I would suggest googling something like "bipolar without meds". You should be able to find advice and perhaps support groups online.
I found one "online support group" that was free, and so far, they are no help what so ever.. lol... I just wanna see others views on it.. And how different a bipolar person thinks/feels/acts to a normal person..
How about symptomology? Causes, incidence, and risk factors Bipolar disorder affects men and women equally. It usually starts between ages 15 - 25. The exact cause is unknown, but it occurs more often in relatives of people with bipolar disorder. Types of bipolar disorder: People with bipolar disorder type I have had at least one manic episode and periods of major depression. In the past, bipolar disorder type I was called manic depression. People with bipolar disorder type II have never had full mania. Instead they experience periods of high energy levels and impulsiveness that are not as extreme as mania (called hypomania). These periods alternate with episodes of depression. A mild form of bipolar disorder called cyclothymia involves less severe mood swings. People with this form alternate between hypomania and mild depression. People with bipolar disorder type II or cyclothymia may be wrongly diagnosed as having depression. In most people with bipolar disorder, there is no clear cause for the manic or depressive episodes. The following may trigger a manic episode in people with bipolar disorder: Life changes such as childbirth Medications such as antidepressants or steroids Periods of sleeplessness Recreational drug use http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001924/ I think there is so much public awareness of the connection with mood swings that this has become the popular definition, and so when a person has such fits (maybe just because of immaturity, health problems, or stress) people may call them "bipolar" the same way they may call them "volatile" or "moody". Obviously the clinical definition excludes the purely moody types. On the other hand, abnormal mood swings would certainly be a cause to see a mental health practitioner.
I'm not sure, the term is almost as loosely thrown around as when people claim they are depressed, or addicted, or having a panic attack --when in fact a lot of those people are just sad, have low self control or are just really stressed. So if I had some serious thoughts about it, I'd seek an actual professional diagnosis. It's never a good idea to self-diagnose yourself, especially for serious disorders.
most, if not all of them, also cause an excessive amount of weight gain which of course adds its measure to depression.
What is your imagination like? I see myself sealed in Heaven as a peaceful king, and beauty to my taste all about. Versus, what is your reality? I was terribly abused as a child. I imagined one thing, and lived the entire opposite. In the imaginative state, I walk around with a big smile on my face. Then all of a sudden my family is all around me, and I turn sad. The best advice I have for myself is remove those who oppose my imagination from my every day life. The reason I have mood swings is my grand imagination, and the life I perceive as reality are conflicted. Now, what is the truth? Lady Imagination, or my childhood? What came first. Was I someones son, or had I already imagined? Some say I created my imagination to cope with reality, but reality is, my imagination was there before my first breath. I imagine happiness, but I was treated as dirt.
Nutrition, exercise, and regular socializing are always good suggestions for just about anyone. I have also read that some sort of creative outlet, even if just a journal, could be beneficial.
I disagree that bipolarism isn't caused by a chemical imbalance. My mother has had serious type I bipolarism since she was in her 30's and went thru many medications that seemed only to work for a short time. A few years ago she was prescribed Depakote, a seizure medication of all things, and has not had a manic episode in at least 2 and a half years. She's also on Zyprexa too so that may help as well. In any case, she is definitely much better for this combination of meds which wouldn't be working if bipolarism WEREN'T based on a chemical inbalance. And no it's not just masking symptoms. It's actually keeping her from spiralling into mania and psychosis, which is the best we expect from a medication in the first place.
There is no empirical evidence of chemical imbalance, and it is masking the symptoms if those symptoms are not apparent. Does she feel 100% better, or just kind of "like a shell of a person"? "The best we can expect" would seem to indicate that it does not address the causes. Painkillers can remove all the symptoms of pain, without ever addressing the causes. But whatever you need to believe to justify either the efficaciousness of the placebo effect or the cost of the pharmaceuticals (which was the whole intent to the ad campaign).
