Manic Episode: Another Side of Bipolar Disorder.

Welcome back, my friends!

My apologies for the extended absence. I’ve been very busy with other projects, which I’ll have to return to soon. Also, I wanted to make sure this article was perfect, because this one’s a little tricky.

So far, most of my articles have focused on depression. As someone with type II bipolar disorder, that’s the side I know best. Also, it’s the side that’s easiest for a person who doesn’t have bipolar disorder to understand. Everyone has been bummed at some point. Wanna understand bipolar depression? Take your depression, magnify by about a jillion, and there ya go. Pretty easy to understand, right? The other side of the coin isn’t as straightforward. A good metaphor, I hope, will make it easier to understand.

Let’s say that the average human brain is like a Volvo. The Volvo gets great mileage and is one of the safest, most dependable cars on the road. You wanna get to work on time, day after day and with very little fuss and worry? A Volvo is the car for you.

The bipolar brain is more like a Ferrari.

Ferrari

The Ferrari is fast and flashy. Its sleek, predatory looks practically demand that you drive it at dangerous speeds. You want to make it to work in forty seconds flat? Then the Ferrari is the car for you. Unfortunately, it guzzles gas like your Aunt Janie guzzles gin and tends to spend more time in the shop than on the road. The insurance premiums are astronomical and you are almost guaranteed to wrap it around a tree someday.

Now then… bipolar depression is like the times when the Ferrari is in the shop. It’s up on the lift, and you’re going nowhere. You can’t even show it off by rolling it into your driveway. Not only that, but you gotta walk to work while all the Volvo drivers practically blaze by at 35 mph. In your mind’s eye, they laugh at you as it starts to rain. Your anxiety tells you they are ALL aiming for puddles near you, and the occasional sociopath WILL soak you for his or her amusement.

But then the shop owner calls. Your chariot awaits! You go down to the shop, pay the exorbitant bill, and fire up that 16-cylinder Italian ego trip.

“I’ve missed you, Farrah,” you say, not caring about the look the shop owner gives you. If HE had a Ferrari, he’d name her Farrah, too. Your foot barely taps her gas pedal and she purrs delightedly. She’s missed you, too.

“Good girl,” you say, then ease Farrah’s shifter into first, the action so smooth that instinct alone tells you that she’s out of neutral. You pull out of the shop’s parking lot and into traffic. At first, she’s just glad to be off of that horrible rack and back on the road where she belongs, but every red light, every school zone is an irritant, and sand only makes pearls in oysters. Sand in an engine is death, but Farrah complies and stays below the speed limit… for now.

As you pull into the parking lot at work, all eyes turn to you and your beautiful machine. You pull into your space and reach for the key to kill her ignition, but you stop short.

“It’s been so long. Just once,” she begs. “Pretty please?”

You know this is how it starts, but you’re still in control. Just once won’t hurt anything, right? It’s not like you’re doing anything dangerous. Besides, what’s the point in owning a car like Farrah if you can’t show her off?

With Farrah’s gears in neutral, your foot presses hard on her accelerator and her engine screams ecstatically. Those who weren’t looking before certainly are now. Many are impressed. Many others are jealous. And Farrah, at long last, feels warm and tingly.

“Mmm… baby,” she purrs. “You’re the only one who knows how to touch me right. Again. Please.”

“Sorry, babe,” you say, a little defeated. “I gotta go to work now.”

Farrah pouts as you shut off the engine, sputtering just a little to let you know she’s put out. You promise her a full tank of premium and a stretch of deserted highway tonight followed by a loving sponge bath. You know that will make her happy, but she’s still sulking.

When five o’clock rolls around, you dash into the parking lot to find Farrah waiting. It’s a beautiful day, so you decide a little sun would be good for you both. You drop her top, fire up her engine and gun the accelerator—just a little—as you exit the parking lot. No harm done, and at last you’re out on the open road where both of you are more happy… for all of about twenty seconds.

Gridlock. No one’s going anywhere fast. The traffic jam drives you nuts, but you try to smile regardless. You’ve gotten so many “nice car, man” comments from the Volvos that your ego has slipped into overdrive. Eventually, though, it gets old. You’re sick of hearing how nice your car is. You wanna FEEL how nice she is, and in this traffic, how can you? You can’t even get out of first gear! You’ve got to MOVE!

