I found help through mental health practitioners. Psychiatrist and therapist. It’s worked for me.

I'm going to look that movie up, sounds interesting.

I also do well when sharing/venting/trusting friends with like minds, crazy/bipolar/moody - whatever we call it this week!

There's a big difference between being BiPolar as opposed to having Trichotillomania, which is generally an Anxiety Disorder or sometimes occurs from UniPolar Depression.

You don't mention being BiPolar.

We don't consider our symptoms *crazy*, Manic Episodes and Severe, often Suicidal Depression are symptoms of a Chemical Imbalance in the brain that causes a severe Mental Illness, which requires Mental Healthcare by a Psychiatrist for medication and various Therapies to learn coping skills to manage and reach a stable point.

Unfortunately supplements and holistic treatments don't do much for treating BiPolar Disorder.

Edited as I see you joined the bipolar board and posted once back in 2015, but it seems you only possibly had one episode in the past and that could be attributed to something else?

Short comment in my role as one of the Community Leaders here.

We've lost good friends to this idea of seeking an alternative to proper medical care. You are pushing a very dangerous line. Don't encourage in any way, people to go off their meds. People have died because of that.

We do see people proposing the med free life. It usually ends very badly for them or it turns out they were never bipolar in the first place.

In over 12 years on this board, plus specifically asking people, I've found two or three people who have been med free and stable(ish) for a decent period of time. In that time I've met hundreds if not thousands that have needed to remain on meds.


...there is a whole meme of "we are not ill, we are special" around which seems to promote the idea that we shouldn't take meds often citing shamans etc.

My understanding is that the main method used "shamans", "witch doctors", voddo priests etc and such by these people is benign psychological manipulation, together with a knowledge of local herbs etc. Having bipolar would be a hinderance to them and they take psychedelics where and when they need to put on a "show".

2nd that....

Shaman don't take psychedelics where and when they need to put on a "show". Too much Hollywood BS right there from someone who has never met a shaman.

sorry I probably put that in a clumsy way, and I did put the caveat of "my understanding"..but I still stand by the much more important point about leading people away from meds and the problems we have had on DS.

I would also say..you have no idea who I have or haven't met...but let's leave it at that.

True. Sorry. Hit a nerve.

I do not want to encourage anyone to go off their meds. My first episode, I was 21 and was close to graduating college. I spent 1 month at John's Hopkins and then ended up losing my first professional job after 6 months in day hospital there.

I took Depakote, benazapril, and 4 other medicines. I gained 70 lbs in a year and spent 3 years building myself back up before my second episode where I was hospitalized again.

The reason I got off medicine eas because I got pregnant and the medicines cause severe harm to the fetus. I did rebound but again had the help of a psychiatrist and therapist. I still see both. I see my therapist more often than my psychiatrist.

I also want to add that in addition to trich, I've been diagnosed with adult add, which I found often accompanies bipolar disorder. I'm too old to know about BP memes and am not caught up on Hollywood. I'm glad there is a platform where people can share information. I got back on to support a friend. Apologies if I offended anyone.

Going off my meds without help led to my second hospitalization at Washington Hospital Center. I was frustrated with the price after I lost my job and couldn't afford the cobra insurance and then the meds which were above $500 a month at the time. I left the hospital after a 3 week stay and then joined a study to test a drug (that was horrible). That was in 2005. I lived with family for two years, while picking up the pieces of my life before moving out. As previously stated, I do filter my thinking through family/ friends. The therapist is expensive and not always available. I have been diagnosed as bipolar manic.

Welcome Skippy..... This is a good group of folks....I'm glad that you've found us.... As fish wrote we have lost a few great people from here and it's been tough

DS is a good site.... Big hug....xo