Search results for: “bipolar”
-
I Said "No!"
My mother’s speech therapist (a great guy and excellent speech therapist) called me today so that I could participate in her speech therapy. Friday, when I first met with him and my parents, he told me to work with my mother daily. Afterwards, I freaked out, was bitchy and short-tempered with my husband and…
-
Freaking Out
Once again I accidentally skipped a medication dose. Thursday evening I forgot to take my divalproex (used to treat seizures, migraines and bipolar disorder), making me less stable, more irritable, short-tempered with my husband, overwhelmed, emotionally fragile, raw and vulnerable. F*ck. So that’s a bit of background for how I felt Friday and Saturday. Am…
-
Meaning and Mental Illness
I wrote this post for Lisa Bortolotti’s project Imperfect Cognitions: Blog on delusional beliefs, distorted memories, confabulatory explanations, and implicit biases. The blog was founded by Lisa Bortolotti in May 2013, after receiving the happy news that she had been awarded an AHRC Fellowship for a project entitled “The Epistemic Innocence of Imperfect Cognitions“. The…
-
Care-taking Update #dementia #stroke
Quick video update as I run errands and juggle caring for my mom, dad and son. Don’t forget I’m married and live with bipolar disorder. Thank God I’m holding it together so far. Video Transcript Okay, folks, so here’s the deal. It is Thursday. My mom had a stroke… hmm… probably three weeks ago, maybe the Friday…
-
Dear Kitt
Kitt, you fuel your rage by seeing a psychoanalysist one to three times a week, exploring over and over how you had been abused as a child. You deepen your depression by studying psychodynamic theory in graduate school. Doing so defeats you and undermines your mental health. Yes, therapy will enable you to work through issues you have with…
-
A Room of My Own
My friend Dyane Harwood’s recent post A Stigma of One’s Own got me thinking. Dyane takes issue with the non-profit foundation A Room of Her Own (AROHO) for describing Virginia Woolf’s suicide as “took her own life” and for not mentioning her mental illness. I support Dyane for challenging them to rework Woolf’s bio. At the same time, I wonder… Is…
-
Thank You
Thank you everyone who supported me Saturday for NAMIWalks. I raised over $1,500. The team I walked with, the Stigma Smashers, raised over $9,000. Unfortunately, I started to feel weak and dizzy. Being fair-skinned and freckled, I am naturally sensitive to the sun and heat. My medication exacerbates my heat sensitivity. Saturday hit a high of 99°F in Irvine. I had…
-
Broken Brain
Brain broken Frustrating Do not remember Must constantly relearn Brain not functioning properly Not functioning as it once did Must constantly relearn Damn, I hate bipolar disorder
-
Blooming Hope
The Blooming Hope Nursery is an art exhibit of The Expression Project for NAMIWalks Orange County. The purpose of this exhibit is to grow seeds of HOPE. To tell the stories of individuals who struggle with mental illness and their family members we are embarking on a journey of hope. The first leg of this journey is the…
-
Young Adult Mental Health
in NAMILast Friday and Saturday, I alternately volunteered at and attended the NAMI California Conference. You can purchase CDs or MP3s of the California conference held last Friday and Saturday in Newport Beach, the NAMI National Convention held in San Francisco in July, and past conventions here. As I mentioned in my last post, attending the conference, like…