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Are u kiddin me? BP1 is SEVERE!!!! Close friend has it. BP2 ain't much better -- just hears & sees less via no psychosis yet still rapid cycles -- & grandiosity & back to suicidal depress -- is norm for BP 1 & 2 at times. Hardest illnesses mentally as even Schizophrenics can blunt affect w/ meds. But BP'ars want no meds when flying.
Are u kiddin me? BP1 is SEVERE!!!! Close friend has it. BP2 ain't much better -- just hears & sees less via no psychosis yet still rapid cycles -- & grandiosity & back to suicidal depress -- is norm for BP 1 & 2 at times. Hardest illnesses mentally as even Schizophrenics can blunt affect w/ meds. But BP'ars want no meds when flying.
Schizophrenics don't like their meds anymore than bipolar people do. In fact, usually they are stronger, leaving the person less than 'flat' and downright lethargic. Almost all anti-manics were created for schizophrenia and then trickled down.
A resounding no. If you really want to get shocked, read on psych nurse forums. I ended up on one googling something about a medication and some of them say terrible things. Like 'they can help themselves' and they are very mean talking about their clients.
Unfortunately, you'll find this attitude among a lot of health professionals.
Unfortunately, you'll find this attitude among a lot of health professionals.
Yes and Drs are often to blame for bipolar people going manic. Pushing whatever new drug the Big Pharma says to rather than what is best for the patient.
He's mistaken. If it were easily explained away, it would not be included in the DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). There is Bipolar I and Bipolar II, the former of which is more severe. Diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder: What
Correct. My wife was Bipolar II and in no way was it a walk in the park. In both the depressions can be deep and sometimes suicidal. The difference between the two is in the manic episodes. They're hyper for the Is and hypo for the IIs. Those who maintain that either is a fake illness are delusional and should seek treatment for themselves.
Correct. My wife was Bipolar II and in no way was it a walk in the park. In both the depressions can be deep and sometimes suicidal. The difference between the two is in the manic episodes. They're hyper for the Is and hypo for the IIs. Those who maintain that either is a fake illness are delusional and should seek treatment for themselves.
You can see now why I got into an argument with that troll. But I also have no doubt that much of what the medical establishment classifies as disease isn't really disease at all. I tend to be suspicious when doctors can't tell you the cause of Disease X, they'll prescribe Drug 1 for it, but won't be able to tell you exactly how Drug 1 works. When it comes to mental illness, this is especially true. How often do we hear the "chemical imbalance" line? That sounds pretty vague. In most diseases, you can point to a physical cause by doing an exam, running tests, etc. With depression, bipolar, and so forth, there are no such tests. Wouldn't it be nice if you could take blood work or a brain scan and say "here are signs something is wrong with your brain."
I'd like to say a little about mental health and responsibility. While there is plenty of blame to go around - mistakes professionals make, poor choices for treatment, the meds themselves and their side effects, denial among family members, abusive home life, etc. - once a person has a diagnosis and is educated about his diagnosis a great deal of the responsibility is on him.
Just like any person who is ill he will be the best able to direct his health care and certainly should be the most motivated to do so. No medical support persons can help a person who is ill if they are unwilling to follow medical advice or to stay in close communication with his caregivers.
He needs to learn how to self-monitor and develop a support system to help mirror his behaviors when he can't see them accurately. This will probably be a referral but following through is up to him. He needs to pay attention daily to what direction his mental health is moving and learn to ask for help if he can't tell.
He needs to learn what medications work for him and at what doses. He needs to learn what substances and situations are apt to cause him relapse and act appropriately about them. He needs to follow instructions to the letter and, if unable or unwilling, to not make any changes without first contacting his medical caregivers. He needs to recognize when he is out of control and be willing to take the sometimes unpleasant steps to get back on track.
It takes time and patience to get to know his illness but it needs to be part of his job if he wants to stay well. It's important for people not to think that all they have to do is go to the doctor and then expect to get well.
I recognize there are unfortunate people for whom these tasks seem impossible or may truly be so. Many patients, though, when stabilized can learn how to monitor their illness which is an important part of staying well.
