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This website is about my experience with bipolar illness. It really trashed my life for awhile, but I eventually adapted, and I think that I've learned a lot of lessons that will be valuable for other people who have this illness. It is 34 years since my first manic episode, and 30 years since the last time I went to the mental hospital for doing or saying anything crazy. My life at this point is far better than I would have thought possible 20 years ago. The first thing I want to tell people is that if you've recently been diagnosed with bipolar, your experience is probably going to be way better than mine. When I got sick in 1986, there was only one mood stabilizer available, and it really wasn't a very good drug for me. Nowadays there are lots of them to choose from, so if you try a few and pick the best one, you'll probably be in pretty good shape. First, how crazy did I get before I got on top of my condition? To give you some idea of just how bad my condition was, I'll go over my serious psychotic bipolar I episodes:
In 2003, a friend suggested to me that I write a book about my experiences with bipolar illness. I didn't want to go public on my condition. "Maybe after I've personally solved global warming." I told her. But it was on my bucket list, and when the pandemic hit in 2020, I was sixty years old and thought I might die, so I wrote this anonymous website. Now that the website is done, I am active in the global warming movement. |
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Next, who am I? This is an anonymous website. Why? |
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Advice: Handy Tips |
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Sometimes, certain medications impair your intelligence: Cognitive Impact of Meds There's also the issue of the time I had an accidental overdose on lithium. It turns out that there's a cheap, easy way to test how much a new drug is impairing you relative to the impact of the prior drug that you were on: Testing your own intelligence. |
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Going to bipolar support groups is highly recommended: Support Groups |
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When and how do you tell a romantic partner that you're bipolar? (For advice on how to meet people, see "Loneliness" below). When to Disclose Bipolar to a Romantic Partner |
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What should more shrinks know? Advice For Shrinks |
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Psych meds usually cause weight gain. How to deal with weight gain. |
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For awhile there, bipolar had a very negative impact on my career, and recovery involved a lot of job searches, fruitful and otherwise, and overcoming my dark past. Job Searches From Hell |
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Some bipolars consider going off their meds or onto Alternative Medicine |
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Advice on how to meet people. Meeting People: Coping With Loneliness |
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Suicide is one thing that crosses the minds of the mentally ill. Suicide |
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Links to other websites of interest: Links |
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