benefits of bi-polar...

[isaiah5213]

this is a thread to ask you guys what benefits you see in your "disorder"...

i ask this because in my opinion, people like to be around me when i am UP. they like how shy i am not. how spontaneous & compulsive i get. years ago, men used to like how sexual i was (yuck.. that is a horrible thing but we move on...)

i seem more productive. the house's closets even get cleaned. i will be up for days, and the garage will get organized... once a month, it seems. the whole yard gets re-landscaped in a day. once my husband had to dig a hole in the front yard so he could find a leak, and he got up from 8 hours of sleep, and i had filled in that huge hole... the yard looked good as new!

the kids love how fast i can drive. (they have stories... ) the kids love some of the "adventures" we have been on...

etc etc etc... anyone else??

there are more...

 

[tiredmom]

Not me! I do have those kind of "up" days, once in a blue moon, but they usually precipitate some awful hypomania or panic attack, in which I proceed to get myself in some sort of fix. But when those times occur, and they are manageable, I do tend to tackle stuff that really has needed done for a long time. and it usually comes out pretty good! And then, the fall....

Like today. We've been neding to get our horse corral built for ...oh, about 6 months?? But my husband the perfectionist wouldn't let ANYBODY else help, because everything has to be done to his standards and satisfaction. so, this weekend, we finally got 10 poles set, the whole south/front side of the corral. This means we got a 1/4 of it started. Yay! and today, feeling more "up" than I did yesterday (thank God!), I was a posthole diggin' post-settin' machine. I helped quite a bit, mixing cement, makin' sandwiches, redigging holes...I was an asset today instead of a liability.

See, my predominant bi-polar symptom tends to be debilitating depressive episodes. I had a short one yesterday. Thankfully, it didn't extend itself like they used to do. I guess the medication is helping after all! I think my cycling is getting shorter, and farther between episodes. I think that will be nice for a change, and make life more manageable.

But I ramble! When I am "up", I get wordy too! Gotta go...


~~Laurie

 

[s_gunter]

Oh, everyone loves it when I'm on my up side. I can get so much work done without getting tired. And they know I'll do it for them because I get bored so easily. I cannot count the thousands of dollars I've saved my entire family since they let me do it for them.

 

[Jeshu]

When I'm in my manic cycle I don't really do anything to write home about. In everything I become overdone which is generally not a positive thing.
I can do some work again and leave home to interact with people once more both can be a positive as well as a negative, it all depends on how manic I am.

 

[vibrant]

you get extra creative and optimistic in your skills.

 

[Alive again]

My benefits really are from being more understanding of others because of what I struggle with. This illness is not only a physical struggle, but it has taken me to the edge of poverty when I was unable to work and to the edge of exhaustion and depression and the brink of , it has messed with my thinking, emotionally it has challenge my self image and my marriage, and it has deppened my faith. Because of my struggles and working to resolve these things, I have learned many things about others struggles and am able to stand beside them and even sometimes help them. God has used this to create a very tender and sensitive heart, the gift of helps and the ability to touch other people's lives where they hurt. And thru all that, God has strengthened my faith and provided me with dear friends who will be there for me as well.

 

[mikeforjesus]

I dont wanna be rude but I searched in google for something like Bipolar Disorder Coptic Orthodox and then Bipolar Disorder Orthodox Church .... I dont read about a single person who is orthodox with it...... I did this because im coptic orthodox... and I suffered and still do kinda suffer from depression I think and maybe I have bipolar II

I dont want to be rude but I think possibly because we are baptised and annointed with oil to receive Holy Spirit.... but overall I dont think so... I dont think bipolar is very spiritual sometimes because when you have the high isnt it a good thing and you have more energy to do Gods will ? but the lows are a problem... plz help me find a coptic who is bipolar ...

 

[Zita123]

My kids love when I am at my high, we all do crazy things together. But, I think that the one really great thing about this is..GOD gave us special hearts. we all have emotions so deep that I take it as a gift from GOD. We all love so much more , feel so much more as long as we put it into good we ok.

Zita

this is a thread to ask you guys what benefits you see in your "disorder"...

i ask this because in my opinion, people like to be around me when i am UP. they like how shy i am not. how spontaneous & compulsive i get. years ago, men used to like how sexual i was (yuck.. that is a horrible thing but we move on...)

i seem more productive. the house's closets even get cleaned. i will be up for days, and the garage will get organized... once a month, it seems. the whole yard gets re-landscaped in a day. once my husband had to dig a hole in the front yard so he could find a leak, and he got up from 8 hours of sleep, and i had filled in that huge hole... the yard looked good as new!

the kids love how fast i can drive. (they have stories... ) the kids love some of the "adventures" we have been on...

etc etc etc... anyone else??

there are more...

