Turtle Way is Write into the Light’s online literary art journal featuring poetry, prose, and art from people with mental illness and those who love them.
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Tag Archives: depression
Bipolar Disorder and Grief
Everyone has the potential to grieve losses in their life. Those with bipolar disorder don’t have a right to say they grieve more than others. However, they are at risk for extreme mood episodes as a result of a significant loss in their life, making their grief dangerous and potentially life threatening.
The loss doesn’t have to be a death. It can be a job, a relationship, or a tragedy without death like a severe illness or injury. It doesn’t have to involve someone who is personally known but can be related to a collective loss or tragedy of a famous person or someone in their community.
When a person with bipolar disorder experiences a loss, at a minimum, daily tasks may fall by the wayside. Worst case scenario the person becomes completely immobilized, ignores their most basic tasks such as hygiene and nutrition and starts having thoughts of harming him or herself.
- Some ways to cope with a loss if you have bipolar disorder is to make sure you keep taking your medicine as prescribed.
- Stay away from alcohol and recreational drugs which can bring you down even further and lower your inhibition when trying to stay safe.
- Talk to someone about your feelings.
- Journal about your thoughts and feelings.
- Go to a support group.
- Talk to your doctor.
- Go to a therapist or counselor.
- Get outside.
- Go for a walk.
- Spend time with animals or children.
- Take a hot bath.
- Take the time and care you need to ride out the emotions knowing they will pass.
- Do not “should” yourself or judge or talk negatively to yourself about anything you’re not able to do while going through this time. This is the way your brain was made and it is not something you chose. Acceptance and self compassion are key to experiencing less suffering during these times.
What are some other ways you can or have coped with loss in your life?
New 988 number in the US for Crisis
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.
New Issue of Turtle Way Journal Published Today
Check out the great poets and artists and all the other fun mental health stuff at https://turtleway.wordpress.com
Differences Between Depression and Sadness
Everyone feels sad at some point in their life but not everyone gets depressed. Usually sadness is a result of some specific external event or reason going on in someone’s life from something as serious as the death of a loved one to something less serious like failing an important exam. This is not to say that some things that cause sadness such as these cannot lead into depression if it goes on for a long period of time.
Main Differences Between Sadness and Depression
- A person with sadness can usually find some relief from crying, venting, or talking out frustrations. Those with depression can do the same thing but often don’t find the same kind of relief. They continue to feel very sad with the added symptoms of hopelessness, lack of motivation, and loss of interest in activities that they once found enjoyable.
- Sadness usually passes with time. Depression tends to last weeks or months and may lead to those with it thinking about or attempting suicide. They may also no longer feel like spending time with family or friends and might become disinterested in their usual hobbies and feel unable to attend work or school.
- Sadness is just one part of depression. Other symptoms of depression that aren’t necessarily seen in sadness include a daily depressed mood that lasts for most of the day, nearly every day, with signs of hopelessness and sadness. There’s also a loss of interest in normal activities for an extended amount of time, significant and unintentional weight loss or gain, insomnia, sleepiness, or increased amounts of sleep that affect normal schedules, tiredness and low energy, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt on a daily basis, inability to concentrate or make decisions, and recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, or suicidal attempts or plans. A person who experiences any five of these symptoms for longer than two weeks would probably be diagnosed as having depression rather than a prolonged experience of sadness.
If you feel like you are experiencing depression rather than sadness, contact your medical professional as soon as possible. There are many treatment options available for people with depression including medications and psychotherapy and counseling.
Comorbidities in People with Mental Illness
Comorbidities in people with mental illness means they have another disorder in addition to their mental illness. This is quite common. I, for example, have bipolar disorder and chronic migraine.
Comorbidities do not have to be a mental disorder paired with a physical disorder. They can also be two or more mental disorders or two or more physical disorders.
Having more than one disorder has its challenges. For example, a person with both multiple sclerosis and depression would be treated for both conditions, but it would be important to take into consideration the overlap between medications that would be prescribed by different doctors.
For this reason, people with comorbid disorders should take good notes of their symptoms, medications and their side effects, and anything they and their doctors discuss at each appointment so that unwanted interactions are avoided. It is also important to have excellent communication with all providers so that everyone knows what everyone else is doing.
If you have comorbidities, you must be a persistent advocate for yourself to get the proper treatment plan in place to treat all of your disorders so that you can reach and maintain optimal health, both physically and mentally. By following the aforementioned suggestions you can be on your way to better health no matter how many comorbidities you have.
