Depression Caretakers, Being Productive, Bipolar Disorder Myths
Saturday, 25 August 2007
James Bishop is becoming one of my favorite mental health bloggers, and that’s not just because he displays the picture of a (smiling?) camel on his “about” page. James consistently writes quality articles on depression and bipolar disorder, and is working on a “health diary” software program to help people track their moods and health.
James’ article, “12 Ways to Care for a Depressed Person” suggests ways that you can help someone you love who is depressed. These 12 steps include: Understand the illness, Seek Appropriate Treatment, Provide Emotional Support, Keep the Illness Separate, Listen Non-Judgmentally, Make a Plan, Look after yourself, Organize their medicines, Support network, Get out and About, Help with daily tasks, and Spend normal time together.
When I was clinically depressed, I was unproductive. Stephen shares “7 Ways to Stay Productive Through Depression“, which include: Share with someone intimately close, Stay with people and try to stay focused on the moment, Avoid all instances of overhyped optimism and feel good inspirationals (this is important if you have a tendency to use anything and everything to figuratively beat yourself up!), Accept it as part of your creative cycle and allow the rest, Look for ways to help others through deep conversations, Tell/ask God, “Screw You!”, “Help Me!”, “This Shit Sucks”, “Whats the Point?”, or anything else on your mind and seek guidance, and Remember that it will pass and look toward the future.
Along a similar vein, Albert Foong a.k.a Urban Monk tackles “taming your monkey mind“. This has little to do with the often superficial hyped up “positive thinking”, and Albert references a prior article on “the dangers” thereof. There are two levels that Albert discusses. While I tend to exclude articles that have been submitted to multiple carnivals (and therefore less unique to my carnival!), I’m going to include this one because the information may be helpful for you.
D Kai Wilson – I know what you mean about being asked questions that you’ve answered repeatedly! It doesn’t really happen here on my mental health website, but it happens a lot on one of my other websites. This is why D Kai posted 8 myths about bipolar disorder and subsequently “busts them” one by one with her responses. So if you are wondering about the following:
Myth: bipolar disorder isn’t manic depression
Myth: You can diagnose bipolar disorder with a blood test
Myth: Bipolar disorder is easy to diagnose
Myth: Bipolars are easy to spot/can’t hold down a job
Myth: Bipolars have an excuse for ‘bad’ behavior.
Myth: Bipolars aren’t aware of how they should behave
Myth: Moods don’t mix and it’s very easy to judge where someone will be based on what they’ve been saying and doing.
Myth: You cannot get pregnant if you are bipolar
Look no further. Your answers are here!
Thank you to all those who submitted articles to this edition of my mental health carnival. Congratulations to those whose entries made it into this carnival! Please note that even if your entries were not selected (my selection criteria have become stricter, and I limit each edition to include only 3-4 entries), I personally visit and read each and every one of your submissions. To submit your best articles for consideration in a future carnival, please use this link.
Until Next Time!
Photo Credits: Camel from James Bishop’s website, A Little bit of Green by Craig Jewel, Relax by Andrea Füzesi.
No. 1 — August 25th, 2007 at 9:43 am
In my new book The Depression Advantage is a chapter called Redefining Functionality. It changes the paradigm from an attempt to function the same in all states to one that has state specific functionality. Learning to control mania while retaining some of the advantages is entirely different from gaining insight in depression or functioning while ‘normal.’
The problem in depression is that our limited definition of functionality does not work at all. We need a definition that is specific to the state of depression and allows for functionality in areas outside normal measurements of productivity. The definition must take into account “the purpose that something is designed or expected to fulfill.” Functionality in depression is not measured by how many things we can create. It is measured by what insight we gain and what changes in our behavior are precipitated by that insight.
http://www.depressionadvantage.com has more information about the book.
No. 2 — August 25th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Hi Jane, thanks for including me in this carnival. The other sites you have included are top quality, and it’s great to see my name amongst those. Thanks again!
No. 3 — August 26th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Thank you for including my post about being productive. The article was not a typical post in my blog, but I found it at the time important to write. It is still one of my favorites and I’m glad I was able to share it in this carnival.
No. 4 — August 28th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Thanks for including my article in your Carnival, and for your kind words.
No. 5 — August 30th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
My daughter has bipolar disorder and she tries to stay positive. She is more productive when she is stable. When she is in a manic episode she is not very productive.
This is because she can work on a hundred different things and not finish even one. When she is stable she can focus on finishing what she starts and this makes her more productive.
No. 6 — February 19th, 2009 at 11:10 am
My son is bipolar and in a depression. His wife tells him to be himself and not be depressed. She has no patience for this. She thinks it is a weakness.