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.
Its common for people with bipolar disorder to feel isolated. Isolation comes from the person with bipolar choosing to isolate themselves and those around them walking away and forcing isolation on them.
So I commonly tell people with bipolar disorder to reach out.
Its important to reach out to people who will be supportive because these people do exist. And its important to reach out to professionals and support groups so you dont feel so alone with, what is undoubtedly, a very scary diagnosis.
But even when a person takes that advice, even when a person gets it all together, even when a person with bipolar does find supports, its still lonely.
And I think its because, in the end, its just you and your bipolar disorder. In the dark of night, when youre home alone, flipping through channels on the TV set, its just your bipolar keeping your company. Its because after all those supportive people go home and the support groups are over, theres still just you alone with your bipolar disorder.
And this is a very lonely place to be.
It feels like youre battling a powerful foe, alone. Of course, there are psychiatrists, therapists and other supports helping you, but they arent there 24 hours a day only you are. They arent there when you wake up in the middle of the night having a panic attack. They arent there when the mania starts to come on and you lose control of your judgement. They arent there when the feelings of suicidality are unbearable.
Arent We All Alone?
And its true, everyone is alone with themselves every day. The difference is, when you have bipolar disorder, you have a constant voice in your head trying to kill you. Youre not just alone with your thoughts youre alone with disordered, and yes, crazy, bipolar thoughts. You arent just scared of what the monster under the bed will do to you; youre scared of what an illness might actually make you do to yourself.
Loneliness and Bipolar
I find this aspect of bipolar making me extremely lonely. No matter how much I explain to people and try to make them understand they dont get the unending battle. They dont get the 24/7 nature of it. They just dont get what its like to have a loud, unending, relentless, torturous voice in your head all the time. They dont understand that there are no breaks. They dont understand that mental illness doesnt relent. They dont understand how much I have to be on guard.
The only thing to do, I think, is to step back and try to remember all those people who will be there, tomorrow. Theyre not there right now, but they will be,
So I commonly tell people with bipolar disorder to reach out.
Its important to reach out to people who will be supportive because these people do exist. And its important to reach out to professionals and support groups so you dont feel so alone with, what is undoubtedly, a very scary diagnosis.
But even when a person takes that advice, even when a person gets it all together, even when a person with bipolar does find supports, its still lonely.
And I think its because, in the end, its just you and your bipolar disorder. In the dark of night, when youre home alone, flipping through channels on the TV set, its just your bipolar keeping your company. Its because after all those supportive people go home and the support groups are over, theres still just you alone with your bipolar disorder.
And this is a very lonely place to be.
It feels like youre battling a powerful foe, alone. Of course, there are psychiatrists, therapists and other supports helping you, but they arent there 24 hours a day only you are. They arent there when you wake up in the middle of the night having a panic attack. They arent there when the mania starts to come on and you lose control of your judgement. They arent there when the feelings of suicidality are unbearable.
Arent We All Alone?
And its true, everyone is alone with themselves every day. The difference is, when you have bipolar disorder, you have a constant voice in your head trying to kill you. Youre not just alone with your thoughts youre alone with disordered, and yes, crazy, bipolar thoughts. You arent just scared of what the monster under the bed will do to you; youre scared of what an illness might actually make you do to yourself.
Loneliness and Bipolar
I find this aspect of bipolar making me extremely lonely. No matter how much I explain to people and try to make them understand they dont get the unending battle. They dont get the 24/7 nature of it. They just dont get what its like to have a loud, unending, relentless, torturous voice in your head all the time. They dont understand that there are no breaks. They dont understand that mental illness doesnt relent. They dont understand how much I have to be on guard.
The only thing to do, I think, is to step back and try to remember all those people who will be there, tomorrow. Theyre not there right now, but they will be,
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Well, good morning to you!Today is National Roller Coaster Day. Are any of you going?It's also National Tell-A-Joke Day! Come up with some and share!I'm not bright with jokes these days, but I'll start:"Today I ordered a chicken and an egg from Amazon...I'll let you know." :D
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Woke up feeling very emotional and about to clock in at my place of employment. And can't place it all in writing but not been a good experience with my store manager or his boss. Defamation of my character is a concern. I've been losing appetite and weight. Trying to perform at work to keep myself from hospitalization as a result of toxic masculinity.
There are non-BP people who isolate or feel lonely. What will you say to them? For myself, an infected tooth or a sprained wrist gets as much attention as my BP. Why not? BP is only
one facet of my life, not a Shakespearean tragedy.
Feeling hopeless, sad, or empty.
Irritability
Inability to experience pleasure
Fatigue or loss of energy
Physical and mental sluggishness
Appetite or weight changes
Sleep problems
Concentration and memory problems
Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
Thoughts of death or suicide
And some of us have mixed mode bipolar. You can have treatment for mixed mode BiPolar and it not be 100% effective. Most people that have mixed mode also have bipolar hallucinations. Every wake up and find you cannot depend on information your mind is providing you? A person that has Bipolar 2 vs a person with Mixed Mode Bipolar 1 is not the same.
I look forward to a time in my life when I can be like tommy and consider bp only one facet of my life. Right now it is bigger than that, but I do have hope. I would say it is less of a tragedy now and more of a drama ;).
I don't think everyone is so lucky to just have the illness be one aspect of life...some deal with much difficulty more than others. I know sometimes in support groups I don't always identify with certain aspects and I have felt isolated even among BP peers. At the moment, I don't really have close friends whom I can talk to and so I've learned to live with that isolation. I get plenty of human interaction at my job but still feel isolated at the end of each day. C'est la vie I guess.
My loneliness comes from being around people. Family who dismiss me as "all in her head" and think they know what is best for me, they make me feel crazy and alone. I isolate because I like it inside me. There is always a party going on in my head and if they act right I let my husband and my dog join me.
You are very lucky to have people who will be there for you tomorrow. Lucky that you look forward to that. I hope you will think about a pet - a shweet little puppy that will love you to death.
You can find that place of stability and grow your life in a positive way. Turn your mind by accepting the truth, (no you don't have to like it-itis okay), and then purposefully working toward a better future.
Certainly I've had some of these feelings when in a depression however unless I'm in a state of illness I don't have these feelings..
I think a cognitive type of therapy could probably help with some of these symptoms
I know I, as a bipolar, tend to "overthink" things like this, to turn inward and self-analyze while missing the importance of the Big Picture - something I am working on! lol
Yes, ((((((((HUGS)))))))))) to you and Hopes that you will feel a Part of things; most of us don't, at any given time, but I am More than sure it's the Illness, much more than anything we are actually Experiencing with others.
(Personally, I am convinced that Others have Just as much trouble communicating or connecting with other people in the Normal world, but they are Clueless so it doesn't Matter!) (Ignorance is bliss, for some)
MA :/
If you aren't an introvert, I hope you can find your way reach out to people who will leave you feeling full and content inside, who will understand you, so you won't quite feel so alone.