Category: Bipolar Disorder
-
To Work or Not to Work
My past experience has been that in the workplace I become overstimulated, that I take on too many responsibilities, overwork, and burn out. Taking care of my husband and son, as well as myself, taxes me as it is. I need social contact, but still feel that it must be restrained, limited, flexible to my…
-
Not Just Dysthymia
Not until I was 39, was I diagnosed as having bipolar disorder. I am now 50. At 39, I recognized the symptoms of mania in myself, euphoria, the feeling of being called by God to a particular church, to a particular path. The diagnostic criteria have changed over the years. For two decades, I had been…
-
Forgot to Take Meds
Last night I forgot to take my Depakote (actually I take generic Divalproex). I was tossing and turning in bed with racing thoughts and the impulse to write and edit. Finally, I took Sonata (once again, I take the generic version, but I do not recall the generic name) and fell asleep. This morning, I…
-
Grounded by the Flu
The whole family got the stomach flu. Grounded me. Slowed me down. On the positive side, I caught up on sleep and am on a more even keel. Not hypomanic as long as I feel this fatigued. Not as productive, either. At least my mind is at rest — for now.
-
Lent | The Rites of Spring
For many, spring is a time of celebration and remembrance. – Deseret News, March 7, 2009 Two days ago was Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Although I did not have my forehead smudged with ash, I do acknowledge my human mortality, I mourn and begin a period of atonement. For dust you are…
-
Flurries of Hypomania
Or, is it just that I had iced tea yesterday with my lunch? Since I’ve been mildly hypomanic, I enrolled in my psychiatrist’s therapy group to take a look at what happens to me when I am in a social situation. For me, social stimulation, like the sun, can trigger hypomania, anxiety, and mood cycling.…
-
Mother and Wife
When my son was young, I juggled working outside the home with mothering and homemaking. By the time he was four, I found it unsustainable and ended up in a psychiatric hospital for two weeks and then months in partial hospitalization spending my days in structured group therapy sessions. Since then I have been a…