Thanks for this great hope filled post Tiffany!

Thanks for the websites too.

Good news is infectious!

Glad to hear that you're doing better, Tiffany! Thanks for sharing the web sites. I'd never heard of alison.com. By the way, I'm on Lamictal and buspirone too, and it's been a great combination for me. Hope you continue to do well (please keep us posted)!

Love it when people have good news to share. Thanks for such a positive post. I'll be sure to look up the allison website. Great ideas!

The Alison site sounds like a good one to me, too. It is really good to hear of the good news. Super!

Thank you. I have been meditating and refraining from all negative thinking. I focus thoroughly on my irrational fears and have learned to enshroud them with problem solving.

That really is the key. If you want out you must seek to nip the problems, fears and anxieties right at the core. I have decided that I WILL NOT fall into the desolate pit of nevers and hopelessness.

I have to admit, it is disheartening when you read such bad news on here consistently...but I GET IT. I was there. But sometime during our bouts with bipolarity, we must make a VALID DECISION that we will not let the negativity consume and guide us upon the inevitable paths of further loss and grief.

I am in a realistic state of mind--no hypomania. Although I may appear to be overly optimistic, I have to state with whole heart---it is real and it is a choice to cognitively impair the gross negligence of our thoughts, Strive toward positive and productive good mental health. I CHOOSE to remain hopeful even when it seems impossible. I ignore the voice which leads me to stagnation and self-hate.

I promise that hope is possible and real. Try the tenets of 12 step programs. In many ways, being bipolar is an addiction to our very own brain chemistries. With our self-medicating and harbouring upon the bad, we become all too familiar with that which PROMISES to destruct our very well-being.

Please choose and let go...fake it until you make it. Neuroplasticity is REAl. We can reprogram with our very own versions of CBT. I assure you...THIS IS DOABLE--although not easy in your initial baby steps. BELIEVE, DREAM, CREATE your very own positive universe which WILL envelope you within a shroud of can-dos and shall-dos.

Please do not give up on yourselves. I love you.

Tiffany

I never thought it possible either. Beat it with self-knowledge and awareness...be conscious of that which runs your spirit down.

Thanks T for a very nice read of your clear thinking as a result of what has obviously been an interesting thing for you to explore... positive psychology, CBT and neuroplasticity all sound like they have had rewards for you, especially at the moment. Good news. Which type of therapy did you learn about, go through or explore first, if you don't mind me asking?

Hi Moobbust! Thanks for the questions...that helps me to maintain interest and motivation! I need that all-too-often, really...but, it works for me! I thrive off feedback..I think we all mostly do. I need the extra stimulation though. (pains me a bit)

I learned CBT over 20 years ago, but have not fully utilized the "thought-replacement-therapy" until recently. I try to stay in the moment as much as possible and as negative thoughts enter my mind, i attempt to trace the origins...then I follow up with meditations specific to the need. For instance, I will listen to you-tube meditations catering to overcoming fears, phobias and anxieties. I do not allow myself to fall into the pit of the past, nor dreading of the future, rather, i focus upon exorcising the negative, fear-executing thoughts altogether. I am learning to stay peaceful and calm, which allows me to problem solve before I let emotions send me into fight or flight---generally, i fly!

I play memory games (and others) on lumosity.com, daily. I have downloaded several vocabulary learning apps onto my phone, also. I have also invested in learning Greek and Latin root words to catalyze the whole learning process. I am also trying to catch back up on my math skills (I left off at finishing Calculus III...lol...in 1994!) Hence, LOTS TO RELEARN. The goal is to get back into school and finish up my bachelors degree and then move onto my masters...thus, I am simultaneously studying for my GRE.

LOL! It sounds like I lot, but what I am doing is working my brain AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE....the neuroplasticity at work. I can feel connections spreading rapidly. This helps to fuel the regrowth of neurotransmitters which I had deadened with taking stimulants (adderall) for over 7 years (prescribed, but BAD!)

Anyhow, I will write later. I am just here to say that it gets easier daily and you really have to work hard to exercise your brain...you can whip it into better shape than ever before!

Thanks for caring...sorry if it sounded lofty or boastful..i have come a long way and I earned it...hard work..

Tiffany

I don't think it sounded lofty or boastful, despite being a lofty achievement you have done and are attempting. Clearly you share a love of learning with me which I find cool, I love being curious about certain things... mostly all the different ways people find to cope. I have had very poor english comprehension (slow reader) and memory recall since young so for me a bachelor's degree is a pipe dream I am having one last look at trying to complete before I am 60. I wish you all the good luck in the world! Well maybe I'll save a little bit for me :-)