Archive for ‘Bipolar’

  • Bipolar Disorder and Parenthood
    When my wife and I had our first child, we we’re ecstatic and terrified at the same time. The first few nights home were the most stressful times of our lives together and although we pulled through and are the proud parents of four wonderful kids, we soon learned that parenthood did not mix well with the presence of mental illness in the family. Although the variable...
    by Rich Wallace at November 7th, 2009 at 11:11 am
  • Bipolar Disorder: Equal Opportunity Destroyer
    When I first heard about bipolar disorder, I truly thought nothing of it and didn’t give a second thought about what it was, if I knew anybody that lived with it or if it would ever touch my life in anyway whatsoever. I was one of the uneducated that did not have an understanding of mental health challenges, nor did I place any respect into such an arena. During...
    by Rich Wallace at November 5th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
  • Bipolar Disorder and Hypomanic Insomnia
    Bipolar disorder brings on a potential laundry list of symptoms that can wreak havoc on both the sufferer and the supporters as well. Keeping in mind that the symptoms seen by one that does not have bipolar may be seen as ‘regular issues we all have’, this simply is not the case and it must be understood that the challenges brought on by the disorder can truly...
    by Rich Wallace at November 3rd, 2009 at 11:11 am
  • Supporter’s Vow: I Won’t Let You Fall Apart
    When my wife and I married, we offered the typical vows to one another with full respect for each other and for the vows themselves. We understood that there weren’t just filler words that were included in the ceremony simply to let our voices be heard. We took them seriously on that day, and continue to take them just as seriously today. When taking those vows,...
    by Rich Wallace at October 30th, 2009 at 10:10 am
  • The Things We Don’t Talk About
    Bipolar disorder is not an elegant topic in any sense of the definition of the disorder. Some would say the symptoms themselves sometimes offer a positive feeling to a sufferer when the euphoric highs come into play, others on the supporting side would say that there are some upsides for them as well when the cycle is in the right area of the spectrum. Finding such positive...
    by Rich Wallace at October 29th, 2009 at 06:10 am
  • How To Identify Triggers
    Managing a bipolar relationship without having a deep understanding of our loved ones triggers can put a serious strain on the relationship for both sufferers and supporters alike. For those that are newly involved in a bipolar relationship, or just looking for related information, we’ll touch on what a “trigger” is and how it relates to the bipolar...
    by Rich Wallace at October 28th, 2009 at 06:10 am
  • Distracting Episodes With Routine
    Bipolar disorder plays its most destructive games with our loved ones when they are not preoccupied. Time itself, can be a painful enemy to the bipolar mind when there is too much time to think or dwell on potentially negative thoughts, it is during this time that the illness sees an opportunity to remind us that it is still with us. One of the key points I offered in...
    by Rich Wallace at October 27th, 2009 at 10:10 am
  • Bipolar Support: Respecting Personal History
    One of the key factors to keep in mind when supporting a loved one that suffers from bipolar disorder is to truly monitor their actions and reactions that may be related to their own personal history. Obviously, we may never know another individual’s true history, therefore, when a trigger fires, it may introduce some newly surfaced challenges that have not been...
    by Rich Wallace at October 20th, 2009 at 10:10 am
  • Bipolar With a Side of Abandonment Anxiety
    Along with the challenges that bipolar disorder brings to our marriage, my wife was recently diagnosed with abandonment anxiety as well. Reflecting over the years of our relationship, it makes sense now as the signs and numerous red flags were right in front of our faces, but we never really paid much attention until recently. Without going into great detail of my wife’s...
    by Rich Wallace at October 16th, 2009 at 11:10 am
  • Happiness In Disguise
    One of the most common, but highly ignored symptom of bipolar disorder is hypomania. In relation to a typical bipolar driven cycle, hypomania sits directly mania within the bipolar spectrum and can be very dangerous for a bipolar sufferer as at this point, any number of triggers may fire off into a full-blown manic episode. What is hypomania? In a nut shell, hypomania...
    by Rich Wallace at October 15th, 2009 at 08:10 am
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