Category: Mental Health
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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.…
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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…
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Playing Therapist
At group this week, I played therapist. I was a PATIENT, not the therapist, who, by the way, calmly and ably led the group. For a while, I took over. I could not contain my reaction to what I heard. The part of me that reacts to perceived danger and is impassioned about protecting people…
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Freaking Out
Both my husband and my mother have expressed concern that I am ramping up (becoming hypomanic and experiencing mixed emotional states) as I’ve started the Ticket to Work process. I have had trouble sleeping, my mind is racing, I’m anxious, and I’ve shed a few tears. I put in a call to my psychiatrist. Both…
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Do I Need an Editor?
Do I need an editor? Do I need to organize my writing into a more cohesive whole? Or, does this format fit what I am trying to accomplish? What is it I am trying to accomplish? I believe that I have a ministry to educate others on mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder, more to the…
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God’s Call
What is God’s call for me? What is my purpose right now? What should I be doing? As I took the first steps to enroll in Social Security Disability Ticket to Work Program, I began a discernment process. Is it truly time to re-enter the workforce, to begin preparing myself for re-entry, or should I…
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To Blog or Not to Blog
Last week as I started interviewing for part-time positions, I considered taking down my blog, worried that I would be found out and that prospective employers would avoid hiring me, fearing the worse. We hear of nightmares on the news, of mentally ill who did not receive adequate treatment and did unthinkably violent things. My…
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What to do?
Freaking out, ramping up, as I begin my part-time job search. Reminded: “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” – Christina Harrington, Human Solutions LLC, Human-Solutions.net