(Part 2) Top products from r/BipolarReddit

Just a few things that come to mind:

Self-Awareness> There are a lot of ways to work on this and most of them are worth trying. An effective goal might be to find some things that work for awhile, and prepare yourself to seek out other options when those don’t offer the same effectiveness. I’m pretty sure that when we dedicate the time to it, we provide ourselves with information that empowers us to make the decisions that bring about our idea of success.

Expectations> Most of us don’t want to fail. A lot of us feel like if we don’t meet the expectations that we’ve set for ourselves then we’re failures. This often causes some of us to avoid things that we feel we won’t “succeed” at. Hey, I’m not saying we shouldn’t set high goals for ourselves... but when we don't meet our expectations, maybe we could slowly get better at treating ourselves with the kind of love and encouragement that we would extend to our most loved of loved ones when they "fail."

Exercise> God damn it I hate exercise. I wore a button in fifth grade that said: I’m too out of shape to exercise. I’m thirty-nine now and I’ve still never had a consistent workout regimen. For a lot of us, this shit is probably harder than everything else we’ll consider in this thread. But there’s plenty of evidence to show that when the rest of our body is functioning at a more optimal level that we have more tools to work with, and that our tools are more effective. I hate exercise.

Group Discussion> Last year I attended an intensive outpatient group therapy program. This was my first experience with group therapy and I freaking love that shit. I learned that the gems to mine from this experience have very little to do with whoever is leading the group or which organization is providing the facility... as long as you feel like everyone is given the opportunity to share without reproach. Empathy is what it’s all about. The more courageous you are about sharing your struggles, the more empowered your fellow group members will be to do the same. When empathy is flowing freely most people are able to recognize some of their own cognitive distortions, AND help others find their own. Not every group is going to function well, but I think it’s well worth the effort to find on that does. You might start with looking into a DBSA group near you. My advice would be to look for one with 10-15 attendees. If you've got insurance that will cover it, you might check into an Intensive Outpatient Group Therapy program offered by a local hospital.

Books> These are just a few that have offered me some help—and a few that I just acquired but haven’t read yet.

Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength

Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain

Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy



Also, this is me patting you on the back lovingly and then turning it into a hug:



Did you feel it?



Disclaimer: I’m currently doing pretty poorly at all of these things.

I've been having problems with depression for the past few months as well. Leaving the bed for the first time in 4-5 days today! Im so sick and tired of being sick and tired. It pisses me off so much to have this bullshit steal more than half of my life away. I'm sorry that you're feeling stuck in depression as well.

​

throughout the years of being a psychiatric patient and a patient of a psychologist, I've realized that at least in myself, medication isn't usually a cure-all and can only serve for me as a really useful crutch. If I compare myself to a broken vehicle, medication is a critical replacement part added to the dysfunctional engine, but I am still the pilot of the vehicle. It wont drive unless I sit in the pilot seat and try to do something, which has become easier thanks to an engine replacement.

​

I'm not trying to say that medication is unreliable, thats not true. Or that you can cure this illness with non-medical practices. That's not true at all. But something that helps improve my daily mood aside from medication is by self-influencing my brain and mood through experience dependent neuroplasticity. It's a true science that shows that things like exercise and meditation can train your brain to more easily be more happy on average. Force yourself to smile for 30 seconds and see how it affects you. Things like at the end of your day, think of all the bad things that didnt happen that could have happened. Remember to smile at the birds and the good weather and the clouds, remember to be happy with the little things in life!

​

This isn't discrediting your struggle, im not trying to imply that. Nor am i implying that the things that I am recommending cure any symptoms or replace any medication, they dont influence symptoms of bipolar disorder, they only slightly improve your mood. I'm just saying that if you can muster the strength to try and meditate, or go for a walk, these physical things can influence your mood which over time can make your psychiatric dysfunctions more easy to deal with from time to time.

​

I'd be dead by now if it were not for exercise. I need to get back into meditation. When i exercise I get those feel good chemicals or whatever and It burns off energy which allows me to sleep at night.

​

Here's some books about mindfulness that have helped me (an example of experience dependent neuroplasticity):

https://www.amazon.com/Hardwiring-Happiness-Science-Contentment-Confidence/dp/0385347332/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538822946&sr=8-1&keywords=hardwiring+happiness%2C+rick+hanson

https://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-Eight-Week-Finding-Peace-Frantic/dp/1609618955/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1538822965&sr=8-3&keywords=mindfulness

https://www.amazon.com/Introducing-Mindfulness-Practical-Tessa-Watt/dp/1848312555/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538823015&sr=8-1&keywords=mindfulness+a+practical+guide+tessa+watt

​

hope this helped man. good luck

I'm like you, except I smoke a lot of weed instead of getting drunk.