 

[vpbrett]

The benifits of a manic state are akin to the benifits of taking amphetamines and just as temporary and artificial. Whatever we experiences in these states are not the real us however much we may wish they were. I've been diagnosed bi-polar for 18 years and am now in complete remission. Don't play around! See you doctor and take your medication.

 

[isaiah5213]

The benifits of a manic state are akin to the benifits of taking amphetamines and just as temporary and artificial. Whatever we experiences in these states are not the real us however much we may wish they were. I've been diagnosed bi-polar for 18 years and am now in complete remission. Don't play around! See you doctor and take your medication.

this certainly is not a thread to even hint or entertain the idea that it is not okay to continue medications prescribed by the doctor--or to vary in any way, shape, or form from what the doctors order us to do to maintain ANY level of stability.

i profusely apologize if you thought that my intention. this thread is only/merely to be a grateful thread. the benefits--just as in "the hiding place" corrie ten boom (or her sister) thanked God every day for the fleas. because without those fleas, the guards would not have stayed away from them. if they guards would not have stayed away from them, then they would not have been as able to share and profess their faith, nor to read the Bible.

and this is meant only to be that sort of thread. a thread where the results of our chemical imbalances and our actions are extremely painful for us--and unbearable to some of us, because of how much it has hurt other people as well as ourselves--and many of us have felt helpless and been helpless to be able to fix the problem--let alone know what the problem was, and where to start, and who to believe, and who to go to for it...

this is just a thread to show the joy in the morning. that's it. again, i profusely apologize if i have stated, mentioned, given ANY idea whatsoever that this was a mere triviolity, and others didn't have the right to feel the pain of our difficulty.

 

[isaiah5213]

The benifits of a manic state are akin to the benifits of taking amphetamines and just as temporary and artificial. Whatever we experiences in these states are not the real us however much we may wish they were. I've been diagnosed bi-polar for 18 years and am now in complete remission. Don't play around! See you doctor and take your medication.

and as a note, some of us have not had as successful of a time as you have... especially children. a psychiatrist recently--today, in fact--explained to me that our bodies grow and change all the time. this chemical imbalance will take medications for awhile.. but then the body builds up an immune system. and the body functions as it did since birth, in spite of the medication to fix it. so the docs have to up the strength, change the meds altogether, switch back and forth back and forth to most bipolar patients. it is a long arduous process, till one day, the brain just is... normal all the time. and sometimes to some people, (75-85 percent) that never happens.

a close friend of mine got the exact same explanation when it came to her epilepsy. and there is nothing we can do but stick it out, and be consistant.
and some of us, no matter how hard we pray, cry, go over and over to the doctor, still are not at the level of "normal" people. we still get our depression. we still get our manic stages.

frankly, i am jealous that you don't have your ups and downs anymore. but i am also hurt because when i read your post i thought you assumed that because we talk about the benefits of our mania, then we are not doing the best we can, or working at all towards some semblance of normalcy not just for us, but for our families... did i misunderstand?? if i did, please forgive me. i apologize.

 

[MaryBurwell]

I think my "bipolar" comes as a result of all the many different htings in the world that don't work together. For instance, i know many different people but so many of these people don't like the other people I know and won't give them a chance- even though they have never met. I feel like the world pulls me in so many directions because of all the different beliefs and lifestyles I am exposed to. I usually love everyone and am not very judgmental of people or critical so I like to understand and sympathize and communicate with people so I kind of take on their personalities and I think this is asymptom of my bipolar- or a cause. I think the "bipolar" comes from all the craziness of all the different opinions I am around everyday and I think my bipolar is really just my unwillingness to disconnect myself from all the different viewpoints and lifestyles because I like to find the good in all of them. I think i have made alot of friends as a result of my bipolar because it makes me where I am not self-conscious at all so I just talk about whatever i find interesting or exciting which is almost everything. I think my bipolar makes it easy for people to approach me because they see that I am kind of "crazy" so they aren't worried about what i will think of them and they can sense that I won't judge them just because i am so open about everything on my mind.

 

[ddbagley]

I find that I have become much more compasionate. I used to think that if I did everything "right" life would be pretty smooth. I was critical of parents who couldn't control there kids in public. People who just couldn't get it together. Now, I'm one of those people and lots of the time I just can't keep everything together, the kids, their school work, the home. Most people who know me don't know of my illlness or my kids, although we look good on the outside there is often caos all around. I would have been very critical of me years ago. I think I can empathize with just about anyone now.