Speed isn’t Farrah’s only good quality. She maneuvers like… well… like a goddamn Ferrari! Each time you see an opening in traffic, you seize it. At first, you make sure there’s plenty of space, but soon ANY amount of space is enough as long as it moves you forward. Other drivers stop saying “nice car” and start saying “watch it, asshole!”

“Fuck them,” Farrah says. “They’re just jealous, baby.”

Finally, you come upon a stretch of open highway, just begging to be devoured. You stomp Farrah’s accelerator and instantly know that what she said is true. Who wouldn’t be jealous of this speed? This freedom?

“At last!” she screams as you tear away from the nightmare behind you. The wind whips your hair as the speedometer climbs. This is what she’s DESIGNED to do, you tell yourself. It’s just you and Farrah and all is well in the world. You drive off into the sunset, victorious, just like in the movies.

But real life isn’t the movies, and sunset only means the end of the day, not the end of the film. You pull into your garage and park Farrah for the night. You have to work in the morning, but you’re too wired to sleep. You try watching TV. You try a hot shower. Nothing works. Sleep just won’t come, not with Farrah calling to you from the garage.

“Sleep is for those Volvo people,” she says, spitting out the word Volvo as if it had the arsenic taste of bitter almonds. “You’re better than them, baby. All you need is me. Come on. Let’s go for a drive.”

But you know better. You’ve been down this road before. With the help of a few Benadryl, you ignore her voice and drift off, but your sleep isn’t like real sleep. Your body lays motionless but your mind spins like a screeching tire. Dreams and reality melt together for a few fitful hours of sleep and traffic nightmares.

You’re awake long before sunrise, but you force yourself to stay in bed until the alarm goes off, then you’re up in a flash. You sing in the shower. You skip breakfast. You rush to the garage.

“Good morning, sexy,” she says. “Ready to play?”

“Are you?” you ask, smirking as you sink into a kid leather bucket seat that fits you like a glove. You deftly slip your key in her ignition and give it a twist. As you pull on your driving gloves, the temperature gauge begins to rise. “Like that, do you?”

“Sailor baby, you get me hotter than Georgia asphalt,” she purrs.

You bet your sweet ass I do, you think as the garage door rises to release you from your prison. Your house isn’t your home. Here with her. This is home. This is where you belong.

Now, there are two different ways this scenario can end…

END #1

The garage door is barely up before you’re skidding out of the garage and into… another fucking traffic jam! No! No no no no NO NO NO!!! You honk madly. Farrah’s engine growls at any Volvos who get too close. The admiration in the Volvo drivers’ eyes is gone. Today, they look upon you with fear, but you don’t give a damn. They’re just in your way, anyway, right? One Volvo tries to pull in front of you. You stomp the accelerator and he weaves out of your way just in time.

“My lane, asshole,” you shout. “Mine!

Your lane or not, the traffic light turns red and you’re stuck. Time stands still. You scream and rev your engine, both you and Farrah quickly reaching redline. The temperature warning light comes on, but you ignore it. It just wants to slow you down, too. You smell oil smoke, but don’t care.

“Go baby,” Farrah shrieks. “Go! Go! GOOOO!”

KABLAM!

Something snaps. Thick gray smoke boils from the engine compartment. Farrah’s engine chokes and sputters as the light turns green. She’s got just enough strength to ease to the side of the road.

“This is all your fault,” she says, dying. You weep at what your anger has done.

The tow truck guy clucks his tongue as he winches Farrah’s front end into the sky. “Damn shame,” he says. “Such a nice car.”

In your mind, you finish his sentence. If only you knew how to treat it.

Welcome back to depression.

Or, it could end like this…

END #2

The garage door is barely up before you’re skidding out of the garage and onto the open road. Your floor it and Farrah jumps over the speed limit like an antelope. There’s no traffic, no cops, nothing but miles of open road. You cut each corner closer, but not because you’re out of control. You do it because you’re fucking amazing! Every move you make is the right one. The world is yours and everything is perfect…

…until you run out of gas in the middle of nowhere during a thunderstorm and have to walk to the nearest payphone (you forgot your cell in your hurry to hit the road) only to find you don’t have any change, so you have to walk all the way back to your house. Once at your house, you reach into your pocket and find that you’ve lost your keys somewhere along the way.

Welcome back to depression.

George Carlin, one of the funniest men to ever live, once said that the cliché phrase “more than happy” sounded like a medical condition.” Well, he was right. “More than happy” is called euphoria, and euphoria is sometimes a symptom of a manic episode. Sometimes, bipolar disorder feels WONDERFUL. At the beginning of the upswing, you have hypomania, and hypomania can be very, very good. It’s your chance to really shine.