Depression Basics and Where to Get Help
Depression is a clinical disorder that is very treatable. It is more than feeling sad for a short period of time and can increase feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and worthlessness for days, weeks or months at a time. Clinical depression also keeps you from living your life the way that you used to before you became depressed. There’s no cure for depression, but your symptoms may go away over time and you may become stable again with treatment and medical care.
Depression Symptoms
Depression symptoms include:
- Your mood is depressed for most of the day, especially in the morning.
- You feel tired or have a lack of energy almost every day.
- You feel worthless or guilty most every day.
- You feel hopeless or pessimistic.
- You have a hard time focusing, remembering details, and making decisions.
- You can’t sleep, or you sleep too much, almost every day.
- You have almost no interest or pleasure in many activities nearly every day.
- You think often about death or suicide.
- You feel restless or slowed down.
- You’ve lost or gained weight.
You may also:
- feel cranky and restless
- lose pleasure in life
- over eat or stop feeling hungry
- have aches, pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that don’t go away or get better with treatment
- have sad, anxious, or empty feelings. (WedMD)
Not everyone experiences all of these symptoms and some people may experience other ones not listed.
Depression and Suicide
You should take anyone who thinks or talks about hurting themselves very seriously. In the US call 800-SUICIDE (800-784-2433); 800-273-TALK (800-273-8255); for hearing impaired, call 800-799-4889. Or you can contact a mental health professional. If you intend to or have a plan to attempt suicide, go to the emergency room immediately.
Do you identify with any of the symptoms of depression? If so, please talk with your doctor or mental health professional about them right away.
Should You Take Medication to Treat Your Mental Illness?
To take medication for a mental illness is a very personal choice. For me, medication has allowed me to live a life with some stability in my moods and has helped me to be a better wife, mom, and friend.Â
I have severe symptoms that do not subside without medication because I believe my brain is imbalanced with regards to certain neurotransmitters, such as Serotonin, Dopamine, and Norepinephrine. There are side effects, such as drowsiness and weight gain, but these need to be weighed against the benefits to decide if the medicine is worth taking or not.
Some people can manage their symptoms with non-medication interventions such as counseling, lifestyle changes, diet, prayer and meditation, exercise, and journaling/keeping mood charts to stay on top of their mental health status.
It is up to the individual whether or not to treat their mental illness with medication and it is none of everyone else’s business to criticize what they decide to do.
Any thoughts? Join the conversation and leave a comment.
Being a Mom with Anxiety
I became a mom almost 21 years ago. I was not yet diagnosed with mental illness. About six months into motherhood when postpartum depression had a strong hold on me, I went to my doctor for help and she put me on an antidepressant. About six years later, after the birth of my second child, I was diagnosed with bipolar type 2 disorder. It is at this point that I think my anxiety developed into something that I could not handle without professional help or medication because I began to have panic attacks along with generalized anxiety and eventually severe social anxiety.
Play dates were difficult at best and attending sporting events were and still are extremely stressful and anxiety producing (hint: wearing earbuds playing calming music helps a lot!) Having children who are growing up with their own anxiety and depression issues only increases the stress of motherhood exponentially for a mom with anxiety. On the up side, having an anxiety disorder has better equipped me to completely empathize with my children and help them in ways I would not be able to if I hadn’t already learned skills to deal with my own anxiety. Some of these skills include the following:
- Setting healthy boundaries by saying no to things when I feel I am reaching my threshold for responsibilities and daily activities.Â
- Asking for help with daily responsibilities from my partner, family, and friends.
- Taking time for self care activities like reading a chapter of a book, journaling, taking a bubble bath, listening to calming music, watching an episode of a series I enjoy, petting my dog or cat, taking a nap, sitting in the sun for a few minutes, doing my nails, getting my hair done, meditating, or doing some stretches or simple yoga exercises.
- Not being hard on myself when I can’t do things I wish I could.Â
- Accepting my limitations.
- Praying for the strength to do as much as possible without making myself sick.
- Being thankful for all I can do and for all I have instead of focusing on the negative aspects of having an anxiety disorder.Â
Being a mom with anxiety has its challenges, but with an awareness of and honoring what your limitations are and following the suggestions above, you can thrive as a mom and a person with anxiety.Â
Mental Health Awareness Month 2021
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.
What are some ways we can raise awareness?
– Download You Are Not alone graphics, logos and social media images from NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) at https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Awareness-Resources
– 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?
Feel free to use these graphics from NAMI.
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