dan doesn’t have bipolar disorder, so staying up until 3:00 AM watching the coverage or thinking and talking about it today won’t make him ill.<\/p>\n
It could make you or the person you love ill.\u00a0\u00a0 We live in a 24 hour media world- but the bipolar brain needs a rest. If things feel out of control in terms of depression and anxiety- and if you are worried about the world. Turn off the media and focus on what’s in front of you. I am going to do the same.<\/p>\n
I always try to know what is going on- then I stop before it goes too far in my brain. I know that many of you will understand. If you love someone with bipolar who is obsessing about the coverage- feel free to send them this blog. It often takes a person with bipolar to get through to a person with bipolar!<\/p>\n
Julie<\/p>\n
PS: How are you handling this?<\/p>\n
If you like this post and find it helpful, please click on the like button below. You can also post it to your Facebook page, Twitter account or send it to a friend.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My roommate Dan just told me he stayed up until 3:00 AM watching the internet coverage of the Japanese earthquakes and resulting tsunamis. He said he was very upset by what he saw and that it was, ‘like watching CGI in a big blockbuster movie. But it was real.”<\/p>\n I lived in Japan for three years- my mom lived there for five. We know the country well. I remember many small earthquakes and how we all would do the drills in case the aftershocks were bigger. No one could prepare for what happened yesterday.<\/p>\n You may wonder why I am writing about earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan on a bipolar blog. <\/p>\n I’m writing to ask that people with bipolar disorder turn off the television, get off the internet, fold the newspapers and stop the conversations if the discussions are making you sick. This is a big request. It’s easy for us to watch and [ Read More ]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11733,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412\/revisions\/11733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}