a2z Bipolar - A Personal Journey
These are the topics described in each chapter of the A2Z Bipolar book.
Please note that this is just an artist’s version of a bi-polar brain that I researched on the Internet. Although the differences in colour and activity are apparent, it is not considered sufficient by the experts to be a diagnostic tool. I have had numerous brain imaging scans and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans in…
The book market is awash with publications linking hypomania to creativity and listing the significant historical and modern day individuals who share success with bi-polar. I also wanted to talk about the public’s perception that bi-polar is great because it makes you creative and that to take medication dulls that creativity. Apparently after Stephen Fry’s…
I am actually appalled at how I managed my pregnancy or rather did not manage it. In fact I am appalled at how I have managed my life until very recently. Like most young educated women I worked to try and get a so-called career and fit a pregnancy around this. In my early thirties…
An abbreviated New Oxford English Dictionary definition of this wonderful word reads ‘ the time at which something is most powerful or successful’. And, obligingly, it begins with a ‘Z’, which enables me to conclude this book on a positive and optimistic note! If you have been patient enough to stay with me through my…
This speaks for itself! I often find myself doing things for others that are far less important than the things I should be doing for my own family, friends and myself. I say ‘’yes’’ immediately to every request without due thought and then simmer with resentment afterwards. I say ‘’yes’’ to social occasions and then…
I would imagine that there are many people on the fringes of bipolar who manage their condition through holistic means. If anyone with full blown bipolar manages it solely through practices like yoga and meditation, then well done, as that must require enormous practice and dedication. My treatment is still very much medicine based through…
Aaaah the seductive lure of Xanax. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alprazolam ‘’Alprazolam probably better known by its trade name, Xanax, is a short-acting drug. The drug is used to treat people with anxiety disorders and panic attacks. Alprazolam is the most prescribed and the most misused benzodiazepine on the U.S. retail market.” When drinking heavily I used it as…
Once you start to feel the benefits after 2-3 days you will want to incorporate walking into your daily life. Even if it is the last thing you feel like doing, undeniably mood is improved afterwards. Fresh air is essential and a good walk especially with a dog if you have one is bliss. Walking…
Again we don’t need to be zealots but if you can start the day with a ginger/lemon mug of hot water and even some honey (if under the weather) then it boosts energy and de-toxes incredibly well. I try to drink a glass every 3 -4 hours and have stopped buying bottled water (for the…
After a life long struggle with weight I hit my nadir at a big fat 80 kilos after my stay in psychiatric paradisio. Even now to my amazement I dedicatedly followed a strict regime (very enjoyable once you regain control over eating) and reached 65 kilos 6 months later, with no alcohol, of course, and…