Reading RuthforTruth's post made me think about some psychiatric professionals who later in their practice began to look at mental illness as a condition created by an unhealthy social environment (or as she observed by actual physical illness.) It raises a lot of questions about exactly what mental illness is. Could it possibly be a reasonable reaction to some sensitive peoples' intolerance to their social environment?
It's an intriguing thought. As in, "You are making me crazy!" Heh.
I was discussing this one day with a psychiatrist and I asked him if he'd noticed a decrease in the wildly manic phase of Bipolar type such as illustrated in the story of "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride." He thought so also. Is the illness morphing as society changes?
Why do we see periods of time when some diagnoses are more prominent than others? Curiouser and curiouser.
I'd like to say a little about mental health and responsibility. While there is plenty of blame to go around - mistakes professionals make, poor choices for treatment, the meds themselves and their side effects, denial among family members, abusive home life, etc. - once a person has a diagnosis and is educated about his diagnosis a great deal of the responsibility is on him.
Just like any person who is ill he will be the best able to direct his health care and certainly should be the most motivated to do so. No medical support persons can help a person who is ill if they are unwilling to follow medical advice or to stay in close communication with his caregivers.
He needs to learn how to self-monitor and develop a support system to help mirror his behaviors when he can't see them accurately. This will probably be a referral but following through is up to him. He needs to pay attention daily to what direction his mental health is moving and learn to ask for help if he can't tell.
He needs to learn what medications work for him and at what doses. He needs to learn what substances and situations are apt to cause him relapse and act appropriately about them. He needs to follow instructions to the letter and, if unable or unwilling, to not make any changes without first contacting his medical caregivers. He needs to recognize when he is out of control and be willing to take the sometimes unpleasant steps to get back on track.
It takes time and patience to get to know his illness but it needs to be part of his job if he wants to stay well. It's important for people not to think that all they have to do is go to the doctor and then expect to get well.
I recognize there are unfortunate people for whom these tasks seem impossible or may truly be so. Many patients, though, when stabilized can learn how to monitor their illness which is an important part of staying well.
Reading RuthforTruth's post made me think about some psychiatric professionals who later in their practice began to look at mental illness as a condition created by an unhealthy social environment (or as she observed by actual physical illness.) It raises a lot of questions about exactly what mental illness is. Could it possibly be a reasonable reaction to some sensitive peoples' intolerance to their social environment?
It's an intriguing thought. As in, "You are making me crazy!" Heh.
I was discussing this one day with a psychiatrist and I asked him if he'd noticed a decrease in the wildly manic phase of Bipolar type such as illustrated in the story of "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride." He thought so also. Is the illness morphing as society changes?
Why do we see periods of time when some diagnoses are more prominent than others? Curiouser and curiouser.
On what do you base this? And do you mean among the undiagnosed or those who take meds?
Yes and Drs are often to blame for bipolar people going manic. Pushing whatever new drug the Big Pharma says to rather than what is best for the patient.
I'm bp2, and when I was under treatment, at one point I took 20 pills a day. Now, due to missing internal parts from illness, how much and how well any of the 20 worked was doubtful and not predictable, so they didn't work like the book said it should. No problem, just take more.
I took me off all of them since they were causing me to pass out without warning. I did it slow, ultra slow and said nothing to any of them. But when I got my 'drop by, no time for talking' dr appointment they DID notice I seemed better. I took my script and filled it then tossed the bottle in drawer. But there was a magic moment when I realized that I felt NORMAL. Well, normal in an intense sort of way. My hobbies and interests are very intense and am something of a perfectionist. I spent much of yesterday evening pouring through usnet posts, since I couldn't find a segment of a story I'm redoing for reposting. I felt very much like finding it was a victory, usenet material sometimes missing. And its something I'm proud of.
Back when I took all those meds, I was a bouncing ball. I took advantage of some of it, and my stories get comments like they are very intense and just draw you in. I've worked out way to dissipate the lows without meds most of the time, but will take some st john's wort if needed. Or a valerian root. Its natures version, but it doesn't hit you like a hammer.
The MOST valuable thing I've learned, that has done more than anything, is Magnesium. My downers are not deep, but make me sad. I don't mind remembering things and wishing they'd worked out better and have some big regrets about moments its too late for, but a post on this board made me look up nutritional support. And it seems that magnesium is the element in your brain which helps balance it. I ordered it and a D3, and tried it. It's Wonderful. Little things don't create the gloomy weather now. And I feel as if my moods are much more even, and the wobbles are much smaller. But its not because I am sedated. It's because the suppliments WORK.
