Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
"Internet usage was shown to vary between people who showed signs of depression and people who had no signs of depression. People who had symptoms of depression were more likely to use file-sharing programs and seemingly cruise around sites at random."
http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20120517/9915/depression-internet-usage.htm
My wife used to ask, "If you're depressed, how can you spend so much time on the computer?"
I think I was escaping from my pain, in a world where I could SOLVE the problems (publishing web sites).
Once I actually started making a living doing it, my desire to while away time diminished - until the advent of social media and networking. But much of that has become gamified - Klout, Empire Avenue, Q&A sites -
So maybe my recent increase in "personal" time online coincides with my recent depressive period?
http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20120517/9915/depression-internet-usage.htm
My wife used to ask, "If you're depressed, how can you spend so much time on the computer?"
I think I was escaping from my pain, in a world where I could SOLVE the problems (publishing web sites).
Once I actually started making a living doing it, my desire to while away time diminished - until the advent of social media and networking. But much of that has become gamified - Klout, Empire Avenue, Q&A sites -
So maybe my recent increase in "personal" time online coincides with my recent depressive period?
It's easy for people with depression to get addicted to online gaming and other social sites because there is minimum effort in interacting.
I know my depression is really bad when I don't want to get online because I no longer find joy in interacting!
Hope you feel better soon.
Glad you here, Welcome!
I agree that anyone that spends their free time online rather than living life, getting out, spending time with family, ect.... probably needs to re evaluate their priorities and ask themselves if they are depressed or not....
It turns out , your depression was very productive for you though....
But I was also talking about how things are so bad for me right now (not because I'm depressed) I cannot go to the usual "social" things I like: DBSA, and this morning I was going to go to religious services and my wife, who is having a (non-psychiatric) medical crisis begged me to not leave her alone.
So online is not INSTEAD of socializing, but it is helping me tonight feel more connected inside my trap.
Tuesday I will be back at work, I like work Hopefully I will be able to resolve my wife's crisis by then too.
I'm hardly surprised that I am addicted to it.
I have always been hooked on 'entertainment'!!! Books, TV, movies, plays, any type of storytelling!!!
Take it one step further and and whaddya know!!!!!?
Every free moment I had was spent on 8-bit Nintendo games!!!! And every time a new kind of console came out, I moved on to that one!!
Now I have about 10 game systems and hundreds of games.
And I can't play any of them. (Thanks a lot, Bipolar Disorder!!!)
Something about being on the computer engages my mind in a way that I can no longer accomplish elsewhere.
My brain still half-works here. And only here.
It's hard not to turn to it as much as I can.
Using my brain was always my most favorite thing in life.
I miss the ability.