Your alcohol use is a coping behavior, as well as doing exercise. The thing is, either good or bad, this will make us feel better but ONLY temporarily.
Now why does it make us feel better. In my case, when I'm high I let the extra dopamine intake counter my emotions. It also helps me relax and take my mind off things I don't want to think about.

So what should I do?
DON'T LET YOUR EMOTIONS CONTROL YOUR THOUGHTS

How?
Find something that can distract you just as alcohol. Perhaps a hobby. Something long-term that you can enjoy without really getting tired of it. Even do it with a goal in my mind.

Me?
Well I still enjoy playing Overwatch a lot. I play a few rounds when I get home. Since it's a team based game and there's a competitive mode, if you take your mind off the game you'll die.
But, I don't play it all night so what else?
I enjoy video games and I built a gaming pc for it. I also know how to program and I know unix. Besides that I know Physics and lots of algorithms. How about I 'make' a video game, something like angry-birds. Simple but Physics-based. So when I'm not playing video games I've been setting up a Unix environment with Unreal Engine, next step is actually learn how to use it. It takes work so my mind is busy but I like it so I enjoy it.

How does it fit in my life besides just as a hobby?
Well I'm 'sick' of my job. Same pay, ridiculous amount of work to do and a lack of consideration by some. So hopefully, once I save up enough money I'll quit my job and dedicate myself to game and fx development and see if it works economically. I also want to do a masters next year so quitting my job will let me get back into Physics. My goal is to become financially well enough by selling games or services as a indie developer or freelancer and do some Physics while I'm at it.

This will help me to not let my emotions control my thinking until I have finally accepted the reality of my situation. Once you've accepted, look at yourself and analyze. Your depression will cause thinking errors when it comes to subjective matters until you learn to identify the thinking errors.

I hope this read took your mind off your emotions for a little bit.. Our lives don't have to be miserable because of an illness. We just LIVE different lives like everyone else. There's no 'fairness' involved. Your life is your main priority and not whether you have a better or worse life than someone else.


My therapist recommended me the book: Bipolar workbook https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XLL3A1G/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_QzhXxbP2QZ92W
It's helped a lot in this situation, maybe it can help you too.

I'm also BP2 and it took awhile to mentally adjust to that diagnosis. It helps me to hear about others' experiences, so reading a few good books and watching some documentaries helped me get through the 'grieving process' and find the words to express to my husband what's going on in my head. One of my favorite books is Why Am I Still Depressed? which specifically addresses BP2. Stephen Fry's documentary (Part 1 and Part 2), and Up/Down are both great.

>The hardest thing I find is telling people, I have only told two of my friends, but do not wish to tell anyone else, is that normal?

Totally normal, and even recommended. Do what you're comfortable with. Good luck and take care; my heart goes out to you.

Edit: there's some good resources linked in this thread, and this one too

>I know it's not as good as medicine.

There haven't been as many studies as with many drugs, but so far the research is at least suggesting they're as good or better than most antidepressants. So good, in fact, that you have to watch out for mania. Using them in the middle of the day seems to reduce this risk, but again, not a lot of research.

>I am having financial issues and it's kind of expensive

This one seems pretty reasonable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000W8Y7FY

I'm learning the very basics of DBT at the moment. It's very useful! Actually,

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath
Permalink: http://amzn.com/0385528752

Is a pretty good look at DBT applied to professional and business and gov't situations. I actually learned enough about DBT reading it to leap ahead of my therapist a bit. I immediately knew when she was introducing 'finding bright spots', and that was cool, because we could jump into implementing it instead of guiding to accepting it. I knew they worked because of my reading, it just took a little guidance to find some in my own life.

I have this light box and use it every weekday at work. I've had a few coworkers ask about it, but it's kinda hard to explain. I just tell them it mimics the sunlight which is good when it gets dark so early. I can definitely tell the difference on days when I use it and days I don't. I do 30 minutes on like 3/4 max brightness, but that's really dependent on each person.

I would get a second opinion ASAP just for peace of mind for your parents if nothing else. If you do go off meds, consistent therapy and exercise, a healthy diet, and good sleep hygiene will be key (easier said than done, I know).

Depending on your diet and how much sunlight you get, you may want to look into supplementing with Vitamin D & K, Magnesium, Zinc, and high EPA fish oil.

Modafinil wouldn't be an everyday, long-term solution but I find that it does help reduce depressive symptoms and make me at least slightly more functional. It may be worth mentioning to your pdoc, assuming you haven't already tried it and the side effects are bearable.

These two books have both helped me quite a bit and I highly recommend them.

Bipolar, Not So Much and The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Bipolar Disorder

There's a really good book about HSP. It's probably at your library.