But the one thing which was NEVER mentioned in all the 'treatment' was nutrition, or things like low magnesium bringing on depression. But big pharma doesn't make big bucks off it.
I really wonder what the 'system' would really be like if instead of basing it on big pharma, it based it on therapy, nutrition, groups, and a recognition that if you're bp, the above can help but will not ever make you 'normal', but why does everyone have to dance to the same song if its one which uses your differences to give you and your skills a way to contribute to the world, even if its 'different'.
I'd like to say a little about mental health and responsibility. While there is plenty of blame to go around - mistakes professionals make, poor choices for treatment, the meds themselves and their side effects, denial among family members, abusive home life, etc. - once a person has a diagnosis and is educated about his diagnosis a great deal of the responsibility is on him.
Just like any person who is ill he will be the best able to direct his health care and certainly should be the most motivated to do so. No medical support persons can help a person who is ill if they are unwilling to follow medical advice or to stay in close communication with his caregivers.
He needs to learn how to self-monitor and develop a support system to help mirror his behaviors when he can't see them accurately. This will probably be a referral but following through is up to him. He needs to pay attention daily to what direction his mental health is moving and learn to ask for help if he can't tell.
He needs to learn what medications work for him and at what doses. He needs to learn what substances and situations are apt to cause him relapse and act appropriately about them. He needs to follow instructions to the letter and, if unable or unwilling, to not make any changes without first contacting his medical caregivers. He needs to recognize when he is out of control and be willing to take the sometimes unpleasant steps to get back on track.
It takes time and patience to get to know his illness but it needs to be part of his job if he wants to stay well. It's important for people not to think that all they have to do is go to the doctor and then expect to get well.
I recognize there are unfortunate people for whom these tasks seem impossible or may truly be so. Many patients, though, when stabilized can learn how to monitor their illness which is an important part of staying well.
Reading RuthforTruth's post made me think about some psychiatric professionals who later in their practice began to look at mental illness as a condition created by an unhealthy social environment (or as she observed by actual physical illness.) It raises a lot of questions about exactly what mental illness is. Could it possibly be a reasonable reaction to some sensitive peoples' intolerance to their social environment?
It's an intriguing thought. As in, "You are making me crazy!" Heh.
I was discussing this one day with a psychiatrist and I asked him if he'd noticed a decrease in the wildly manic phase of Bipolar type such as illustrated in the story of "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride." He thought so also. Is the illness morphing as society changes?
Why do we see periods of time when some diagnoses are more prominent than others? Curiouser and curiouser.
Yes to all of this. When I first got diagnosed, I sort of already knew. When life was stable I did okay, but right about then life kind if fell apart. That time, I needed something to banish the worse. But when things improved again (I was no longer homeless) I could relax enough to watch the stable moments, and what interrupted them. After the doctor I saw about five minutes every couple to three months sat on edge while I explained why this one drug had to be stopped, as due to medical circumstances I cannot gain a lot of weight, and was just dismissed as not worth listening to, I quit listening to them.
The weight ended up causing a surgery I should NOT ever have needed. I quit worrying about what this 'doctor' pharma pill pusher said.
I use suppliments, and did a lot of research before putting my list together. But there are no sudden bottoming outs, just moody moments. I can fix them if I need to. And few 'highs'. The ones where you can't move enough and your mind is on overload and your exhausted but can't sleep get quashed by an extra B-12 sublingual. And I have done very well managing myself.
Is there still bp symptoms? Yes. The diagnosis isn't wrong. But after that everything is individual. Very rarely do I have a type 1 sort of hit. But two full strength b12 pills take it away.
I think that my first touch with the 'system' was through county and their impersonal rules which didn't work, and feeling like a zombie until I decided not to and fixing it on my own has made it really hard to tell people to go and follow the program, but then I know not everyone is as methodical as I am. But I feel free to question the 'norm' since it seems to much designed to help pharma sell their pills and make lots of money without bothering to see if any of their customers really need them.
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