Sometimes, when you’re hypomanic, you are the life of the party—charming, witty, friendly and filled with energy. Your mind becomes razor sharp, your reflexes like those of a kung fu master. You make friends easily, accomplish incredible amounts of work, and have flashes of brilliance that astound and amaze everyone around you. I LOVE it when hypomania works that way!

Sometimes, however, it doesn’t. Sometimes when you’re hypomanic, you are the total buzzkill—cranky, bitter, sullen… and yet still filled with energy. Your mind is sharp, but it’s your tongue that’s the razor. You’re nerves are so jittery you twitch. Fine silk feels like sandpaper against your skin. You still have that keen focus, but all you focus on is the neighbor’s goddamn stereo and if you had one ounce less of willpower, you’d crash right over and shove the thing straight up his ass. But that wouldn’t fix the problem, because dammit, you’re pissed and you’re gonna stay that way. I HATE it when hypomania works that way.

Now, if you’re type II bipolar like me, hypomania is the ceiling. You hit it, stay there for anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks (depending on how rapidly you cycle) and then spiral back down into depression. If you’re type I bipolar, then hypomania is just the beginning.

Hypomania basically means “little mania,” so for a full-tilt manic episode, take my description of hypomania and magnify it exponentially: the occasional sleepless night becomes days on end without sleep; the occasional ego trip gives way to full-blown narcissism and delusions of grandeur; euphoria becomes psychosis; irritability becomes hostility and anxiety becomes outright paranoia. Some even experience hallucinations.

No matter how high the ladder goes, unless you drop dead from exhaustion (which does happen occasionally) or wrap your Ferrari around a tree (yes, those on the upswing really do tend to speed) then you’re going to find yourself right back where you started. For some, that’s a relatively normal mood. For others, it’s welcome back to depression. Hope you enjoyed the ride.

And on that note, I hope you, my readers, have enjoyed the ride. I’ll be taking a break from this blog now, but I’m sure I’ll be back I’ve got so many other stories, poems, screenplays and articles to write. I’ve got sketches to draw and music to compose. I’ve got a life without bipolar disorder… or at least a life without thinking about it all the time.

The one thing I want you to remember most of all is that NO ONE IS A DISEASE. They are a person with a disease. Their disease is not their life, at least not unless they allow it to be. Don’t do that, folks. It sucks. Be people. People are OK unless they won’t turn their goddamn stereos down.

Keep fighting, folks!
-Bryce Albertson

Happy New Year, fellow freaks!

Congratulations on surviving the holidays. This time of year is rough on lots of folks. It’s so bad that psychologists actually had to come up with the term Seasonal Affective Disorder to give a label to the depression many people feel during this time of year. Statistically speaking, more people commit suicide during the holidays than any other time of year.

In case you can’t think of a good reason to be bummed, here’s a list. In fact, since we’re all so freakin’ festive, let’s sing it!

The Twelve Days of Holiday Depression (opus 42)

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:

• Twelve pounds of gained weight
• Eleven in-laws bitching
• Ten hours of sunlight (if I’m lucky)
• Nine days snowed-in
• Eight (eight, I forget what eight was for)
• Seven months of payments on my…
• Six maxed-out credit cards, and (deep breath)
• FIVE EXISTENTIAL CRISES wherein I wonder if I’m celebrating for no reason other than to pad some corporation’s bottom line because there just might not be a God after all and this one life might be all I get and I’m wasting it just like my mother always said I would after I dropped out of law school to become an artist and now I have to look her in the eye and tell her “sorry, I couldn’t afford to get you anything this year, but I hand-painted you a card and no, it’s not supposed to be a fish, it’s supposed to be a Christmas tree so I guess you were right all along, so I think I’ll have cup after cup of eggnog until the gift you find under the tree tomorrow will be me, face down in a pool of my own vomit, but what the hell, it’s not like it matters anyway because Santa was a lie you told to get me to behave which makes me wonder if God might be one toooooo! (Pant… pant… pant…)
• Four calling birds (birds piss me off, OK?)
• Three French hens (enough with the damn birds, already!)
• Two turtle doves (See? My TRUE LOVE gave me BIRDS! It’s like she doesn’t even KNOW me!)
• And a partridge in a pear tree (sigh)

To make matters worse, you could be singing about all these things your true love got you and be single… on Christmas… again. So, now that we’ve had our little sing-along, here’s a bullet list for people who don’t have time for such silliness.

