{"id":8013,"date":"2014-04-30T11:38:27","date_gmt":"2014-04-30T18:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/?p=8013"},"modified":"2018-05-15T09:56:58","modified_gmt":"2018-05-15T16:56:58","slug":"how-my-mother-helps-me-manage-my-bipolar-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/how-my-mother-helps-me-manage-my-bipolar-disorder\/","title":{"rendered":"How My Mother Helps Me Manage My Bipolar Disorder"},"content":{"rendered":"

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My mother is a genius when it comes to helping me with bipolar disorder, but it didn’t start out that way. It took her many years to know how to help me. I created my treatment program (The Health Cards) in 1998. There was definitely a learning curve for my family. When someone has bipolar disorder, family members want to help, but they rarely know how. All of the comforting techniques that work on others don\u2019t work when a person is in a mood swing. Family members have to educate themselves.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s natural to say, \u201cBut you have so much!\u201d when someone you love is depressed. It never works. It\u2019s natural to say, \u201cWhy can\u2019t you just focus? It\u2019s a really simple thing to clean your house.\u201d It\u2019s natural to say, \u201cIt\u2019s just dinner? Why is it so hard for you to cook dinner?\u201d These questions are pointless as the person with bipolar doesn\u2019t know the answers until they learn to manage the illness.<\/p>\n

I always say, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to understand why<\/em> a person can\u2019t do things when they\u2019re having mood swings, but you can believe that what they\u2019re going through is real and help them find a way to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Empathy is great, but it\u2019s not really possible unless you have bipolar disorder- support is what matters to us.<\/p>\n

Here is what makes my mother special:<\/p>\n

1. She is not scared like she used to be.\u00a0 The Health Cards have given her a tool that works, so she knows what to do when I get sick.\u00a0 For example, when we first started using them, she had to say, \u201cGet out your cards Julie. You\u2019re psychotic. What do you need to do?\u201d If I was too sick to get them out, she said, \u201cI\u2019m getting your psychotic card out now Julie. I will see what it says to do.\u201d As you can see, this gives us tools when I\u2019m too sick to help myself.<\/p>\n

2. She edits my books so she knows my tips! In fact, she’s editing the book I’m currently writing with a friend. The one that is taking forever to get done.\u00a0 I have anxiety episodes every time I even sit down to write.\u00a0 She took the files and told me they were fine.\u00a0 Anxiety distorts my thinking- my mom knows my writing well enough to tell me if it’s good!<\/p>\n

3. She isn\u2019t embarrassed that I have bipolar and tells all of her friends she is proud of me.<\/p>\n

4. She educates others.\u00a0I once heard her say, \u201cWhen you have to tell someone that your child has bipolar disorder, remember that the person you\u2019re talking to probably has no idea what it is. It helps if you explain it while you give out the information. I say, \u2018My daughter has bipolar disorder. You may have heard about it as it\u2019s in the news a lot. She has mood swings and it can be really tough, but she works hard to manage it.\u201d This lets others know it\u2019s an illness and not something to be ashamed of.<\/p>\n

My mom is a genius because she educates herself in order to help me. I am indebted to her and proud of her too. It isn’t easy having a child with a mental health disorder, but she simply couldn’t be a better mom!<\/p>\n

Julie<\/p>\n

PS: \u00a0She is coming with me to California for my presentations on May 6-8th. She will be in the audience when I give the keynote at the Fiesta of Hope Dinner. Please find her and say hello!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My mother is a genius when it comes to helping me with bipolar disorder, but it didn’t start out that way. It took her many years to know how to help me. I created my treatment program (The Health Cards) in 1998. There was definitely a learning curve for my family. When someone has bipolar disorder, family members want to help, but they rarely know how. All of the comforting techniques that work on others don\u2019t work when a person is in a mood swing. Family members have to educate themselves.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s natural to say, \u201cBut you have so much!\u201d when someone you love is depressed. It never works. It\u2019s natural to say, \u201cWhy can\u2019t you just focus? It\u2019s a really simple thing to clean your house.\u201d It\u2019s natural to [ 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\/8013"}],"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=8013"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11323,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8013\/revisions\/11323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}