Questions bipolar version #11

Not for a long time. I did a little around the time I started grad school and didn't really care for it.

What temperature do you keep it inside your home?

70 in the winter, 78 in the summer.

Same question

You’ll think I’m nuts! It’s usually around 67F in here because I’ve not turned on the heat. It’s chilly but I sleep better in the cold. In summer it’s usually around 70, it’s much harder to keep it cool.

Same question

66 in the Fall Winter and Spring except the last few days I turned it up to 70.

What do you think of choral music and what’s your favorite type of choir?

I don't have a lot of experience with choral music.

Do you have to eat with your meds and what do you usually eat with them?

Yes I’m supposed too but all I eat with them are some cubed cheddar cheese

What about others? Same Q

Best for the stomach if I do, a cuppa is a good meal in my opinion

Gaps in memory are a common effect. Do you recall things better based on music or pictures?

Pictures

Do you have a time in the night that you often wake up for no reason and find it hard to get back to sleep?

Anytime. That first hour is sweet, anything after that is a bonus.

A chicke walks to the edge of the road and wants to cross. What do you tell him?

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I ask him how his morning is going and stop traffic so the fella can cross of course

Have you ever had an anaphylactic reaction (even a mild one)?

Several times before we figured out I’m allergic to blue food dye and I was drinking purple Gatorade every night!

Have you ever taken a nutrition class?

No, but I did see a nutritionist for a few months. Not exactly the same thing though.

Have you taken any sort of continuing education class, ideally for fun (i.e., nothing graded!)?

Yup, yup, yup

I love taking classes for fun. Mostly art but I’ve also taken cake decorating, flower arrangements and science fiction literature.

How about you, taken classes for fun?

I took some art classes for fun back when I was in college. I had a lot of fun with them.

Do you become more of an artist when manic?

Yes! One of the positives I experience during mania is the fog lifting. There is clarity to everything. It's not just colours brighter, sounds clearer, visuals brighter. It's also a massive expansion in vocabulary, in clear thinking, in artistic skills. Thoughts come and can be acted on with the confidence that would take years to develop. I love poetry, and what I find I can pen in a week, the verbiage, the intellect, the subject matter, the flow, its all just there on tap without having to struggle for it., that will take 5 minutes during a manic episode. Depression dumbs one down I find. The medication for bipolar adds another level of dumbing down again.

And, I'm alive, so am thankful for the medication.

Do you pluck your earhair? (And say hi to the hampster when in there - that may only be me....)

I do not, haha. I'd be scared to twitch and poke my ear drum. My hamster has been sleeping forever (maybe he's dead)

What's your favorite kind of walking (like, beaches, flat trails, mountains w/switchbacks, mountains w/o switchbacks AKA steep gnarly fkers, Main St in the city, etc.)?

Thats a challenging one to answer because the reward can often be the joy of the destination. I LOVE hiking. Yet, I would have to say walking in the native bushland. The reason behind that is finding hearts. It's something that I started doing a few years ago. Looking to the universe to find evidence of love. Youd be amazed how many times I can find heart shapes in the bark of trees, limbs, rocks on the ground. Love is all around us, it's so easy to thump out the steps with a mind that is anywhere but present and being mindful. I've found that the benefits of walking have exponentially increased since starting this practice. It's also great fun to do with someone else if you have the chance.

What have you rewarded yourself with today to thank yourself and your body for doing the best you could with the resources you've had available to you (mentally, physically, emotionally)?

A haircut. I consider it a reward because I go to a Solon to get it cut and styled. I don’t go often but love having my hair washed and blow dried.

Same question

I just did a near full body moisturization. My skin has been so dry lately. Though the effort is sometimes hard to muster up, the reward is always there. I feel better.

Q: What have you done to prepare for potential harder times ahead, so that you can handle any better?

Honestly not much. I don't feel like there is much I can do. The most helpful thing would be to get a job but there is no way I could handle that. I throw whatever I can into savings but it won't be enough to matter if bad things happen. I am refilling meds as soon as I can so I have a little bit of a stockpile (I changed insurance so can get things earlier although my pdoc isn't approving some things early).

Have you ever been to the non-psych ER and for what?

Oh plenty of times. When I was about 8-9 I got hit in the head with a hammer. Accidentally but required stitches and a bandage. A few times for IV fluids because I was dehydrated once because I was septic, that was traumatic. Oh right once because I was young and stupid, I had moved into a new apartment and was cleaning it,…I mixed different chemicals together to get the tub clean and nearly poisoned myself. Once for a bowel blockage, that required hospitalization too but fortunately I got a Dr who believed in non surgical treatments.

How about you? Ever in ER for non mental health reasons?

Once in grad school with "medical school syndrome" where you are learning so much about disease you convince you have it. Once when I had noro virus or something similar and didn't know I needed to take my Emsam patch off when I was vomiting so I was covered in a head to toe rash. And once work sent me after I was bit by a dog. However there was a tiny bruise and that's it; the dog hit the leather strips across the top of my shoe and it protected me.

If you could have any name in the world what would it be?

One that has not been associated with bipolar, or, has been used by those I have loved in the past in a derogatory and degrading way. I have a loathing for my first name for that very reason.

What are you most proud of yourself for whilst working alongside your bipolar?

I'm not sure I understand the question. Sorry.

Do you have a food or drink that you have every day?

Water and coffee

What position(s) do you sleep in?