88% Nonsense-Free Checklist of Causes of Seasonal Depression (v2.0)

• Weight gain leads to lowered self-esteem
• Debt due to holiday overspending
• Cabin Fever due to cold weather conditions
• Stress (due to shopping, family, travel, debt, etc.)
• Little exposure to sunlight
• Religious doubt
• Loneliness
• Alienation, feeling like an outsider
• Birds

If even “normal” people tend to get the blues in the winter, just think of how it can affect someone with bipolar disorder! With all of these forces conspiring to make angst the reason for the season, what can you do to avoid the deluge of yuletide despair?

1. Set a spending limit. Does Uncle Frank in Hoboken, New Jersey really need that 88” plasma TV? Didn’t he get you a bird last year? Send him a more reasonably-priced gift. Don’t have an anxiety attack over whether or not you spent the same amount on someone as they spent on you. That’s not the point! If he or she is the kind of jerk who is going to judge you based on how much you spent on their gift, well… that’s one less person to buy for next year, now isn’t it?
2. Take time off from shopping to talk with friends and family. Instead of buying someone a gift that will most likely “accidentally” get thrown out with the wrapping paper, take them out to dinner or a movie, something you BOTH can enjoy. Chances are, they need a break from shopping, family, etc. too.
3. Slow down! Admit that you are human and cannot possibly attend each of the seventeen Christmas events in four different countries you’ve been invited to. Go ONE place Christmas Eve, and ONE place Christmas Day.
4. Buy full-spectrum light bulbs. Fluorescent bulbs may be more energy-efficient, but they can completely suck your will to live. Full-spectrum bulbs are special bulbs used in light therapy treatments. They produce light that is nearly identical to sunlight. Natural light will work WONDERS for your mood. Seriously. I can’t stress this enough. FULL-SPECTRUM LIGHT BULBS. I keep one in my bedside lamp year-round.
5. If you live someplace with terrible winters, get out of the house BEFORE the storm hits and again as soon as the roads are clear. Facebook will be there when you get back. I promise.
6. If you ARE snowed in with your family, play in the snow. It’s exercise, which is good for your mood anyway. Consider having a snowball fight. It’ll relieve some of that pent-up frustration. If you live alone, launch a surprise snowball attack on an unsuspecting neighbor. The ensuing chase will provide a few extra moments of fun, and hey, technically, the police count as having company. Make sure to have plenty of cocoa on hand.
7. Buy a cat. Petting a cat can lower your stress level. Your partridge, on the other hand, will not be pleased.

These are only a few ideas I’ve got on how to beat the wintertime blues. Can you think of any? If so, let us know in the comments section below. If they’re serious suggestions, great! We can use the help. If they’re silly, great! We can ALWAYS use a laugh. When it comes to depression, laughter might just be the best medicine.

Until next time, keep warm, and keep fighting!

-Bryce Albertson

Click the link to read more from Bryce: How I Became the Freak in the Corner

We can ask ourselves: Panic Cure – Is There One? (What if you have social anxiety?)

Panic sufferers are quick to ask, is there an anxiety cure that will make me stop having panic attacks?
The thing is, would you want to be cured completely?

It’s simply ignored when anxiety attacks become such a difficulty, but panic is there for a reason. It makes us alert when we sense danger. It causes our bodies to prepare themselves for any action that could be required to guarantee our safety.
Imagine finding the anxiety cure that removes all nervousness from your body. Imagine being wonderfully calm under all circumstances. Nothing stirs you. No matter what comes along, you don’t react. Your heart does not speed up. Your consciousness does not race. Your muscles don’t tense.
You just sit there. Unmoved.

Now imagine the “something” coming your way is a big grizzly bear. You’re so relaxed you actually don’t much care that it’s a threat to your well being. What do you suppose the result will be?
Yes, the bear might wander right on by and ignore you. It may, but you aren’t sure. It likely will need to sniff you and if it smells something engaging, it just might attack you.

You see, an all-out panic cure would be a lousy thing, even though you could think it would be an incredible benefit to your day to day life.
What you are actually looking for is an anxiety cure which will teach you how you should not get worried when there’s really nothing to be worried about. Those are the times when whatever you are dreading are what you “perceive” is dangerous when in fact it isn’t.