 

[rushingwind62]

this is a thread to ask you guys what benefits you see in your "disorder"...

i ask this because in my opinion, people like to be around me when i am UP. they like how shy i am not. how spontaneous & compulsive i get. years ago, men used to like how sexual i was (yuck.. that is a horrible thing but we move on...)

i seem more productive. the house's closets even get cleaned. i will be up for days, and the garage will get organized... once a month, it seems. the whole yard gets re-landscaped in a day. once my husband had to dig a hole in the front yard so he could find a leak, and he got up from 8 hours of sleep, and i had filled in that huge hole... the yard looked good as new!

the kids love how fast i can drive. (they have stories... ) the kids love some of the "adventures" we have been on...

etc etc etc... anyone else??

there are more...

I don't find any benefits to being bi polar. It is very frustrating for me because it messes with my memory, my comprehension when reading, and gives me a lack of concentration. I use to be able to do many things at once but now I cannot concentrate on more that one thing at a time. In essence it keeps me from moving on in my life...I would love to go to school but since I cannot retain what I read that is an impossiblitiy. It also cause me to break down at any stress that comes into my life and that is very frustrating. I am on disability but do not want to be on it. But because of how the disorder effects me and ll the other disorders that go with it, I realize I may be on disability the rest of my life. Meds do help a lot but I am a rapid cycler and go through major ups and downs. I have been diagnoised for 3 years and have tried many meds....what I am on helps me more than any I have been on...Hopefully one day the Lord will help me and allow me to move on....I am also still in counseling.....Rob

 

[PorcelainHeart]

I haven't found any benefits to being bi-polor I find it a hard thing to deal with. I really hate it when I feel very restless and tried to break things because I'm bored. I'm new to the disorder and really don't understand it.

 

[mikeforjesus]

okay I found an orthodox christian with bipolar I think
http://ragamuffindiva.blogspot.com/2005/06/pentecost-2005.html
so maybe u can ignore my other post.

 

[RedTulipMom]

I haven't found any benefits to being bi-polor I find it a hard thing to deal with. I really hate it when I feel very restless and tried to break things because I'm bored. I'm new to the disorder and really don't understand it.

hmmm..ok..that just hit home. my 17 yr old son is bipolar. tonight he was banging his elbows on the ground cuz he was "bored"..he gets bored EASILY

 

[clayharryman]

Benefits -- rarely, I'm more creative.

But most of the time when I'm up, I rage. And then I feed it 'cuz it feels so good. And I lash out at people verbally to get them stirred up so I can feed it. And when you lash out at a cop, even verbally... well, you get sent to see a psychiatrist.

The benefits of being manic are few and far between.

 

[isaiah5213]

I don't find any benefits to being bi polar. It is very frustrating for me because it messes with my memory, my comprehension when reading, and gives me a lack of concentration. I use to be able to do many things at once but now I cannot concentrate on more that one thing at a time. In essence it keeps me from moving on in my life...I would love to go to school but since I cannot retain what I read that is an impossiblitiy. It also cause me to break down at any stress that comes into my life and that is very frustrating. I am on disability but do not want to be on it. But because of how the disorder effects me and ll the other disorders that go with it, I realize I may be on disability the rest of my life. Meds do help a lot but I am a rapid cycler and go through major ups and downs. I have been diagnoised for 3 years and have tried many meds....what I am on helps me more than any I have been on...Hopefully one day the Lord will help me and allow me to move on....I am also still in counseling.....Rob

i am praying for you and your heart. i know these days are frustrating. it's especially hard at seeing the aggravation of those we love--at us. it's hard because what we want to do, we don't. what we want to acheive, it seems we can't. we see where we want to go, but we can't get there, and it seems that everyone else around us appears to just be reaching out and grabbing it with no problems. our depression seems like mud that we can't get out of, and our highs seem like levitation and/or that that we can't control...

(well, for some of us anyway... bi-polar comes in many different forms....)

the point is: that romans 7:14-25 is where many of us get stuck at--and that's okay because it puts us that much closer to God. it gives us an intimacy that maybe one who has it "easy" doesn't have, or understand.

can that maybe, be a good thing?

 

[isaiah5213]

okay I found an orthodox christian with bipolar I think
http://ragamuffindiva.blogspot.com/2005/06/pentecost-2005.html
so maybe u can ignore my other post.

good. i am glad you found what you were looking for.

i guess i am weird that way... i think it is pure ignorance for anyone to announce that if one is bipolar, than they are full of evil spirits.... i don't think it helps at all, but rather damages--i think it is just as damaging as looking at a person who has cancer and telling them that if they had been right w/God, they would never have gotten the cancer... or looking at someone who was born blind, and telling them they are blind because of the sins of their parents, and they have to kick hiney in their life to not only atone for their own sins, but they are responsible for the sins of the parents too....

both examples i used when i started my point with: i think it is just as damaging as.... are scriptural, and were ideals pointed out to be very wrong, and very hurtful to those affected in the Bible.....