hi Jan! As you know, I am Mark. I live in Southern California..
We're in the middle of fire season - that Fall here goes from extra heat and blazes to Rainy season around November/December.
I've been struggling a bit - but trying to remember how to handle things rather than lose site of those things that help me take care.. I think the pandemic and current politics is so much affecting all of us...and for me gratitude and moving forward one step after another is encouraging and motivating me
to keep on keeping on.
Life is good..a lot to be grateful for. Very much for our community here at DS.org... :)
pax,
Mark

Big hug Marky.... It is so awful to see the fires on the news everyday.... You and your beloved home are in my prayers

I am so grateful for our community as well.....xo

Hi Jan! Im Audrey and im from Columbia MO. Its really fally here and the weather is nice.
Ive been struggling a lot with my new job and my boss as you know. My anxiety has been horrible but I am working to control it with meditation and grounding techniques. I have a lot of support at home, from my mom and here of course. I love this group!

Hi everyone! My name is Becky and I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We have had a nice fall so far, but the temperatures are turning a bit cold now. Winter will be here before you know it. I work at Target as a cashier and work self check outs most of the time, which I like best. I'm doing good, and like Mark said, life is good.

Big hug Audrey.... I always think of you as diva though.....smile... I'm so sorry you're struggling with work.... That sux.... I hope that you have a peaceful eve....xo

Big hug Heather..... I can only imagine twin 2 year old's with a broken ankle would be busy!!!

I am so very glad that you're healing from Covid sweetie... I've heard it can take quite some time.... Another hug and a blessing....xo

It's nice to see ya Becky..... It's getting cooler here to but nice.... I like the more moderate weather the best

It's really nice to read that life it good..... Big hug sweetie....xo

I’m in the Midwest of the USA.
I’m doing well. The hypomania is gone, depression and anxiety are absent.

Hello everyone, my name is Maria, and I'm a retired teacher living in So. Cal. My beloved father passed away in April, so I'm figuring out what my new normal is. Like most of you, I have good days and not-so-good days. Very grateful for this website.

I'm sorry I don't feel comfortable putting my real name online, even if it's just the 1st name. So I'm Maui. I live about 1+ hours from Vancouver, Canada. Its fall here and the temperature is finally dropping, but a bit too quickly for my taste :-). I always have problems in the fall and winter seasonal effects and depression. I usually just use light therapy, but that's not enough this year. So I am now on lamotrigine and gradually increasing the dose (62.5 mg now and will be 75 mg this Friday!). It is starting to help, but I had to reduce the amount of light therapy because the combination was causing me to become hypomanic in the afternoon and evening and depressed in the morning. I guess that's what you call rapid cycling. Now that I found a new good level of reduced light therapy, I more stable. I also had a good physiotherapy session today which I'm very grateful for. I'm very grateful for my wonderful husband and my great friendly pet rats! Today, I accidentally texted my family doctor's office and asked them to please get my rat laundry, but I was supposed to send it to my husband LOL. I love the support we get from this site as well as the information and education and suggestions. If it wasn't for this site, I may never have gone on mood stabilizers and therefore never have achieved this level of mental stability. Thanks to you all!

Hi, Jan :)
I'm ML, live in CT. The cooler mornings are here, I've had my heat on to bring house temp up to 64 degrees!...I Refuse to turn it up higher :) The fall colors are beginning to color Everywhere....I love driving on I95...trees look like gum drops of gold, red, orange and some still a bit green.

Yes Life Is Challenging, our world/Country....still every day finding 'little things' helps me to keep going. Along with many, I also work on gratitude to keep me grounded in what Is Real. My bp symptoms are at bay at the moment, over the winter months I have to work hard to keep my head above ground and not go into my "worm hole"...this winter I'm going to be focusing on house projects....crafting, cooking, sewing and what ever else makes me feel good.

Hi all! I’m also not comfortable posting names and places in public, just in small groups. It’s just a mental health practice of mine in all the support groups and hospitalization experiences I’ve had, BUT! I‘m in the Midwest in an urban environment. I love the group here and the support we create for one another here! The fall weather is upon us....

I’m feeling ok. Not great, but not in distress. Work keeps me both very busy which I’m glad to have a focus right now, but also very frustrated because of many factors....

Confession: I have been escaping watching old episodes of Antiques Roadshow. Don’t know why. Also, I just saw a commercial for McDonalds’ new J Balvin meal they are offering and I kind of want to get one even though I’m not usually a Macdo customer. Does that mean they used Jedi marketing tricks on my brain to lure me? Haha. Psychology!!!! It’s everywhere!!!!

It's great that you're doing well kisses.... That's nice to hear....xo.... Big hug sweetie...xo


Yes triple digits sound like they'd be hard to tolerate for sure Pema..... I hope that you have some nice air conditioning and cool drinks..... Big cool hug

Welcome AforEffort..... Great name!!....... I am so sorry that you've lost your beloved father

Are you bipolar sweetie?... DS is a good place to come.... big hug....xo

Big hug Maui.... .DS is set up to be anonymous so no apologies for that!!..... It's great that the Lamictal along with light therapy has helped sweetie.... That's great

I really liked this med as well..... Good news!!...xo