Nonessential fear is a reaction that you learned during some experience that caused your worries switch to get stuck in the “on” position. In other words, you attached panic to that primary experience, and it stuck. Afterward, you mostly get edgy when you revisit that experience, even though the initial danger is long past.

Agree with it or not, anxiety is a nice thing, otherwise you’d die. Naturally, way too much of it can create havoc in your life.

So what type of panic cure would you be looking for?

It would teach you how you should not become edgy all of the time. It would teach you how to respond only to real perils as you perhaps did early in your life, before something caused such a panic that your hysteria button went adrift.
The trick, though, is learning how to cure anxiety, even if it travels at the speed of thought. You almost certainly never even recognize what triggers the panic attack since it occurs so fast.

Now, you do not need to decelerate your agitation replies because that’d be as catastrophic as not having any anxiety at all. In an emergency, you require time in which to prepare and in order to do so, your brain has worked out the time commitment required. It knows how long that it requires for your heart to pump more blood to your muscles, and for the muscles to reply.
Though this process of preparation only takes a matter of split seconds, it’s coordinated with absolute precision. You do not need to play with that!

As an alternative you want an anxiety cures which will help you change which things you make a response to and when. Remember, at some particular point you attached panic or anxiety to a specific situation or event, and now, you reply that way to that event.

Your perfect panic cure will help you take away the panic and tension from that situation.

A way to do that is thru desensitization, which means revisiting that situation continually till you become desensitized to it and no longer attaches anxiety to it.
You may use visualization. This involves the “threatening” situation and sees you going thru the motions without hysteria. Visualize yourself climbing those open ladders, taking that flight, making that speech with full confidence.

Another step to your anxiety cure is to cope with stress, because quite frequently, determined stress sets the stress stream in motion. Remove the stress and the anxiety will disappear.

There are programs available to help. You can contact your physician for a referral to a therapist, you can visit your local mental health hospital, or you can search for an advisor.

You may also take advantage of some of the fantastic products that are available which will teach the nervousness cure strategies that have worked for others.

Yes there is an anxiety cure, but you cannot stop foreboding completely. The right anxiety cure will. Permit you to live a regular life again, when you respond with panic only to events that actually need it.

-Kurt Pedersen

(Based on an article from Sylvia Dickens.)

Greetings once again, friends and fellow freaks!

I like that sentence. I`ve always been fond of alliteration. For those not familiar with the term, alliteration is a literary device which means “the repetition of consonants.” Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. That’s heavy alliteration. I know because I take writing seriously. Probably a little too seriously.

I use apostrophes when I text; capitalize proper nouns on my grocery list; and edit my Facebook posts for style, usage, and clarity. I craft each and every thing that I write very carefully, so that each time I write anything, I get better at it.

OK. I’m gonna go ahead and brag. I’m a pretty damn good writer. It took Stephen King eight years to sell his first story. Me? It only took me ONE. Now… I’m nowhere near as rich or successful as he is—yet—but because I AM a good writer, I thought this would be the perfect way to segue into another myth.

Bipolar Myth #4 – People with bipolar disorder are limited.

There are times when bipolar disorder can be crippling. There are days when I’m too depressed to write anything, but it isn’t always like that. Keep in mind, bipolar disorder has an upside, too.

That’s another literary device: the pun.

People with bipolar disorder aren’t always depressed. When we’re on the upswing, we’re filled with boundless energy. We need less sleep. We can accomplish a great deal of work. Ideas come whizzing into our heads at the speed of light. We can be sharp, witty, and very charismatic.

Speaking of both charisma and light speed… know who else is bipolar? Actress Carrie Fisher. That’s right. PRINCESS LEIA IS BIPOLAR. Bipolar disorder doesn’t seem to limit her, does it? She’s an American icon! And she’s not the only one.

Linda Hamilton? Yup. Earth is safe from Terminator robots thanks to this bipolar actress.

Richard Dreyfuss? Jaws, American Graffiti, Close Encounters, Academy Awards = YES. Limited = NO.

It’s not just actors, either. Congressman Pat Kennedy, artist Jackson Pollock, and singer Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots are also bipolar. There are so many success stories that I could fill DOZENS of articles just listing them all. If you want to know more, Google “famous bipolar people.” You might also want to grab a cup of coffee. You’ll be reading for a while.

And if you want to read something written BY someone with bipolar disorder aside from me, you might be reading for a very, very long time. In Kay Redfield Jameson’s book Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament, you’ll find a list of authors and poets believed to have been bipolar. Want to know who’s on it? Take a college literature class. Pretty much anyone your teacher assigns you to read. That’s who’s on it.

