Coronavirus 🦠

Just got off video chat with my dad. I encouraged us to discuss civilly the divided narratives going around and the tomfoolery with that bill. Basically what it comes down to is ethics and priorities and definitely self care. This is a financial AND health care crisis simultaneously, maybe obviously. That's really tough. But you …

Don’t interrupt the process

I last relapsed 5 days short of a year, and now I've made it to 11 months. I've been trying this for 5 years. Let's not do that again. Alcoholism is lonely. Triggers are temporary. Understand that with bipolar disorder, more than half develop a substance abuse disorder, and if I want to shut off …

Bipolar in order

I have come so far and I'm finally able to really own my progress. I'm proud of Carrie. I stay away from booze, and if I slipped it was for a very brief period. I'm a month and a half away from a YEAR again. I'm still alive. I came very close to taking myself …

🔃 Reblog: Mental health myths you wouldn’t believe still exist

drbenjanaway.com "Regardless of the universality of the problem, many people still labor under false beliefs. So we hope that by breaking some of these myths down that we can not only eliminate some undeserved stigma, but encourage a community driven empathy toward those who ask for it." "To study the phenomena of disease without books …

25 Signs And Symptoms Of Bipolar Disorder (from True Activist)

25 Signs and Symptoms Of Bipolar Disorder From True Activist (Note: I took the opportunity to edit this article for my blog format so readers do not have to put up with a hundred advertisements and the annoying slideshow) The ability of people to function productively and cope effectively with the rigors of daily life …

“Are You Highly Sensitive and Bipolar?” from Psychology Today

Are You Highly Sensitive and Bipolar? Six essential strategies for coping. By Deborah Ward from Psychology Today, originally published Jul 28, 2017 Highly sensitive people absorb a lot of information from the world around us. Consequently, we can easily become anxious, stressed, depressed, or overwhelmed. Our sensitive nature also means we feel other peoples’ emotions …

Q&A: What does being Bipolar feel like?

On 7cups.com, the question was asked, "What does being Bipolar feel like?" These are some of the answers I resonated with most. juhirashOA "I don't think there is an average description for being Bipolar that fits everybody. But mostly, it's a constant battle. You never really understand why you are sad but you keep being …

🔃 Reblog: High As A Kite: My Open Letter to Mania

“When you first possess me, I thrive. I’m at my best and in my element. All shadows of doubt and depression, of loneliness and weariness fade away. I am reborn, reincarnated, reinvigorated. I am a newer and better self. This is the self that they love. Come, sweet Mania, and revive the dormant self within me that is begging to get out.”

Bipolar: Candid Crazy

Dear Mania,

I can sense you long before your arrival. You send secret messages to me taunting me with your distant presence as you inch toward me. Like a sultry lover you take your time, teasing me, flirting with me, sending sweet thrills through my body and mind before dissipating into the night once more.

I know you are there, simmering away, gathering heat and energy, gathering momentum before exploding into my being, overwhelming me and possessing me. Even though I sensed you coming, it still always takes me by surprise once your iron grip tightens around my mind, squeezing out every last essence of my sense and judgement. I still feel shocked when I catch myself in thoughts and acts that you orchestrated, making me perform like your puppet, your plaything.

I crave the reckless abandon. I long for the freedom, the vigor, the sexuality. I yearn for the…

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Hypomania: Personal anecdotes

https://youtu.be/1LE0LPBnFfg "Hypomania (literally "under mania" or "less than mania") is a mood state characterized by persistent disinhibition and mood elevation (euphoria), with behavior that is noticeably different from the person's typical behavior when in a non-depressed state. It may involve irritability, but less severely than full mania. According to DSM-5 criteria, hypomania is distinct from …

Managers, Firefighters, Exiles, and the Self

The last time I saw my therapist, I was talking to her about fragmentation, how there are fragments of myself, subpersonalities that aren't integrated, and she suggested this article about addiction and the Internal Family System. A recent and widespread subpersonality method is Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS therapy), developed by Richard C. Schwartz. He …