Could we have a support thread for those who have manic depressive illness / bipolar disorder?

[electra]

I don't see it talked about much here but it is quite common - I can't believe there are not other Mners who have it? Even if you name change it would help to hear how you manage your lives with it, etc.

I take medication, having had times where I didn't want to /self-medicated with alcohol etc....I find that it helps but I do still have relapses and after dd3 was born had to go into hospital for a month because sleep disrupted nights and stress with family made me get unwell.

All in all I find it exhausting to live with as well as frustrating.

sorry mummylin of course i'm being thick, when i think of choir - i think of hym's

is there anywhere round you where there is an animal sanctuary you could help in ? or a pet shop or maybe you could advrtise and do dog walking ?? that would serve two purposes ,get you out and the dogs too!

what about an evening class at your local college ,most of them do free courses for several different things,my friend took up pottery and made me a lovely mug !

i not sure if you have to have training but it's worth looking into.

their is a boarding kennel up the road from me, i wonder if they need someone to help out.

Not that great with people, but i am good with animals.

your coming up with some wonderful idea's and i'm just crap

as long as its something you like,it may give you an added interest and something to think about.Maybe they may need some help in the kennels and you just go at the right moment,its worth a try isnt it.I like all animals too [ except s n a k e s ] aghhh i hate them

dont keep puting yourself down ,sometimes i cant think of things either ,but tonight i can.its that simple

ewww snakes i'm the same and i'm terrible with frogs see one and i run!

you have to tell yourself you are a special person ,and in time you will believe it.Hold your head up high.

we have frogs in our garden and i dont like them jumping out at my feet !!my dh has a pond thats why they are here !

thankyou for listening to me and giving me lots of ideas and taking my mind off things

i'll be on the phone first thing in the morning, i've got my fingers crossed.

omg i'd love a pond but minus the frogs,i had a dream when i was little, about frogs and they were trying to kill me think thats where my dislike stems from, i see one and i freak out!! my kids think it's highly amusing

well i daresaywe can come up with some more if we need to ,but at least its a start and its kep you occupied for the last hour oh i do hope between us we can find something to suit you.

the killer forgs sounds like a movie title hahaha

its only the legs i dont like ,they are so long when they stretch them out ,a legless frog would be much nicer !

im off now as i need to go to bed before my dh or else his snoring keeps me awake ! goodnight dont forget the call in the morning,good luck.

yes thats the one they had "k's" on their backs!!

My son snores too, i feel for you

thankyou for listening

goodnight

Hello All

I thought I would post from a different perspective. My mother had BP all my life. It was triggered by my brothers birth when she had a massive breakdown. She had another one after mine. Unfortunately in the 70's that meant shock treatment and a complete lack of understanding and total stigmatism.It also meant that she was institutionalised for 6 months straight after our births which must have been horrific for her.

My mother was an amazing woman but very ill a lot. I use the past tense as unfortunately she passed away from cancer. She would spend 3 months at a time in bed with depression followed by or following a very bad manic session which generally got so bad she was hospitalised. We learnt from an early age to look after ourselves and as I grew older, to look after the family.

Its very hard on the children and if there is one thing i could recommend is that you get the support and help you need and maybe support for them too.

Its a very hard illness to manage and I send lots of hope and best wishes to those of you on here who suffer with it. I hope that these days, the treatment has moved on from lithium and depressing hospitals. My mother was a great communicator and I believe this is key. Well done to Electra for starting the thread.

your mom sounds like a very brave woman, i'm sorry she has passed

i have been lurking on this thread for a while now, i dont know if i have it, but i have syptoms
i'm terrifed of going to the doctors and hoping just to manange it by myslef, everyone is wonderful on here and poor mummylin gave me some good advice and listened to me ranting - bless her.

I hope my post was not too depressing. She was very ill and lots don't suffer to that extent by any means. I just wanted to say that talking about it is essential whether to a doctor or friends.

no, not at all

thats what we are all here for, to listen.

how are you?

good morning ,hope the day has started well for you ,its dry here but windy.Did you make any calls sunshine ? because we were talking about animals i had a very strange dream last night ,i started off taking a rabbit for a walk ,the more i walked the more it grew,then it changed into a dog and after even more walking it turned ino a horse !!!!

hello ,i hope you are all managing to cope and take each day as it comes.that i think is the best way to go ,no point worying about tomorrow until it gets here.

hi mummylin havent had chance to phone up, i've been busy these last couple of days but will be phoning tommorrow first thing(well after i've taking the kids to school).

i'm feeling alot more positive at the moment and think that was down to our chat the other night, i havent been focusing on the bad things just all the good(my beautiful children for 1) thankyou mummylin