My parents came to my house for lunch yesterday. I was looking forward to seeing them as it had been a few months since we last got together.
Having listened to a podcast earlier on in the week by Captain Joe of Bipolar Nation on bipolar disorder and how visitors can disrupt your illness and home life by invading [...]
Archive for July, 2008
OCD (Obsesive Compulsive Disorder)
Posted in bipolar disorder, mental illness, tagged bipolar disorder, Depression, invading personal space, Obsessive Comuplsive Disorder, OCD on July 27, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Helping a Depressed Person
Posted in Depression, bipolar disorder, tagged assisting recovery, bipolar disorder, Depression, Helping a depressed person, mental illness, recovering from a mental illness, supporting a depressed person, supporting bipolar disorder, supporting mental illness, understanding a depressed person, understanding depression, understanding mental illness on July 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I remember when I had a relapse of bipolar disorder about five months ago that I didn’t get a lot of support when I needed it most. My partner found it very difficult to cope with my endless sleeping and lack of enthusiasm towards life. I remember having to psych myself up for half an [...]
Hallucinations
Posted in Depression, Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, mental illness, tagged auditory hallucinations, bipolar disorder, bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder, dellusions, hallucinations, hypomania, Schizophrenia on July 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Hallucinations may occur in any of the senses: auditory (for example, hearing voices or music), gustatory (for example, unpleasant tastes), olfactory (for example, unpleasant smells), somatic (for example, a feeling of “electricity”), tactile (for example, a sensation of being touched, or “skin crawling” sensations), visual (for example, flashes of light, colors or images).
Delusions (fixed, false, irrational [...]
Banks to Show More Compassion to Homeowners
Posted in Mental Health News, tagged banks & mental illness, compassion for mental illness, Depression, depression and finance, financial hardship, financial trouble, interest rate rise, mental illness & financial hardship, mortgage, repossession on July 21, 2008 | 2 Comments »
I recently had coffee with two people affilliated with a major lending institution. They are involved in reposessing houses.
I myself work in mortgagee sales and the conversation ventured into the attitude of borrowers who are in the process of having their house reposessed.
What shocked and saddened me were the remarks made by these representatives of this major lending [...]
Well Sibling Syndrome
Posted in Mental Health News, tagged bipolar disorder, mental illness, Schizophrenia, Well Sibling Sydnrome on July 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The devastating effects of mental illness have been well documented in films, books, and academia. But until recently there has been little said about the sisters and brothers of the mentally ill. Now researchers are starting to look at what they’re calling the “well-sibling” syndrome.
“As hard as parents may try, and they do, to meet [...]
Bipolar Poetry
Posted in bipolar disorder, tagged bipolar disorder, bipolar poetry, poetry, Rapid Cycling on July 13, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Writing poetry can be very therapeutic for those with a mental illness.
Poetry can allow you to tell without telling, to process difficult feelings and emotions, to help you or the reader understand complicated situations, to take layers of complicated life’s experiences and put meaning into them and to process and resolve trauma.
Bipolar Poetry is an [...]
Why Do People Suicide
Posted in Depression, Self Harm, tagged alcohol, cannabis, cannabis and depression, cannabis and suicide, cannabis smoking, Depression, drug use and depression, drug use and suicide, drugs, Marijuana, marijuana and depression, marijuana and suicide, passive cannabis smoking, Suicide, Why do people suicide on July 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Most of the time people who suicide are very sick with depression or one of the other types of depressive illnesses, which occur when the chemicals in a person’s brain get out of balance or become disrupted.
Healthy people do not suicide. A person who has depression does not think like a typical person who is [...]
Bereavement Support After Suicide
Posted in Self Harm, tagged bereavement, bereavement support, Suicide, suicide loss, suicide support, support after suicide on July 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
You may know someone who has just lost a loved one and your first thought upon hearing the news is probably going to be ”Oh no, how tragic, poor so and so”.
Your second thought will probably be that you must go to them, to comfort them and help them. Your third thought would be “What am I [...]
After Suicide
Posted in Self Harm, tagged after suicide, death by suicide, destigmatising suicide, If Only, life after suicide, stigmatising suicide, Suicide on July 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
When someone ends their own life, it brings the life of one human being to a sad end. The act of suicide also creates another group of people, those left behind. These are people who loved and cared about the person who passed away, who continue to do so, and who must now become part [...]
Mental Illness in the Workplace
Posted in mental illness, tagged bipolar disorder, Depression, Mental Illness in the Workplace, Suicide, working full time with a mental illness on July 8, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Management read my blog. I was the highest internet user during business hours so they tracked what I was doing and came across my blog.
Apart from me feeling totally violated, they were very supportive. I have had two bad experiences with telling employers about my illness (see my post Working Full Time with a Mental [...]
Survivors of Suicide
Posted in Self Harm, tagged Books, Depression, If Only, life after suicide, Self Harm, Suicide, survivors of suicide on July 6, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Writing about suicide seems to bring an influx of people to my blog, it’s great in that respect but sad in another.
I am currently reading a book called “If Only – Personal Stories of Loss Through Suicide” edited by Belinda Woolley. It is a collection of deeply personal stories from people who have lost a [...]
Online Writing Study – The Black Dog Institute
Posted in Mental Health News, tagged bipolar disorder, Depression, Online Writing Study, The Black Dog Institute, writing on July 2, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Over the centuries, many people have been naturally drawn to writing about their life and their experiences, through journals, creative writing, and other forms of written expression. Day to day life can be stressful as people strive for balance between family, friends and work.
The Black Dog Institute of NSW Australia are interested in whether certain [...]
I Can Do Anything
Posted in Depression, bipolar disorder, tagged Depression, bipolar disorder, grandeur, hypomania, grandiose ideas, delusions of grandeur, black dog institute, delusions, mania on July 1, 2008 | 1 Comment »
People with delusions of grandeur may exhibit a drastically exaggerated sense of self-importance or may believe that they are a famous person or religious figure. They may believe they can do anything, believing they are vastly superior to those around them. They can have inflated self esteem and false beliefs in special abilities.
Delusions of grandeur can [...]
Depression & Fatigue
Posted in Depression, Mental Health News, tagged chronic fatigue syndrome, Depression, fatigue, overcoming fatigue on July 1, 2008 | 1 Comment »
With depression comes fatigue. Some antidepressants can reduce the amount of fatigue a depressed person feels. Very rarely am I energetic without a Berocca (vitamin B) and a can of Coke every day. Red Bull or other energy drinks also remove the fatigue by boosting the body’s caffeine intake.
A European study has found evidence that depression and [...]
