Everyone has bad days, but when yours start to negatively affect your relationships it may be a sign of bipolar disorder. I can be irritated for no apparent reason for days at a time and this is often a symptom of mixed mania for me where I am hypomanic and depressed at the same time. My baseline is low depression so when I get a burst of creativity or energy that I have trouble acting on I get irritable quickly.
If this happens to you, learning mindfulness and anger management techniques might be helpful. It also might be a good idea to discuss it with your doctor.
Nine months ago I posted an article on Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT) and I ended it with “More to come…” Well, more never came. I had started reading a DBT workbook around this time and joining in on a weekly DBT Twitter space as well, which is what inspired me to write about the topic. I quickly got bored with the book and as a result also lost interest in the space on Twitter and didn’t give the article or topic a second thought.
Having grandiose ideas and abandoning them before they are finished is a common symptom in people with bipolar disorder.
“Having a house full of half-completed projects is a hallmark of bipolar disorder. People who can harness their energy when they are in a hypomanic phase can be really productive. Those who can’t often go from task to task, planning grand, unrealistic projects that are never finished before moving on to something else.
“They can be quite distractible and may start a million things and never finish them,” says Dr. Don Malone, the director of the Center for Behavioral Health and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio.” https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/bipolar-disorder-10-subtle-signs/
Do you experience this problem? I always have plans to post a blog every week and my last one was seven months ago so you can see how well it works out for me.
988 is now available in the United States to contact if you are in a mental health, substance use, or suicide crisis! Please pass this information along.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy’s (DBT) premise is that two seemingly opposite things can be true at the same time. For example, my parents did the best they knew how when raising me and they negatively affected my emotional development.
DBT trains the mind to think with a good balance between reason and emotion, calling this the “wise mind.” It also can keep you out of all or nothing or black and white thinking. There are many shades of grey with everything in life.
There are four main tenets of DBT. They are Distress Tolerance, Mindfulness, Emotional Regulation, and Interpersonal Skills.
Distress Tolerance and Radical Acceptance
Distress Tolerance includes an idea called “Radical Acceptance” where you fully acknowledge the present moment reality. This does not equal condonement. Radical acceptance places you in a position of being able to make a plan to elicit changes in your life because you cannot change anything if you aren’t fully engaged in the acceptance of what currently is.
Distress Tolerance skills include distraction and self-soothing. Distract by engaging in pleasurable, non-destructive activities, focusing on helping others, doing chores, counting breaths or anything you can see, or distract by removing yourself from the situation.
Self-soothe any of your senses: smell, sight, sound, taste and touch. Use any input that makes you feel good that is non-destructive and not harmful to you or anyone else.
R.E.S.T.
Above all, make sure to use the “Rest” technique in any situation that is upsetting to you at the start. Relax (R), Evaluate the facts (E), Set an intention (S), Take action (T). The intention and take action steps could include some ideas from the distress tolerance skills.
We are half way through Mental Health Awareness Month. Awareness for mental health is so important because people die everyday from poor mental health. People can’t work due to poor mental health or take care of their family or get out of bed. We have to bring awareness to this in order to normalize it in such a way that those who find themselves in such situations don’t hesitate to get professional help.
Twenty percent of adults in the United States experience a mental health condition in a given year. This topic deserves our attention and consideration. People are suffering and need help.
– Share the following mental health facts taken from nami.org with permission.
– Host a Facebook or Instagram Live with an expert or a person with real life experience to discuss how people can manage their mental health or practice self-care.
– Share a video of what mental health means to you. Use video sharing apps like TikTok or Instagram reels to create videos to post on your social media profiles.
– Use the following social media hashtags for Mental Health Awareness Month:
#NotAlone
#MentalHealthMonth
#MHM
– Promote NAMI Helpline’s contact information and hours of availability as a resource for people seeking mental health support. Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET. 800-950-NAMI (6264). info@nami.org nami.org/Help
How are you going to help increase mental health awareness this month?
Today is World Maternal Mental Health Day, which purpose is to draw attention to the mental health concerns for mothers and families. The changes that pregnancy and having children brings in life makes women more vulnerable to mental illness.
I was first diagnosed with depression not long after my first child’s birth. I was later diagnosed with type 2 bipolar disorder after the birth of my second child.
Worldwide, as many as 1 in 5 women experience some type of perinatal mood and anxiety disorder. These disorders include postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, postpartum obsessive compulsive disorder, postpartum bipolar, and postpartum psychosis. Symptoms can appear at any time during pregnancy and the first 12 months after childbirth.
Health professionals and friends and relatives of new moms need to ask the mom how she really is feeling and encourage her to seek help if she is struggling.