I recommend getting outside in nature or somewhere calming/relaxing to you as much as possible. Get away from loud noises, fluorescent lights, too many people, etc. whenever you can.

Also talk to your doctor about your meds. Your anxiety and wilder mood swings should be better controlled at the very least. CBT can help with that as well.

I'm going to put my "radical" hat on for a second: almost every illegal drug was used responsibly by the majority of users for a long time before it became illegal, and, additionally, was not made illegal due to genuine safety concerns. Everything from marijuana to opiates was once used legally and more safely than in the current prohibition climate. This book covers it in depth. If this is a topic that interests you I highly recommend obtaining an older edition and reading up. Lots of information is also available online. It's been argued that the very existance of prohibition encourages people to use more potent, less safe forms of their drug of choice.

We both know that alcohol, just regular plain old OTC alcohol, is the most common date rape drug. But I've been drugged with... something... and it's not an experience I want to repeat. There are so many alcohol & drug involved rapes during the first weekend back at college that the administration secretly calls it "rape weekend." So I am very concerned with what can be done to make people safer. When I first commented to you, I was thinking that making the drugs Rx only was a good call. But hey, you got me thinking! Whatever I was dosed with probably was an Rx only drug, and obviously that didn't keep me safe. What did keep me safe was the fact that I was drinking slowly and recognized the effects of the drug as it hit me. I was able to get someone to walk me home where I could sleep it off safely. I feel bad though, because I am sure I am not the only person who was drugged that night, and I am sure at least one woman didn't make it home safe. We have to change the party culture.

There are a lot of days when I think that all drug use should be decriminalized. Our current model is so very broken.

The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson is the book recommended to me by my therapist. It's not a cure all by any means but having 15-30 minutes of peace every day makes a difference.

This book is a good starting place: http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Your-Own-Gym/dp/0345528581/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462562784&sr=1-1&keywords=you+are+your+own+gym

if you need motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRtqa7r0HUA

Get a light therapy lamp! I have this one and call it my happy lamp! I’ve noticed a pretty big change in my mood and just got it a couple weeks ago! Obviously any type should work but just adding a link to the one that works for me...

Hey thanks for mentioning this. I am HSP and honestly forget about that in dealing with all of the bipolar stuff.

... you should check out this book!

Dialectical behavior therapy is often recommended. It includes four skill sets, all of which can help to improve relationships: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. DBT may be available in your area. There is a also DBT workbook specifically for bipolar.

If you're looking for information on bipolar ii, the ONLY good book I've read on it is Why am I still depressed? It describes the difference between bipolar 1, bipolar 2, and straight depression.

I'm not really sure what you've seen SSRI's do to people. Can you explain that a little more? I've taken SSRI's and they made me nutso, but that was because my bipolar hadn't been diagnosed. Currently, I am taking an SSRI, but in conjunction with mood stabilizers, it's fine. SSRI's are insanely popular, so I'm thinking you may have seen a rare case, a rare reaction, or an improper prescription.

Get to a doctor right away. If you want the pain to go away, a qualified professional is where it's going to start. Facing up and taking care of your problems is the exact opposite of feeling sorry yourself.

get out of your own way

I have this light therapy unit that I use fall, winter, early spring ~40min a day. You can read, work on your computer and so on while also doing the light therapy.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-goLITE-BLU-Therapy-Device/dp/B001I45XL8

>That's why pretty much everyone has to try a handful of drugs before finding the ones that work long-term.

Interestingly there was a study done with patients with chronic pain who were prescribed a number of pain killer medications. If the first one didn't work, they were given the second and so on. By the sixth drug all the patients had recovered, but the reality is that all of the drugs were placebos. The placebo effect can explain why it can sometimes takes several different psychiatric medications before the patient finds one that "works" for them.

You seem to have a strong belief that antidepressants do more good than harm. I do not agree but I doubt that arguing with you will do much good. Instead I will link to some resources you may be interesting in checking out for yourself. I hope that you can at least have an open mind and try and become informed of the other side of the argument especially if you are taking any of these drugs.

Here are some books I urge you to check out:

Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good

Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients

Anatomy of an Epidemic

The Emperor's New Drugs: Exploding the Antidepressant Myth

The Myth of the Chemical Cure

Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime: How big pharma has corrupted healthcare


You can also check out talks by most of the authors on youtube and various other places. Ben Goldacre has a couple of good TED talks. Also cepuk.org has some good info and videos as well.

I clicked through to ask you if you'd tried a light. That helped my depression soooo much. I use this one for about 20 minutes at noon.

I didn't check who wrote it, but this was the book someone linked to me which I promptly told them would be useless for me in what I turned into that post. Why would anyone pay $60 for what they can learn from the NAMI & DBSA websites and two months on reddit?