Articles and blog posts relating to the treatment of bipolar disorder and finding balance.
What are you afraid of? What are your limitations? What have you overcome? What makes you powerful? In short: Do you own your story? I am in the process of owning mine. Here is how I’ve made progress so far. “Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives...
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Experiencing an episode with “mixed features” can be especially confusing. You might ask yourself, “Am I up? Or am I down?” And, sometimes, the answer is, well … BOTH. Doctors can classify particular bipolar episodes as having “mixed-features” (the jargon is “Mixed Features Specifier,” or MFS, for short). The qualifications for this distinction are to...
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Life can be hard sometimes—we don’t need to make it even harder for ourselves. But sometimes we do just that! Fortunately, self-sabotage is a behavior we can take on together. We all have behaviors that hold us back—some of which even sabotage us. This series is about taking on behaviors that don’t serve us, and...
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If you lose yourself in obsessive thought spirals or cycles, you are not alone. I have come a long way with managing my obsessive thoughts. Here is my process for dealing with those thoughts that won’t go away. I have found that bipolar disorder and OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) often go hand-in-hand. What Is OCD?...
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Do you tremble when it’s your turn to talk? Do you avoid public speaking at all costs? And do you feel like that fear is holding you back? I sure did. Here I share my story of leaving my comfort zone and finding my voice. Sometimes, when we speak, we aren’t communicating effectively. Furthermore, if...
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We hear the people around us, but do we really listen? Developing effective listening skills boosts our relationships and wellbeing—and maintains our personal power. The goal of this series, Taking Yourself On, is to find success in making positive change. When we are taking on our flaws, it is just as important that we cultivate...
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I have changed. My management ability has changed. I am alive and often have great happiness in my life. It’s a fight for me. A fight I will win. “Well, that’s just how it is.” My mind said this to me as I sat down and worked this morning. I’ve not been able to just...
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Everyone finds it hard to lose weight, let alone maintain that loss over long periods of time. But living with a serious psychiatric condition like bipolar adds an unwelcome layer of complexity to weight management. Which is why you need tips tailored to help you manage weight AND bipolar simultaneously. Here are four: There’s no...
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Nervousness is our default reaction when we are out of our comfort zone or feel disempowered. To combat it, focus on building your self-confidence We all get nervous. In this big world, more falls out of our comfort zone than in it. When we are nervous, it’s really because of a lack of confidence and...
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Patience is an underutilized and undervalued positive coping skill. So it’s about time we made time to teach ourselves a little patience. Patience is an underutilized and undervalued positive coping skill. When we don’t have enough, we end up in a slew of negative ineffective coping skills like frustration, impatience, annoyance, irritation, anger, etc. And...
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Though the symptoms may differ, as do specific personal struggles, just knowing we are all in this together can be a source of true strength. Living with bipolar disorder can require an exhausting amount of time explaining and adjusting and apologizing. Sometimes all it takes to relieve a bit of the pressure is to hear...
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One of the hallmark symptoms of bipolar disorder is impulsivity––which makes adopting world-renowned tidying expert, Marie Kondo’s, KonMari method of organizing even more difficult. Because I have bipolar disorder, I struggle with a tumultuous mind. I need my surroundings to be peaceful and clutter-free. When hypomania crowds my thoughts with too many ideas at once,...
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Maintaining stability is just as difficult as achieving stability. But that doesn’t mean you should live in fear of “the inevitable next episode.” It can be extremely difficult to achieve stability when you have bipolar. All people, bipolar or not, have bad days sometimes. If you are afflicted with this illness, an off day can...
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Living with bipolar disorder involves living at a ‘break-neck’ pace, even when you aren’t manic. Here’s simple ways to slow down and find balance. If there’s one thing I know about my bipolar disorder is that it usually has me going a million miles an hour. And that’s not even when I’m manic. I tend...
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Be true to who you are—not who your family and community expect you to be–and practice authenticity, the greatest act of self-care. The World Health Organization defines self-care as “the ability of individuals, families, and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support...
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When life gives you “storms” of unease, stress, or sadness, here’s a few ways you can make sure your stability progress stays on track. The Grateful Dead sing a song titled “Uncle John’s Band” and one of the lyrics is “When life looks like easy Street, there is danger at your door.” My job is...
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What if someone is telling you that you have bipolar, but you don’t think that the diagnosis is correct? A reader asked a really good question on my blog post “Dealing with Bipolar Disorder Denial.” She wanted to know what to do if someone in your life—a friend, loved one, coworker—tells you that they believe...
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You’re full of ideas and thrive on challenges, but know a stable lifestyle is essential. Fortunately, you can satisfy your desire for challenges, and still maintain balance. If you’re like me, you’re chock-full of bright ideas. You’ve got tons of inspiration. You love the new, new, new—and get bored easily. You’re always looking to shake...
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Getting stuck in the past prevents you from living in the present. While you can’t ignore your past, you can keep it in perspective while moving forward. I’m 56 years old. Well into middle-age and pushing the envelope on the later part of life. I’m certainly closer to the end than the beginning. But that’s...
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Sometimes we “mask” the fact that we are an emotional mess on the inside. But don’t be afraid to let your guard down to your close support network. It’s interesting how those of us living with bipolar disorder sometimes look like everything is okay on the outside, while really on the inside we’re just a...
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