New newsletter to be launched this week... Bitesize by email
Mood swings?
• Have you ever been depressed (had a low mood for days on end)?
• Had high moods with perhaps so many great ideas that you cannot sleep?
Recovery
Research has shown that mental health recovery means something different for every person we meet.
For many the first step is recognising that you have something to recover from.
For most getting into recovery means staying `in recovery' for the rest of our/their lives.
I have found that with bipolar disorder the initial recovery phase - getting back on your feet, is quite different from the later `in-recovery' time when it is more about building resilience by learning from our peers or mentors and determining our unique needs to stay well.
How well do people recover from bipolar?
Many traditional health professionals say bipolar is kind of degenerative, with increasing risks of episodes and shorten life expectancy. At the other extreme people who have been diagnosed and made appropriate life style changes are thriving in their new lives and even claiming to have learned so much through their experiences of highs and lows that they put much of their success down to having been through the disorder and come out the other side.
Recovery depends on many things, one of which is education. Roger is offering courses that increase the likelihood of great recoveries. See Bipolar courses
News from Stop Paddling
The Stop Paddling web site was intended to be a source of information for people in recovery from mood disorder. This started well, but then the reality of running a business hit home and pages that were to updated weekly/monthly.. just weren't.
The News pages are now in the process of being simplified with less text whilst keeping links to key articles and trusted sites.
The following is about the book that my business is named after
Book Description on Amazon:
Stop Paddling/Start Sailing is an amazing book. The concept was born
out of a period of hypomania when the author, unable to sleep, imagined a
very different way of looking at his life and life in general.
These imaginings give rise to the central theme of a journey on the river of life. The main story is overlaid on the fantasy journey, bringing real people and events in, to tell of times spent in and out of psychiatric wards.
He makes no attempt to write an autobiography detailing each and every high
and low – mania and depression. He instead focuses on 3 of the episodes
that landed him in hospital during the year before and after his diagnosis.
You may be surprised to hear the author say that being diagnosed Manic Depressive
or as he now refers to himself, a Bipolar Person, was one of the best days
of his life. He says this because, after two decades of no-one being able
to put a name to his psychological problems he could at last focused on understanding
and self-managing the disorder.
This book has been described as a gentle introduction to bipolar disorder.
It goes some way beyond this as it also gently introduces the idea of using
memetics (a bit like genetics but relating to thoughts) as a tool that can
be used alongside other self management techniques. This is a big step away
from the wisdom of a few years ago when psychiatrists would tell patients
it was all about finding the right combination of drugs.
It is suggested that memetics can dispel thoughts & feelings such as,
"it all depends on me" and the other extreme "I can't do anything
about it" and thus be one more idea for reducing the likelihood of future
mood swings.
There is a brief mention of self management training from MDF the Bipolar
Organisation for which the author continues to be grateful.
This is a book designed to be read more than once, passed around friends,
perhaps relatives and health professionals who may benefit from seeing bipolar
from the survivors’ perspective.
Bookstore
Some notes:
> Stop Paddling works with bipolar people who want to understand and overcome stress.
> Bipolar Disorder is also known as Manic Depression.
> Bipolar is sometimes written as bi-polar, Bi-Polar, BP or MD
> The term bipolar spectrum is increasingly being used to describe people experiencing mood swings (up and down) but not having been diagnosed.
> hypomanic = a little below manic
> Stop Paddling may be referred
to as the Bipolar Recovery Consultancy or the Bipolar Stress Consultancy.
> All content of the Stop Paddling web sites is provided for your information. It may be used in conjunction with medical advice of your own doctor or other health care professionals. It must not be used instead of medical advice of your own doctor or other health care professionals.
> Always take medication exactly as prescribed.
See Bipolar courses
© 2009 Roger Smith Stop Paddling ©
July 24, 2009