Messages By: challenge1

I was diagnosed as BiPolar fifteen years ago and I find these stories/comments very sad. I am one of the very fortunate ones to have found a very effective medication and a great doctor. That combined with a wonderful support network of family & friends and I have been well for the largest part of that time. I really had to take responsibility for my own recovery and treat my "whole being" to get well. Around the same time that I was diagnosed, I divorced and became a sinlge parent to a 14 month old boy. He became my guiding light. I became a self helpaholic and read everything about the disorder I could find. I also read everything inspirational I could get my hands on....positive brian food I call it. While that may sound very simple, it was not, but it certainly helped. Over time I learned that reciting prayers over and over in my head was helpful in quieting the noise inside my head. It helped more when I couldn't sleep at night than worrying or playing negative self talk over and over in my mind. I really had to take responsibility, sometimes even challenging what the doctors told me. I believed I deserved a full and rewarding life despite this illness. I also believed my son deserved a healthy mother. We have a wonderful relationship. I know this illness can be devastating and crippling but I also know people who have learned to cope very well, who lead fairly normal, full, rewarding lives. We all experience it differently and to different degrees. During times when I was extremly irritable I would just say to my son, "I'm not angry at you, I'm just angry and I don't want to take it out on you so you should go visit your grandmother for a little while." A while was a few hours or overnight, nothing longer than that. He worried but he understood, that also made it clear to him that I was the one with the problem. That is wasn't his fault and he wasn't responsible for my behavior. It can be tough but it's not always tough. I also found gratitude journals helpful. Every night before I went to bed I would write five things I was grateful that day. Sometimes it was tough but there was always something. Remembering to good at bed time also helped me relax a little before sleep. It saddens me to hear so many sad stories about mental illness in families and how it's affecting them, especially the children.

I think we need to remember that everyone and their families experiences the illness differently. As with any group of people, generalizations are really unfair.