Make it go away!

Unfortunately, it's not that easy.  Thankfully, there are lots of ways it can be made easier.  There are mood stablilizing drugs, psycotherapy... all the things you'd expect.  Here are some of the common drugs prescribed to bipolar people and links to info on them:

Lithium ( Lithium Carbonate)

Depakote (Divalproex Sodium)

Ativan (Lorazepam)

Tegretol (Carbamazepine)

Fluanxol (Flupenthixol)

Lamotrigine

Gabapentin

Valium (diazepam)

Wellbutrin (bupropion)

There's also lots of talk about ECT or electroconvulsive therapy. I know, it conjures up images of some mad scientist zapping you in the butt or something, but once you get over that stigma, you'll find that ECT has helped a lot of people.  To quote the AP:

"there remains no faster, safer way to yank people out of deadly depressions than by placing electrodes on their temples and zapping their brains with enough electricity to trigger convulsions."

Well, ain't that special?

Myself, I've taken a bit of a lifestyle change approach to help me deal with all of my stuff.  It really involves taking on a different philosophy on how you live.  I try to keep my views of things as simple as possible.  Just my views, I'm still fully aware of the complexities of people and things, etc.  I've gotten very good at filtering out things I should be concerned about and things I should just let go.  I've finally gotten to a point where I can stop and think about things as rationally as possible given my current state.  I've gotten good with smacking myself on the hand for talking out of my ass when I'm manic and being overly negative when I'm depressed.  I also meditate a lot, which I think helps a lot. 

I think it's possible for everyone to have a little formula like that to help them.  The values of the variables in it have to be tailored to who you are, of course, but I guarantee it's worth the trouble.  I hate being bipolar.  I resent the fact that I have to use so much energy to deal with it.  But, you know what?  I have to... so, I just learned to deal with it and not get too worked up about it.  I keep things simple and save up my energy for when I need to deal with something important... I don't waste my time worrying about trivial things... and I pay a lot of attention to myself.  All in all, it's turned me into a much more independent person and has kind of put me in the mind-set that I've actually got a handle on this thing. 

You've no idea how empowering that can actually be until you experience it... try to.

Click here for more information on treatment.

Please direct any comments, questions, or suggestions to duckie@byz.org