My husband and I have read several books about depression and bipolar in hopes of figuring out the best ways to help me. The book I have loved the most and highly recommend is "The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide: What You and Your Family Need to Know".
This book is full of great information on what bipolar is; how to recognize signs of mania or depression; medication information, and so many other great resources. I have learned more from this book than any of the other books I have read on bipolar. It has been an excellent guide on how to get through this battle and make life a little more doable.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Mood Tracking
Tracking my mood has been a HUGE help to me. I highly recommend to anyone struggling with depression, bipolar, or other mental health issues to start tracking your moods. You have to be honest in this process. Mood tracking has been a great way for me to figure out some of the things that trigger my ups and my downs.
I have tried a few different methods of tracking my moods, by far the most helpful is a mood chart that tracks medications, sleeps, daily events, and moods. Here is a link to that chart:
http://www.manicdepressive.org/moodchart.html
It has been a great tool to be able to look back on and see where I've been. Now I can look at where I've been and hope that I will continue to improve from there.
I have tried a few different methods of tracking my moods, by far the most helpful is a mood chart that tracks medications, sleeps, daily events, and moods. Here is a link to that chart:
http://www.manicdepressive.org/moodchart.html
It has been a great tool to be able to look back on and see where I've been. Now I can look at where I've been and hope that I will continue to improve from there.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Modern Medicine
One of my loves is family history research. While researching I came across a cousin of my great-grandfather. Her name was Bessie. Everything we had heard about Bessie before then was she had traveled to Europe and while there became ill and passed away. However, I was able to find her death certificate. She died at the age of 36 in the Bloomingdale Hospital in New York, not in Europe. What's more, I researched Bloomingdale Hospital and discovered it was an insane asylum. The asylum was very expensive so only those with money could afford to be there. Her death certificate listed that contributory to her cause of death was "dementia praecox" which is Schizophrenia.
From what I gather out of all this is, Bessie had Schizophrenia. Her parents loved her so much they sent her to the best asylum they could to help her. However, they didn't want to let others know what was going on so they told others she was in Europe studying music.
Thinking about Bessie, I started to apply her situation to myself. Doing so made me so grateful for modern medicine. Because of modern medicine, I can take a few pills and feel ok again. I don't have to leave my family for years to work through my mental health problems.
I'm also very grateful for the world we live in today that is becoming more accepting of the idea that mental health issues are real. They are not something made up in the minds of those who suffer from them.
I guess it could be a whole lot worse....
From what I gather out of all this is, Bessie had Schizophrenia. Her parents loved her so much they sent her to the best asylum they could to help her. However, they didn't want to let others know what was going on so they told others she was in Europe studying music.
Thinking about Bessie, I started to apply her situation to myself. Doing so made me so grateful for modern medicine. Because of modern medicine, I can take a few pills and feel ok again. I don't have to leave my family for years to work through my mental health problems.
I'm also very grateful for the world we live in today that is becoming more accepting of the idea that mental health issues are real. They are not something made up in the minds of those who suffer from them.
I guess it could be a whole lot worse....
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Guilt or Repentance
In Sunday School, someone posed the question "Do I live my life by guilt or by repentance?" How would I answer that question, how would each of us answer that question? One thing that I know has contributed to my struggles is the expectation I have of myself to be PERFECT! I am the first to admit that I am a perfectionist. I have always wanted to see myself as perfect and for others to see me as perfect. When I fall short of that goal, I beat myself up over it.
Over the past few months, I have discovered that I was trying my hardest to be perfect on my own. When I did make mistakes I felt huge guilt, even over the smallest things. I always have known I can turn to the savior for the BIG mistakes, you know the ones that everyone knows are really bad. However, on all the others, I have spent too much time beating myself up over those mistakes. In reality I was living "my life by guilt" NOT "by repentance". The past few months I have really learned the importance of turning to our Savior to repent. There is no need for me to spend my days feeling guilty about all my mistakes, large or small. Instead I should focus more on repenting and learning from my mistakes.
Over the past few months, I have discovered that I was trying my hardest to be perfect on my own. When I did make mistakes I felt huge guilt, even over the smallest things. I always have known I can turn to the savior for the BIG mistakes, you know the ones that everyone knows are really bad. However, on all the others, I have spent too much time beating myself up over those mistakes. In reality I was living "my life by guilt" NOT "by repentance". The past few months I have really learned the importance of turning to our Savior to repent. There is no need for me to spend my days feeling guilty about all my mistakes, large or small. Instead I should focus more on repenting and learning from my mistakes.
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