Questions: Bipolar Version 2

I did a lot of research of online dating. I don't know I found the whole phenomenon strange and interesting at the same time.

When was the last time you were hospitalized?

Feb. 2016

Do your meds make you heat sensitive?

Yes, I get hot often (if that's what you meant)

Have you ever felt scared of a therapist?

nah I just don't do therapy

do you ever get worried over your impulsivity?

Yes. I control it pretty well but I'm always afraid it will sneak up on me.

What job have you had that was easiest to handle with bipolar?

I would say way back in the day waitressing/bartending.
However I was younger and partying a lot so maybe it just seemed easier.
But its one of those jobs you don't take home with you. Once you walk out its like it didn't exist. The stress of Healthcare (as you know) follows you home like a stray dog lol
It was fast paced and constantly moving which I liked.


Whats the first thing you do when you notice you are beginning to feel like hell?

Lack of interest or motivation to do the things I usually love - for depression. Euphoria and irritability for hypomania. Manic I don't notice it at all. Just think I am a generally happy, exuberant person normally and everyone around me is wrong to think I am manic.

What is the best way for you to quell hypomania before it goes into mania?

Force enough sleep. Usually means temazepam.

Which self-care activity, or hobby, calms you the most?

listening to my radio atlantis.

i would be gutted if that station ever closed

fact

what are you currently working on in therapy

That is exactly what my doctor just did. I was going manic a few days ago, little to no sleep, racing thoughts and speech etc and he prescribed 10-20mg of Temazepam and I have been sleeping well and the mania is now hypomania and possibly even turning stable.

I'm working on "safe people" in therapy. I'm finding I have few of them in my life.

Does your therapist give you homework?

Yes every week it's different but similar to what I am working on.

How do you present yourself when manic?

Present myself? Like a crazy person, absolutely off my rocker. Seeing things, hearing voices the whole thing.

Have you ever gone in to the hospital voluntarily?

5 times.

Have you ever been admitted involuntarily?

yes I have.


In general have you found the hospital a negative or positive experience ?

Mostly very positive. There have been a few pdoc's, nurses and other staff who have messed up(mentally) but most of the staff at the hospital I go to are amazing and the place is like a hotel with doctors and nurses. Sometimes there can be other patients that freak me out but mostly the other patients are annoying at worst and friends at best.

What is you longest hospital stay?

Hmm. Well I was in a place for 2 and half weeks. They were trying to force me to stay but I was adamant about leaving. They tried to pull the whole "take you to court" thing but in the state I live its pretty hard for a hospital to win so I knew they wouldn't go through with it. I have seen dangerously psychotic ppl taken out by their families and the hospital does not put up much of a fight.

sooo anyway a less than 24 hours later I end up back at a different hospital for about a week and a half. I complied with tx this time so I wouldn't keep ending up back in , and they pounded me with meds and I became way less manic (although I still left symptomatic).
so I guess about a month

what is the weirdest or scariest thing that has happened to you at a hospital involving another patient?

it's not so much weird, or scary, but once I did end up going home with another patient's phone

they rang me and I answered and their like how are you?

me: oh, you know, just getting by

them: well, we hate to tell you this now, your cat died

*pauses while I try to figure out what they are on about*

rushes back to the hospital to swap phones after realising I have the wrong phone

have you ever seriously hurt a member of hospital staff?, (by accident, of course)

ha! that must have freaked you out at first!

No I have never hurt hospital staff

although once at the E.R. this puffed out chest type of guard was pushing me down into the bed so I snapped my teeth like I was going to bite him
yeah...I guess they don't like that. 4 point restraints it was. Ridiculous

What was the worst experience you have had with a doc or nurse inpatient?

i'm going to have to say knocking nurse rachel out cold.

another nurse explained to me what i'd done was wrong (really patronizing tone), then they in turn went to get someone to call security

it probably wasn't a pretty sight seeing nurse rachel on the floor for any of the staff, but the nurse that had patronized me got a taste too, as I held her down in the carpark and dealt a few punches to her face

the sad part?

I was due to be released that night, I obviously wasn't after that.

how do you find food on the ward?

good lawd what did nurse Rachel do? I can't imagine what they did to you after that!

finding food on the ward depends what hospital i am in. some leave snacks out. others lock up even the graham crackers!

did you ever break anything at the hospital?

no, (and even I'm surprised at that)

when you go in to hospital, do you have 1 or 2 nurses all the time that know you?, or is it always diffrent

I was assigned a specific nurse, but I had to be watched all the time so It rotated I was a real handful.

When you were in the hospital did you give them any problems?

when in for mania yes
when depressed no. I just layed in bed like a sack O potatoes.

what smell brings you back to a particular episode and why?

It can be anything, from a random thought to just interacting with someone. This bipolar crap is pretty potluck where anything goes really.

Do you know your triggers and how to avoid them?