Tag Archives: bipolar disorder

Bipolar Disorder and Migraine Link

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There’s a new study out that suggests a link between bipolar disorder and migraines. More specifically, “six percent of the study’s healthy control group had migraines, compared with 31 percent of the 412 bipolar patients.”

As someone who has bipolar and who also suffers from chronic debilitating migraines, I found this study very validating to my situation.

Researchers found that those with bipolar disorder who experience migraines are “at risk for worse psycho-social functioning, more severe depression, and earlier onset of bipolar symptoms.”

This gives me all the more reason to keep working with my doctors to decrease the frequency of my migraines. There have been many times I have just wanted to give up, thinking that this is as good as it gets, but then I tell myself that I have to keep trying, keep fighting, keep searching – new meds, new doctors, new triggers, new ideas, just keep talking to people and researching.

Over the past three years my migraines have went from 3-4 per week to 1-2 per month! What a huge difference!!! It took a lot of trial and error and perseverance and patience to get to this point, but it was worth the relief from the horrific pain these migraines can bring.

Do you have bipolar and suffer from migraines too?

Weekend Mental Health Writing Prompt – Whole, Not Perfect

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This weekend’s writing prompt is the following Oprah Winfrey quote:

“Seek to be whole, not perfect.”

Write about what this means to you, and post your response in the comments below or on your blog and be sure to link back to this post so that others can find you. Thanks, and I hope you are having a super weekend!

3 Simple Ways to Combat Worry

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I am a worrier. Worry is one of the major symptoms of depression, and I have come to accept the fact that worrying is a part of who I am. Some days are better than others, but overall, my mind is usually running amuck with worrisome thoughts. Here are some ways in which I try to combat the worry in my life:

1) Practice Mindfulness

I try to stay focused on what is happening in the present moment. I asked myself, What am I seeing right this very second with my eyes? What do I hear? What task am I performing and how does that feel? For example, the laptop is hard and flat on my legs. The keys are small and black, and the cursor blinks methodically as I sit and think of what to type next. I am staying in the moment, not thinking of past or future events – not worrying! Being mindful by engaging in productive activity is one of the best ways I know of to stop worrying.

2) Prayer

I am not a religious person, per se, but I am a spiritual person. I believe in a higher power that gives me strength to deal with what comes my way in life. I have a plaque hanging on my wall that says, “God doesn’t give us what we can handle, He helps us handle what we are given.” I truly believe this, if we only ask for His help via prayer. It has always worked for me. Not always in the time frame that I want, but has worked eventually, nonetheless.

3) Talking with others

When I share my worries with others, especially others who have had similar fears, it seems to unburden the worries from my mind. It’s as if naming them aloud releases the power they have over me. By telling trusted friends how I am feeling, I also get the benefit of their insight and wisdom on how they dealt with the same worries, and their now broader perspective on the issues. It is also just nice to know that I am not alone in my struggles.

Are you a worrier? Is there a particular worry you can’t shake? How do you cope with worry?

This post is linked to Write into the Light’s Weekend Mental Health Writing Prompt – Worry.

Weekend Mental Health Writings Prompt – Worry

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Are you a worrier? Is there a particular worry you can’t shake? How do you cope with worry? Write about it and feel free to share it here or on your blog if you have one, and then link it in the comments below.

Weekend Mental Health Writing Prompt – Soothing Senses

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For this weekend’s mental health writing, list 1 or 2 things that are soothing to each of your 5 senses – sights, smells, sounds, textures, and tastes. Write about any memories associated with these soothing stimuli.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend!

New Issue of Turtle Way Mental Health Journal Just Published

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Check out the just published online issue of Turtle Way, a literary art journal written by those with mental illness. Poetry, prose, research, humor, photography, and more…

Weekend Mental Health Writings Prompt – Influential People

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First of all, I’d like to welcome the plethora of new followers here to Write into the Light. It is so great to see this community grow with each new post. Whether you are new or not, I hope you’ll consider joining in this weekend’s writing prompt. Here it is:

Write about one or two people who have had the greatest impact on your life. It could be family members, friends, a famous person, etc. Write about how they have influenced you and your life in positive ways, and what you have gained most by knowing them or knowing of them.

Feel free to share your response here or on your blog, if you have one, or just write it out privately in your journal at home.

Hoping you have a wonderful weekend!

Love,
WiL

Weekend Mental Health Writings Prompt – Longest Gratitude List Ever

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This weekend’s prompt is to write the longest gratitude list you possibly can. Add to it all weekend. Tell me how many things are on your list come Monday.

Daily Meditation – Fear Not

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Fear can dominate our lives. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the past. Fear of the future. Fear of all that is, of all that isn’t. It is an agonizing state in which to live. It is a state of mind, not a state of reality, in most cases.

If we can train ourselves to stay in the present moment, in the moment of what task is at hand, then fear cannot survive. What are you doing right this moment? Reading this meditation perhaps. What fear is there in this task? When you are making your bed, doing your dishes, taking your shower, what fear is there in that? None. It is the thoughts you have outside of those actions that cause you fear.

Keeping our minds focused on exactly what we are doing in the moment can eliminate much of the fear in our lives. It is not easy, but it is simple. It is worth striving for if only to gain a little peace in our day, minute by minute.

Daily Meditation – Fantastic Things

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Life can often seem so mundane. We drag ourselves out of bed to carry on the same old routine day after day after day. When will it ever end? When will something exciting and new come our way?

What we don’t realize is that it is our own mind that makes these tasks boring and unassuming. It is our own preconceived ideas and unconscious conditioning of going through life without gratitude for what we have, what we are capable of doing.

Did you know that in most places in the world there are no indoor toilets? People go in the streets, in front of everyone else! Did you know that millions die of starvation each year? Many do not have running water for drinking or bathing.

Today, let us do something fantastic for ourselves. Take a warm shower, eat a meal, flush a toilet, visit a friend, brush your teeth. Be grateful for every little thing that you can do, for every little thing that is available to you. These are fantastic things! Things which are hard for us with mental illness to do at times – to eat, bathe, groom, socialize – but nonetheless, fantastic. Rejoice and delight in this fact.