And by the way, it’s not Ms. Kay Redfield Jameson, it’s Dr. Kay Redfield Jameson. She’s a clinical psychologist, so she probably knows what she’s talking about. Guess what? She’s also bipolar. Run for the hills, folks! The loonies have taken over the bin!

People with bipolar disorder can achieve great things, so please don’t make it harder for us by discriminating against us. You hurt us AND you hurt yourselves by not taking advantage of the enormous amounts of talent and drive many of us possess. Also, you might piss off Linda Hamilton. She kicked the Terminator’s butt, ya know.

Be nice, or Linda will find you.

Keep fighting!

Visit my site -Bryce Albertson

Read more from Bryce Albertson: (A brilliant bipolar article writer)

Welcome back to the loony bin, my fellow freaks!

Before I get back to dispelling myths about bipolar disorder, I want to talk a little about words. As a writer, words are my bread and butter. Language can be powerful. It doesn’t just help us define reality, it shapes it. Just ask Pluto. Poor little Pluto isn’t a planet anymore. Why? Because we SAY it isn’t.

Wacko. Nutcase. Lunatic. Psycho. Freak.

Those words can be very powerful when used with evil intent. Some of you reading this might be offended by me referring to people who suffer from bipolar disorder with those sort of words. I can understand. Those words can really, really hurt. Especially when they come from a “friend.” Trust me. I know. Keep in mind that I’m not just talking about people with bipolar disorder. I AM one of those people.

Just as words can make meaning, they can be made meaningless. It depends on two things: the person who’s saying them and his or her intent. Let me give you an example.

As a writer, I spend a lot of time indoors. I’m 1/8th Cherokee, so I WOULD tan well if I saw the sun more often than I do. The rest of my ancestry is European. Basically, my skin is as white as the driven snow. Now I’m going to say a word and then dive for cover.

Nigger.

Man… I feel crappy even typing that. That word was used by white people to oppress black people for a very long time. My people used that word like a weapon, and boy was it an effective one. It was the neutron bomb of the English language for very long time. That word was used to cause shame, which is why I feel ashamed just saying it once.

However, the N-word (sorry… I can’t bring myself to type it again) is only a weapon when it’s used like one. Watch any movie, go to any club, walk down any street and you’ll hear black people saying it to one another, joking around, even using it like a term of endearment. It’s OK for them to say it because they ARE black. Not only that, but they aren’t saying it with the intent to harm.

For me to say it? Not really OK. I can probably get away with it this one time because my INTENT is not to harm, but to help. Or at least I’m hoping I can. If not, please accept my sincerest apology.

Being bipolar, the nature of our illness ensures that we’re a sensitive bunch, but let’s try not to be too sensitive about words. They can only harm us if we let them. Let’s start with the one I hate the most:

Freak.

Freak freak freak freak FREAK FREAK FREAK!!!

If I say that word out loud, over and over, it starts to sound like a nonsense word, something I just made up. The more I use it, the less it means. The less it means the less power it has over me.

Try it for yourself. Pick the one word you hate the most and say it over and over. Make that word just as dead as the not-a-planet Pluto. Just don’t forget that your word isn’t dead to everyone. If that word bothers someone else, don’t say it around them. It’s all about kindness, folks. It’s that simple.

Well, once again, I’m over word count. And I haven’t even mentioned one myth, but I may have just dispelled one.

Bipolar Myth #3 – Being bipolar makes you a bad person.

I’m bipolar. If I was a bad person, would I go through as much effort as I have to avoid offending the black community? I hate the N-word as much as I hate “freak.” I hate ANY word used to make someone else feel like a second-class citizen.

There are people out there who are scared of people with bipolar disorder because of the actions of a few select individuals. Yes, there are some people with bipolar disorder who really are mean, vicious people who are dangerous to others. But there are many more people like that who DON’T have bipolar disorder.

Most of us are just like you. Some of us, and I’m not naming names here, are sensitive, loving fathers who try not to let their daughters see them cry during Disney movies.

OK. It’s me. I do that. Pathetic, right? Well… this whole article has been about freeing yourself from shame, so I might as well come out of the closet. Disney movies make me cry sometimes. That fact may actually make me a freak. Having bipolar disorder, however, doesn’t.