I'm sure there's huge incentive for drug companies to spin their new meds in a favorable light. Perhaps kickbacks to medical institutions for pushing their meds over others. But as with most conspiracy theories it is just too simplistic to say this all there is to it. Over the years new meds have evolved that have less serious side effects. There is iow another incentive for pharmaceutical corporations to come up with BETTER more effective meds. And that means less side effects. My mother is definitely better taking her meds than not taking them. I speak only from experience and not from some ulterior agenda of supporting some sinister pharmaceutucal cartel. BTW, how many bipolar people do you personally know? Have you ever seen them in a full blown manic state?
I am not implying any "conspiracy", nor that you are complicit in any such thing. I am only judging the actual empirical evidence available, or the conspicuous lack thereof. The chemical imbalance theory simply does not have the evidence to support it being valid. Better ways to mask symptoms are no less a mask of the symptoms. I have known many bipolar people and they uniformly say the same things about being on meds. Some of which have successfully quit using meds without becoming significantly symptomatic. There are many degrees of mania, including psychotic behavior.
my imagination is quite vivid and always depends on the day...sometimes its grand and majestic, others, I don't even have one. I love to live in my head, its quite lovely there, and the people there know me quite well.. As for reality, it is quite depressing... I don't ever wanna live in reality... its crappy!!
Evidence of brain chemistry differences in bipolar patients: http://bipolar.about.com/cs/menu_science/a/press_umich0210.htm
Quite aside from the fact that this study is terribly small, with only 16 patients, they do not even know what chemicals are involved: Specifically, more study is needed to examine which kinds of monoamine cells are involved And it even confirms that the meds merely mask the symptoms: It compared brain scans and neuropsychological test results from bipolar disorder I patients who were using medications to control their symptoms Of course there is also: Contrary to the assumptions of the monoamine hypothesis, lowered but not heightened activity of MAO-A was associated with the depressive symptoms in youth. -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology_of_depression#Monoamine_hypothesis And Neuroplasticity : new biochemical mechanisms, page 27: http://books.google.com/books?id=z8...rAiDm1Z4vlc4IvQccV0&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false Since neuroplasticity includes changes in physical structure and belief has been found to effect neuroplasticity, the simplest answer in the face of contradictory findings (such as efficacious treatments that do not effect monoamine cells) is that the placebo effect encourages neuroplasticity. But like I said, you can believe whatever you like.
Uh, the placebo effect and neuroplasticity are science, but if you already have foregone conclusions, so be it. There is simply a host of things completely contradictory or unexplained by the chemical imbalance theory.
Mainstream Western medicine and psychiatry work out of a strictly reductionist physicalist framework. The question is whether this reductionist framework is adequate and conducive to human happiness and satisfaction with life. All the major religious and spiritual paths agree that it isn't. Of course, religious, spiritual, "alternative" approaches tend to have a bad reputation in relation to Western science, so it's precarious to talk about them.
Just a thought. I discovered a split personality in my head. On a natural level I built an empire of evil thoughts, just in case I was amongst zombie minded humans. The 21st century. I thought to take control in any way, even a lie. I was born with a moral mind, and on a moral intrinsic I took to evil to protect my kin. This went so far as to have me leave my original state of mind on a free fall into a pit I created to bar me from my faithful mind. I am slowly going to remember the essence of knowledge. I love you. Point, you all will share in these mental conflictions, or you are not a genius. Moral thinking gives it. Faithful thinking gives it. I know by the seat I keep of the mind. You must have these exact thoughts I posses now or you do not have proper route of thought to be what I am. I can retrace anyone of your thoughts to your infancy. Anyone remember their feet from the first perspective? The grandness of the imagination, what she shows you in your infancy. Burn televisions and schools. They are the absolute drain of her. The given imagination, the universal one. Vs. things as describe. Something other: where the naturally given lady becomes seemingly unreasonable, or just wrong to what school teaches, church as well. Imagination brings fire, something other is the not to achieve her. "Sin of being a man" What man can summon fire? A lie to God, to not. A construct of thought, and other emotions. A mental show of what it may be. A positive emotional state, but not the quickness of the imagination. Not she like fire who plays before the said construct. See? You can't prove this in a lab. Lady imagination keeps herself hidden to earth. Enter the schizophrenic mind. The universal schizophrenic mind!
