Category: Bipolar

So this will be the last of these updates for a while since it will catch everything up to where I am more or less right now (I’m writing this in the third week of February, 2015) following what I wrote in Part 3.

Note: I want to make it very clear that everything I’m going to talk about is meant to be descriptive NOT prescriptive. This is simply a look at some of what happened to me, what’s happening now, etc. So don’t read anything I’m writing as a recommendation for self-treatment or anything like that. This is only about me.

Changing Old Habits

At this point, about the second week in January, I was now back in Austin, freezing my ass off (I’d get the furnace fixed in about a week) and wondering what would happen next.  As part of my interest in my field, I’ve actually looked into the topic of habits, how they do or don’t change, what drives them, etc. … Keep Reading

So continuing on from Part 2, I was still in Nashville, I’d done the initial intake with a counselor, psychiatrist and nurse practitioner, gotten some sample pills of Depakote and started treatment.  That’s where we pick up.

Note: I want to make it very clear that everything I’m going to talk about is meant to be descriptive NOT prescriptive. This is simply a look at some of what happened to me, what’s happening now, etc. So don’t read anything I’m writing as a recommendation for self-treatment or anything like that. This is only about me.

Starting Depakote

I had been instructed to take Depakote at bedtime to help with my sleep.  And it had the entirely opposite effect.  I went from broken sleep to wide awake, no way in hell are you sleeping non-sleep.  I tried it the second night, same effect and I called the nurse practitioner (NP).

She said to take it earlier. … Keep Reading

So last week, I outlined where all of this started, the initial crash out of hypomania into deep depression, crawling a little bit out of it into less deep depression, heading to Nashville to finally address an issue I’d been skirting around for a while.  That’s where we pick up.

Note: I want to make it very clear that everything I’m going to talk about is meant to be descriptive NOT prescriptive. This is simply a look at some of what happened to me, what’s happening now, etc. So don’t read anything I’m writing as a recommendation for self-treatment or anything like that. This is only about me.

Home Again, Home Again Part 2

So it was about the middle of December and now I was back in Nashville for an indeterminate time; as I mentioned there is something about Nashville that I don’t like (I’m about the only one, everyone LOVES Nashville but me) and being home was a bit of a stressor itself.… Keep Reading

I’ve debated whether or not to write more about topic since my previous post.  I’ve written fairly extensively about previous depression and that, along with finding ways to avoid having to write content related to the site, this seemed an easy way.   I want to talk about my bipolar recovery process.

Note: I want to make it very clear that everything I’m going to talk about is meant to be descriptive NOT prescriptive.  This is simply a look at some of what happened to me, what’s happening now, etc.  So don’t read anything I’m writing as a recommendation for self-treatment or anything like that.  This is only about me.

The Hypomanic Episode

The one topic I’m actually not going to detail is the original hypomanic episode, primarily because some of the aftermath from it is still ongoing and I do not feel the need to talk details.  It’s also just not that relevant. … Keep Reading

I’m not even sure where to start this as I sit here contemplating what was (I hope) the single worst choice of my adult life (semi-jokingly, I can only hope to find no way to top it). One that will have an impact on my life, my future, my career, my reputation for years to come, if not forever.  And I’m trying to figure out how I got here.

Actually, there’s a fairly short answer to what got me here: I suffer from some form of bipolar (aka manic depression) disease (probably Bipolar II).

Yes, I said it (well wrote it) and no it wasn’t easy.  I know I’ve talked about my depression before, usually because that has, historically, had a worse impact on my life but I also have the other “half” of the condition as well: mania.  Well, hypomania anyhow.

I haven’t talked about that so much and there are a number of reasons for that not the least of which being that hypomania is, frankly, kind of awesome. … Keep Reading