Questions: Bipolar Version 2

we still have today (Sunday here) but I have spent it so far entertaining my son and nephew. I should be doing more cleaning and organizing bills. hopefully today I will be more productive in that sense.

do you like the holidays or do they depress you? if you have a favorite which one and why?

I find the holidays in Nov. and Dec. difficult.
My favorite holiday is July 4th!!!

What type of music, if any, makes you feel better/energized?

my secret love is latin

not many people know this, but spanish music is especially comforting for me

(so I don't understand the words, and probably never will, but that's okay)

do you play any musical instraments, and if not, would you like to?

I play the flute.

Do you write about your bipolar?

I kept a blog for 10 years but gave it up.

Do you do things that are really hard for you to do b/c of your bipolar out of guilt?

Not really, I let go of a lot of that. It was very hard though.

Do you let your bipolar run your life?

not anymore!!


do you get aggravated when bipolar is romanticized?

All the time, it's a pain in the neck when I hear about it now,

What is the worst part of being bipolar for you?

The worst part of being bipolar is not living up to my potential.

Are you afraid your kids/potential kids will become bipolar?

Yes. Both my husband and I live with BP-2. We'd decided to not have our own children and have served as "Foster Parents."

How many therapists have you had, in total?

8? It seems like more than that. But some were really short. I've been with the current one 11 years and his predecessor 4 so 15 years at this center. I'm one of their 2 longest term clients for the whole place. Only one therapist has been there as long as I have.

What age did you begin therapy or pdoc tx?

My very first therapist showed up in m y life at age 16. It was a disaster. She was clear she wanted to break up my family of origin, putting me between a rock and a hard place. I became silent with her. She eventually gave up and referred me to a pdoc without her agenda.

Did you have any trouble in school due to MI?

Yes a lot. Cut classes, no concentration, didn't even graduate. I had a lot of issues, especially my teen years in high school.

Do you feel bipolar has held you back?

I do feel it has held me back. if I knew how to deal with it then like I do now I like to think things could have been different but who really knows?

have you ever dated someone who has bipolar long term?
how does that work if you are in opposite episodes or both too depessed to function?

My husband and I both live with BP-II.
He is much, much more responsive to meds and has been very stable for several years. It can be trying if we are both depressed at the same time. It can be fun if we are both hypomanic at the same time. Expensive, too. We now have a mutual agreement of no impulsive buying, no matter what.

Do any of your parents or siblings have MI diagnoses or problems with alcohol?

no.
name 1 thing you miss about life before diagnoses

Being thin!

What was your emotional reaction when you were first diagnosed bp?

mostly relieved, because for ages now I thought it was just me, having some crazy issues that no one else had ever heard of

so when they told me i was like oh, well, thank god their's a name for it and their are others that deal with it too!

also their was a lot to get used too obviously, but at the time I didn't think about it

I was just too relieved really to know that it had a name.

are you alergic to anything, if so what?

I'm allergic to cats, dust mites and seafood.

How many kids do you want and how many do you have?

I have two boys
somedays i want none. hajkjkjk


have you had any physical damage from meds?

Yes. Zyprexa gave me fatty liver disease and "one step below" cirrhosis of the liver. (Luckily exercise and diet/weight loss are reversing those.)

What's your favorite snack?

Would have to be chips and salsa.

Do you crave any particular foods during an episode?

I am a carb junky when depressed. I just shove bread into my mouth and cookies and try to sustain. really all I have the energy for anyway!

are you the stare at the wall type of depressed person or can you function through it?

depends how bad the depression is, I suppose

but, more often than not, "stare at the wall kind of person"

do you honestly care about your future?, or have you reached the stage where no matter what happens, nothing really matters

Yes I care most of the time, when in a depression, no don't care about anything.
Do you find when your physically sick your distracted from you mi issues