Until next time, my fellow freaks… keep fighting!
-Bryce Albertson

Click the link to read more from Bryce Albertson: How I Became the  Freak in the Corner

Hello again, fellow wackos and electronic rubberneckersHello again, fellow wackos and electronic rubberneckers!

If you’re here because you’re like me—just a little “off”—then welcome. If you’re here to learn about bipolar disorder, stick around, because I know a thing or two and I like to talk. If you’re here to watch the train wreck happen, hoping I’ll melt down and post something crazy about the talking wombats that live in my refrigerator and their TV viewing habits… well, you’ll probably be a little disappointed. I may be a freak, but I’m not crazy.
Yeah, that’s right. I just called myself a freak. I figure if other people are going to call me that, I can probably get away with saying it myself. Wacko, nutcase, loony, psycho… There are lots of things people say about bipolar disorder, and many of them just aren’t true. Let’s take a look at a few of those things right now.

Bipolar Myth #1 – People with bipolar disorder aren’t really sick.
Some people say that bipolar disorder is “all in your head.” They say things like “everyone gets depressed. You just need to suck it up and deal with it like everyone else.” If this is true, then diabetics just need to get over their illness, too. I mean, too much sugar is bad for everyone, right?
Just as a diabetic’s body doesn’t process sugars properly, a person with bipolar disorder’s brain doesn’t process dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine quite right.
Don’t take my word for it, though. Take it from research scientists at the University of Michigan who’ve studied Abnormal Brain Chemistry Found in Bipolar Disorder. They know what they’re talking about.
I’m just some freak, remember?
So, you can tell me I don’t have a “real” disease and that I just need to deal with it, but first you gotta tell Ms. Diabetic to eat six Twinkies and deal with it. Go ahead. I’ll call 911 while she’s chewing.
This myth is so prevalent that insurance companies are allowed to treat it—or more accurately NOT treat it—like it isn’t a “real” disease. The last health insurance I had would pay for 80% of the bill if I had to have major surgery, but only 50% if I saw a doctor for bipolar disorder. Also, they limited the number of times I could see a doctor for treatment to 12 times a year. Tell you what… let’s limit diabetics to 12 insulin shots per year and see how well they do.
What? We shouldn’t do that because they could get sick and die?
Well, people with bipolar disorder die, too. In fact, without proper treatment, 20% of them commit suicide. That’s one in five, folks. I’d say that constitutes a serious health risk. Maybe this bipolar thing is a real disease after all.

Bipolar Myth #2 – People with bipolar disorder are beyond hope.
He’s got bipolar disorder. He’s crazy. He can’t be helped. He’s a lost cause. Or is he?
The fact is—he isn’t. Bipolar disorder is one of the EASIEST conditions to treat. There are several effective medications, some of which have been in use for quite a while. Lithium, for example, has been around since the 1950’s. Lithium doesn’t work for everyone, though. That’s why there’s Lamictal, Depakote, Zoloft, Tegretol, Wellbutrin, Prozac, Effexor, and a partridge in a pear tree. A psychiatrist can tinker with medications until he finds a combination that works.
Medications can help, but so can just talking. Talk therapy did me more good than any pill ever did. However, without the pills, I probably wouldn’t have listened to anything when I was at rock bottom.
The point is this: people with bipolar disorder CAN be helped. So if you have bipolar disorder or know someone who does, don’t give up. There is hope.
Well gang, it looks like I’m over word count. I told you I like to talk! We’ll talk some more next time when I dispel a few more myths about bipolar disorder.
So to all my friends and fellow freaks, until next time… keep fighting!

Visit my site: Bryce Alberson

Read more here: Words As Weapons And Another Bipolar Myth Dispelled

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Admin comment: I have heard this can help some people:

The Linden Method – Anxiety & Panic Attacks Program

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3 Powerful Tips To Help Manage Everyday Stress

Often times stress will manifest when we carry over yesterday`s concerns into our present day concerns. An accumulation will almost always end up in a high stress level. Therefore, we must be able to “dump” all of our concerns from the previous day or days and concentrate wholly on our today.

So here are 3 stress busting tips:

- Stress Busting Tip #1

Resolve right now to release every thought from yesterday and be only mindful of the now…. This thought only…This breath…This moment. Take in three very deep breaths and slowly release each one.

At the same time feel each and every concern, each and every problem, and each and every unresolved moment, begin to dissolve. You can deal with them at a later time. For now, you are only to be in this very moment.

