A Mercurial Mind Giving to Others; Making Mania Work for You

I love this article!

Written by Mary Beth Smetzer of the Anchorage Daily News, Smetzer introduces us to a wonderful woman who is Bipolar and unemployable. Shari Boyd is bipolar and her story in this season of giving is oh so perfect.

For those of us whose bipolar symptoms interfere so significantly with our lives, especially our productive lives, a little light inside us can easily be dimmed.

Ms. Boyd has found a way to use her mania to feel productive and a significant contributor to the community.

Check it out at ADN.COM-Woman's Bipolar Disorder Creates Chance to Serve Others


Tags
[Bipolar Disorder]
[Mania]

The Pentagon Doesn't Want Anyone Going Off Half-Cocked?

The Pentagon has made their official announcement, mental health screening begins. More can be read on this in the Army Times by Gayle S. Putrich

The Army Times article states that service members with psychiatric conditions may be prevented from deployment.

The article further notes that a mentally ill service member could be deployed if, "... “demonstrated a pattern of stability without significant symptoms” for at least three months before deployment.

The Pentagon will not take those who are on psychiatric medications.

For an eager young person who is wanting to be deployed, I am not sure this is the right message. Perhaps it has been their life long dream, but they have a mental illness. Perhaps they have returned home and want to be deployed again, but are not mentally stable.

It feels a like a blow to the ego, the intellect, the strides of many...
on the surface....only on the surface.

On a deeper level, what a horrid story of the proverbial young man who feels so much better on his meds...he stops them, his mania pulls him through for the mandated three months and off he goes...only to be sick again.

Three months is not very long.

Tags
[Bipolar]
[Pentagon and Mentally Ill]

Think Before you Speak

If You Have Time to Blink

Mania often can manifest a motormouth. My doctor once referred to this as, verbal diarrhea (pardon me for this crude term, I just find it so appropriate). I am sure many are familiar with the non-stop talking, jumping from subject to subject, and the slightly annoying and rude interruption of the other person speaking. When mania can take this form sometimes the individual seems to loose all listening skills while their speaking skills are enhanced.

My doctor's reference to this verbal spillage is because often the manic conversation is so fast and flighty that the speaker looses the listener's interest. Sometimes this is a red flag that there needs to be a medication adjustment, or perhaps too much outside stress is occurring and the individual needs to use caution to prevent further digression in their illness. (Or Starbucks should have a BP identification system;)

Motormouths can pose a different and more damaging problem than just annoyance to one's ear. When one is manic and thoughts are rapid, our necessary filters to prevent conflict and hurt do not seem to work as well. It is crucial to be aware of our mood's and mouth's during these times. When a flurry of thoughts have entered our head, there is a chance that not one of those thoughts is a true emotion, feeling, or even a valid thought when we are not manic. In the wrong moment, an explosion of "verbal diarrhea" can scathe those we love the most.

Sometimes, as the mania subsides, each thought that seemed so real, begins to disappear.
It is truly mind boggling that the thoughts could ever have been there at all.

Medication can only take me so far, the rest is my responsibility. I need to anticipate triggers and emotions. I must watch for the motormouth. I attempt to turn off my mouth until the chemicals in my head have calmed.

Tags
[Bipolar]
[Mania]

Bipolar Rage, Anger Management, Hormones, Blood Sugar, Teenager OH MY!

In my years of Bipolar living and learning I think I have become somewhat of an upperclassman of the school of Bipolar Rage. Do not get me wrong, I have not earned a diploma. I do not think anyone can.

I have learned about my own triggers, the emotional or physical settings that can lead up to a rage episode. I know about the extreme importance of prevention and becoming aware of what my body is telling me; anticipating as much as possible.

Most importantly, after many years, I have the right combination of medication for my mixed episodes and hypo-manic states. I also am aware that at anytime this dosage may need adjusting.

This has been a trailblazing journey for myself. Up and down steep mountains, barely making it over boulders and hanging by my pinky finger off of cliffs.

Any Mother or Father with this mercurial illness, waits with the heavy thought in the back of their mind's as their children grow, "Will my baby be Bipolar?".

If the younger years have been calm and the teenage years grow tumultuous, this thought presses ever harder our heart's.

The variables can be endless and must be considered before diagnosis:

*Nature vs nurture- the child is displaying the same behaviour he/she has witnessed or been taught; inappropriate anger management.

*Hormones- this is a very difficult time for the teenager.

*Blood Sugar- diet and blood sugar levels can lead to direct mood fluctuations. This can be common in girls who are not eating a proper diet.

*Teenage Life- life is so hard for children, especially teenagers with a parent who has a mental illness.

One of these variables or a combination of any can lead to mood fluctuations, anger, or rage.

There is definitely no need for pro-longed suffering if medication will help.

Yet, there is definitely a need for a long term process of elimination prior to diagnosis. A good doctor or therapist should work with you and not place the Bipolar label simply due to the genetic factor.

Tags
[Bipolar Rage]
[rage]

Bipolar Disorder; The Cost of Being Cured

In my previous post,Cost for a Cure , taymachelle made a comment about her desires for better treatment but not necessarily a cure. She writes, "Maybe its one of those things that I consider part of me- that I would never really want to go away."

This is certainly something to consider. Many people with Bipolar Disorder or other mental illness' may know what taymachelle is referring too. Sometimes medication can leave a person left feeling less than they were before they started the prescription. Perhaps these are physical side effects, or to some the much worse, a loss of creativity and/or mental capacity.

This is part of the ongoing medication challenge we all face. The risk versus benefit factor, finding the right combination for our own needs and chemistry.

If the Australian research team were to someday find a cure, or anyone else for that matter, we may be facing an even more serious risk versus benefit factor.

Disrupting, adjusting chemistry to fix or repair a brain that is destructive to one's life.

Would you pay a possible permanent price (similar to what you may experience with medication) for a forever fix promising peace?

Tags
[Bipolar Disorder]