De-lurking here, can we please return the part were people talk about how they live with Bi-polar
A psychiatrist working at a cognitive behavior therapy factory who were trying to help me with my depression complaints, told me last week that they were not the right people to help me because I had Bi-polar II, and that they would refer me to a different factory.
so this thread sounds like just what I need…
thanks
You hit the nail on the head. Bipolar isn’t directly genetic. There can be a genetic predisposition, but there isn’t a bipolar gene. My parents knew that high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease run on both sides of the family; they still had four children that are now likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. But they still had kids anyway.
I’m not going to get myself spayed just because I have a mental illness, one which is very manageable. Talk about eugenics.
Besides which, there are new theories that bipolar occurs on a spectrum. Some people are Bipolar I (which is the one you see in Richard Gere movies with the grandiose euphoria and the blackest of suicidal depressions), some are Bipolar II (aka - hypomania), and others, like me, fall further down the spectrum where we have very very mild mania (mine, for example, only happens one day out of the month and is an unusual positive mood, not anything near grand plans and impulsive spending).
So, it’s likely that even if Serenata67 passes on the pre-disposition, it doesn’t mean that her kid will be Bipolar I or even Bipolar II. I have read that bipolar can become more mild through successive generations. Certainly, you still have to take it seriously and understand what it is, but there are absolutely many different strategies to deal with it and not every mood shift is radical and immediate. Some, like mine, are much more subtle. I’m not sure you’d even know I was in a manic state.
Inigo, here’s a link to the light/dark therapy I mentioned earlier: http://psycheducation.org/depression/LightDark.htm
Ah yes, sweet remission. You know, my exmother-in-law was an alcoholic for 30 years before her daughter staged an intervention. She was stunned–she knew she drank a lot, but she had no idea she was an alcoholic and that her actions were destroying the people she loved. Once she was dried out she never touched the stuff again, despite living with an alcoholic. That’s how it was for me. I always knew I was moody and had mild audio/visual hallucinations from time to time, but never realized I had a problem. Figured the mood swings were normal and the sensory stuff was never problematic enough to raise my concern. It wasn’t until I suffered a major crash in 2004, followed by the exposure of some irreparable marital problems that had been brewing for years, that it dawned on me that I was the main cause of my problems. It wasn’t a matter of not being able to ignore the elephant in the room anymore, it was more like, “WTF! That’s a freaking elephant in the room!” Since then, like the mother-in-law, I’ve developed a personality that focuses on vigilance. The condition still exists, but now I recognize the mood swings for what they are and simply refuse to allow them to take me for the ride. And it’s a system that works for me. The major drawback, as indicated in the OP, is that part of training myself to avoid manic grandiosity also precludes great confidence in myself. Because you’re sort of right, there are times when I have trouble thinking rationally, so I’ve learned to distrust my sense of what I am capable of doing. The trade off is that I get to feel, and I don’t have to share my success against the demons with a drug.
And my son is bipolar(big time). As was my dad. As was his dad. And from what I can tell based on the geneology work my mom has done, pretty much my entire paternal line was peppered with grandiose visionaries who had problems with long term relationships.
Ok I’ll jump in here, don’t know if it will help. BUT as both a bi-polar person and a pharmacy technician (with somewhat of a drug knowledge) I have to say if you are not happy with drugs you are on, or their effects TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT. It is your right as a patient to say “This isn’t working for me” and try something else. I suffered through a couple years of valproic acid, because it seemed to be working and it ended up causing me 50 pounds of weight gain. Once I switched doctors they were able to suggest alternatives that wouldn’t have that problem (Lamictal, already mentioned).
I’ve also had friends say “I had some good luck with medication but didn’t want to continue it for sexual reasons.” I’m here to tell you TRY OTHER THINGS. There are dozens of medications out there if you’re willing to give them the chance. And keep trying until you find something that works. Gads. Drugs, trust me, there’s a million. You will find it if you keep insisting on it. Stick up for yourself!
This. Absolutely this.
We are blessed to live in a golden age with treatment options for mental disorders which weren’t even recognized as disorders in centuries past. There are multiple treatment options available, including off-label meds, or even herbal-type remedies such as fish oil, or medical marijuana (which is contraindicated for mania, but does wonders for clinical depression.) One of my bipolar friends had little success with standard medication, until his doctor got him on a cocktail of Depakote & Propranonol – he’s doing great now, and hasn’t had a major event in years.
The most important thing is to accept that all medications come with side effects, including the side effect of having to responsibly take them every day. The trick is to recognize which effects are actually minor, or even normal (like that “non-feeling” effect many have mentioned) and to understand that what feels like anathema today will someday, down the road, become something trivial.
The most important thing is to take some responsibility for your situation and condition. That may take the form of aggressively questioning different therapists in search of the right therapist for you, it may take the form of asking your doctor to try you on different meds until you find an ideal recipe that works for you, or it may lead you to go medication-free (and/or dissasociate yourself with psychiatric services altogether).
fuzzypickles and I don’t agree on much about mental health issues (he thinks it’s a terrible mistake for anyone with a psych diagnosis to not be on psych meds, and doesn’t seem to think misdiagnosis is much of a risk there; I think psychiatry has a much much dimmer understanding than they pretend to have and that their meds are crude primitive things that just dampen symptoms, and I think in that sense ALL psych diagnoses are misdiagnoses, and no psych med a solution or cure by itself); but I think we perhaps have SOME overlap, and that would be in the area of being proactive.
SEEK OUT what works FOR YOU, and be tenacious in that search. DON’T just blow it all off and try to coast if you know you have perennial issues that will come back to bite you in the ass sooner or later. Take your head seriously. You have to live in it.
I was diagnosed as BP1 when I was 34, I’m 48 now. My symptoms manifested in my mid teens. When I was young it really gave me an advantage socially. I also credit my disorder for some rapid and incredible success in my career.
I spent the majority of my youth between hypomania and stability. I cant recall many instances of crippling depression until I was in my early 30s. The hypomania certainly did cause some problems. I felt pretty much invincible and that I didnt have to play by the same rules everyone else did.
My parents asked me to read Patty Dukes book, A Brilliant Madness. I made an appointment with a shrink shortly after finishing it. I spent a couple years as a moderator for 2 different BP forums. One thing I learned while doing this is that a good percentage of our problems are a result of the disorder plus immaturity, among other character flaws.
Like you I grew disatisfied with my life on meds. Not to mention the frustration of trying so many different med cocktails that never worked. I did have a disasterous experience with Paxil. It sent me into my first full blown manic episode and landed me in the nuthouse for 2 weeks.
I’ve been off meds for about 5 years now. I’ve been functioning very well in that time. My family and close friends have been informed and have no problem telling me if I’m sending up red flags. I welcome the imput even though I really know whats going on with myself. Their imput just reinforces the fact that I need to be cognizant of my behavior and take steps to try to even out. Sometimes just the exercise of reacting to stressors in a calm level headed way leads to a geniune sense of calm. For me anyway. I keep seroquel on hand just in case I feel I’m heading for territory I cant handle.