Now go to your inner quiet place. Go deep inside to a place where you feel that you are at peace and then just relax and breathe in deeply and enjoy the feeling of being at one and at peace within yourself.

Use this special time and place to be calm. Free your mind and body of all worry, all regret, all disappointment, all anger and grief.

- Stress Busting Tip #2

Next, think of one particular act, such as rocking your baby, taking a quick stroll, raking the leaves, and do that one simple thing. All the while, your mind is quiet and calm and you are in your own special place within.

Practice this act of quiet and calm each day and you will see that you will accomplish so much more. At the first sign of being stressed, go back to this mindful, quiet place and start all over again until you have reached your inner place of calm.

- Stress Busting Tip #3

The very best thing that you can do for yourself is to eat, drink and rest – to your health!

Stress is easily brought on by not eating and drinking properly. When you don’t get the number of hours of sleep that you need each night, you are only setting yourself up for additional stress.

Limit the amount of salt, sugar, caffeine and alcohol in your diet. Drink plenty of clean, pure water each day and do at least moderate exercise each day. This will breathe new life into your skin, hair and will nourish all of your vital organs.

Take time to breathe properly! Take deep belly breathes to send pure oxygen to all of your body. Laugh and then laugh some more. It is food for the soul! Spend time doing the things that please you most. Engage in healthy and fulfilling relationships and work on problems that would erode the closeness that you have with someone special.

When we are content and living a balanced life everyday stresses seem to pale in comparison. We are better equipped to deal with the unexpected.

You can take control today! Isolate only one particular stressor in your life and then work on it until you regain control. At the very least, have some new hope!

Kurt Pedersen

Has special interests in bipolar disorder, causes – questions and answers about being bipolar, stressed depression and anxiety.

What Causes Bipolar Disorder appears to be an interplay of genetic and physiological factors coupled with stressful triggers.

Manic depression, also called bipolar disorder, causes severe mood swings that can last for weeks or even months. Everyone feels happy or sad sometimes. For someone with manic depression, however, these mood swing are much more intense. Scientists have not identified a single factor what causes bipolar disorder. Instead, it may have one or more of several different causes. These may be broken down into genetic, environmental and physiological causes.

There are three types of manic depression.

Bipolar Type I is characterized by at least one manic episode. This is a feeling of intense elation, restlessness (sufferers during a manic episode may sleep for only three or four hours a night, if at all), loss of inhibitions and over-activity.

Bipolar Type II, where there may be frequent episodes of depression with only mild manic episodes (called hypomania). Rapid cycling involves four or more mood swings over the period of a year.

Finally, there is Cyclothymia, where the mood swings last longer but they are less severe.

Genes are a contributing factor. If one of your relatives has manic depression, there is a reasonable chance that you will develop it, too. Chromosome numbers 6 and 8 appear to have been implicated. Children of bipolar parents have an eight per cent chance of developing the condition, compared with one per cent in the general population.

A chemical imbalance in the brain may cause the disorder. Nerve signals travel from one neuron to another by way of chemicals called neurotransmitters. These include norepinehrine, dopamine and serotonin. It is possible that a manic episode may be caused by excess levels of norepinehrine while during a depressive episode levels of this neurotransmitter may be excessively low. The picture, however, is not that simple, as there are other neurotransmitters involved.

Mood swings can also be triggered by stress. Abuse, either physical emotional or sexual, may trigger an episode. Bereavement or the breakdown of a close relationship may also be a trigger.

Not all stressful triggers are negative experiences. A positive change, such as a marriage or a birth can also make a contribution.

Once diagnosed, the condition can be treated or controlled, although certain risk factors may trigger a recurrence. Failure to comply with medication carries a high risk of recurrence, as does alcohol or drug abuse. Other risk factors include poor support systems, i. E., lack of caring friends or relatives or an erratic lifestyle.

Manic depression can lead to psychosocial disturbances.

For example, Bipolar Type I and Bipolar Type II are associated with a high absentee rate at work. There is also a higher rate of suicide attempts and hospital admissions with these conditions. While both conditions have high rates of attempted suicides, Type II sufferers seem to have fewer hospital admissions than Type I, and consequently miss fewer days at work.

What causes bipolar disorder appears to be an interplay of genetic and physiological factors coupled with stressful triggers.

Complying with medication, adopting a stable lifestyle and developing healthy coping strategies may all keep the condition under control.

It is essential to consult a medical professional and not attempt self diagnosis.