Category: Bipolar Parenting
-
Burns.
As someone with bipolar type II (turns out that ever since I was hospitalized, my diagnosis has been bipolar type I), I know that my symptoms are less severe than others. That’s not to say that I do not cycle or that I’m asymptomatic. I’ve screamed at and hit my son. I’ve flipped the kitchen table and…
-
Parenting My Teen
So, I decided to change psychotherapists. Not an easy decision for me to make. Except during the nine months we lived in Eugene and the two years we lived in the Mojave Desert, I’ve seen the same psychologist since my son was four. As my son turns fifteen next week, that’s a pretty long-term therapeutic…
-
Time to Find a New Therapist
Time for a change. When I last saw my psychologist, she equated allowing my son to play video games to allowing him to smoke marijuana. She said that the two did the same neurological and psychological damage, that video games produce emotional cripples unable to make intimate relationships. She was quite incensed about it. I do not…
-
Kitt O’Malley: Featured Poet
To have Laura A. Lord, a bona fide, gifted, published poet, someone formally educated in writing, feature me on her site as a “poet”… well, I’m flattered to say the least. Check out Laura’s work at LauraALord.com. She’s awesome. Her writing blows me away.
-
Taking a Step Forward
Today I took a step forward. I went to my psychiatrist. He adjusted my medications, putting me back on a low dose of escitalopram. Monday, we see a psychologist with our son to get some coaching on negotiating our battles and setting some reasonable boundaries. Called NAMI Orange County’s Warm Line and briefly talked to a mentor. Looked into going to…
-
Migraines – What a Pain! #MondayBlogs
So, it is May – Mental Health Awareness Month, and I’m not motivated to write about mental health. Not mine, at least. Instead, I find myself drawn to write about parenting a son who has suffered severe migraines since he was a toddler. My son’s earliest migraines involved gastrointestinal symptoms, but no headaches. When he was…
-
Death, Grief & the Beast
NAMI Orange County volunteer Melissa Nemeth passed on as did my brother-in-law Don. Grief that I denied myself now hits me. Now I realize how much compassion I withheld from my husband as I defended myself from pain and from being needed. My prayers go out to Melissa’s family and to my in-laws. The tears flow…