Stress is physical, emotional, or psychological tension felt as a result of an event or thought that causes feelings of frustration, anger, or anxiety. In short bursts, stress can be helpful, like in getting you out of a dangerous situation or helping you meet a deadline. When chronic, however, it can be harmful to your health and contribute to the development of conditions such as
High blood pressure
Heart disease
Diabetes
Obesity
Depression or anxiety
Skin problems, such as acne or eczema
Menstrual problems
Common causes of stress include
Getting married or divorced
Starting a new job
The death of a spouse or close family member
Getting laid off
Retiring
Having a baby
Money problems
Moving
Having a serious illness
Problems at work
Problems at home
Signs of chronic stress include
Diarrhea or constipation
Forgetfulness
Frequent aches and pains
Headaches
Lack of energy or focus
Sexual problems
Stiff jaw or neck
Tiredness
Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
Upset stomach
Use of alcohol or drugs to relax
Weight loss or gain
Sometimes stress can be managed by getting the right amount of sleep, talking problems over with a trusted friend, getting regular exercise and proper nutrition, and generally taking good care of yourself. Other times if you find yourself having panic attacks, feeling overwhelmed for weeks on end, or unable to function at work or home, you should probably contact your doctor or mental health professional for some help.
With mental health providers already in limited supply the increase in the need for services due to the stresses caused by the pandemic has made finding help extra difficult as of late. If you are just starting out with problems, your primary doctor or ob-gyn might be a good place to start. In addition to doing an initial assessment, taking a history and prescribing medication, they can refer you to the appropriate mental health professional, if needed.
The obvious way to find providers is to check your health plan provider list. Consider those outside your area who offer teleheath services via the phone or computer. This could widen your options quite a bit.
Seeing providers out of network or paying out of pocket may be other options to facilitate access to providers, which unfortunately are more costly and not possible for many people. Although, some providers may offer a sliding-fee scale for those who are self pay that allows them to pay based on their personal income and what they can afford.
If you or your spouse are employed, you can check to see if your employer offers an Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) which is separate from the medical plan. Typically you can access counseling at no cost on a short-term basis. Check with your HR department.
If you are a student, take advantage of any free campus or university resources.
Your local church might offer pastoral counseling from a trained clergyman or woman which is usually free.
Some teaching colleges and universities may offer low-cost therapy provided by grad students who are supervised while they gain counseling experience. If there is such a school in your area, contact the psychology or behavioral health department and inquire.
SAMHSA is a government organization that is the go-to resource for locating affordable mental health care nationwide. Contact them at 1-800-662-4357 or online https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov
Online therapy is another option with chats with actual therapists from places like Better Help, TalkSpace or 7 Cups.com.
Theravive is a resource directory you could investigate for low cost therapists by state.
Open Counseling is another resource for attaining accessible care. The site indicates if providers are accepting new clients and many list their rates.
Open Path connects low-cost therapists to patients. I think you pay a lifetime membership fee and then get access to discounted rates on therapy sessions in the future.
You can also get professional help getting professional help by contacting NAMI support services. Call their helpline, 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) to find a chapter or services in your area.
If your mental health puts you in an immediate crisis, help is always available by going straight to the hospital emergency room. All emergency rooms have access to psychiatric care.
Are you having trouble accessing mental health services? What are you doing about it?
Ten years ago today I posted my first blog here at Write into the Light. Ten years! I feel like that is such a long time.
I started off writing daily meditations because I couldn’t find any meditation books specifically written for people with mental illness or mental health issues. Over the years my writing has evolved from those meditations to journal-type entries and poems, to essays and opinion pieces, and finally, reports on mental health research articles.
Regardless of the type of writing I post, all of it helps me process and cope with my own mental health symptoms and I hope helps others with the same. Writing has been one of my biggest coping skills when it comes to my mental illnesses, hence the name of this site.
There were many months I was inactive and even full years where I only wrote a few blogs at most depending on my health status. Several times I almost closed the site down but I never did because even though I would go periods without writing, the stats showed that people were still viewing my posts on a daily basis. And I thought, if the blog was helping someone by just being there then it was worth leaving up even if I wasn’t adding anything new to it at the time.
Over the last 10 years I’ve written over 360 posts and have had over 44,000 visitors and 65,000 views. I have close to 900 readers on WordPress, a tad over 300 Twitter followers, 1200 and something Facebook fans, and 25 email subscribers. Definitely not a big outfit by any stretch of the imagination, but a small little part of the mental health community that I hope is contributing enough in a way that is making a difference in someone’s morning, afternoon, or evening every once in a while.
I wonder who is out there who has been blogging for ten years or more. I am in contact with no one from my early days of blogging because their blogs have been dead for years and I miss some of them so much.
I am happy to have found new bloggers throughout the years, however, and thank every one of you for taking the time to follow, read, like and comment on my posts. I appreciate you and always enjoy connecting with you.
If you haven’t already, please follow this blog or subscribe via email and
Write into the Light 