Can we just snap out of it? - Bipolar Disorder Message Board

dwightbean · 06-05-2005, 01:07 PM

part of me hopes i can.

Zbaby · 06-05-2005, 01:25 PM

From my own experience, I've convinced myself that this will be the last time I ever get this depressed again, and I'll finally be normal once and for all. This has happened countless times in life, and I inevitably wind up depressed again.

My POV is that you'll never snap out of it, but you'll find ways to manage the swings and cope when you're in the midst of one. Our condition requires us to be extremely self-aware, more so than most people. The trick is to extend your periods of normalcy and shorten the mania and depression -- not an easy thing to do, but valuable for quality of life.

dwightbean · 06-05-2005, 01:48 PM

thanks for the reply.

i think i agree w/ you. i think i've spent the last year managing my state of mind quite carefully to avoid any drastic mood swings.

i recently moved to another state this past month & i'm taking college courses that challenge me in a different way (read: science courses rather than humanities). the last time i checked, i noticed i was perhaps a bit hypomanic, but i'm starting to convince myself that maybe this is how i might've always been... and perhaps i've just been a bit depressed these past years (which may not be too hard to believe).

i dunno what i'm trying to say, i suppose.. but after a psychologist diagnosed me as bipolar, i'm wondering if his readings of me might've just been out of the circumstance of the time & maybe i've found normal again.

Lanie35 · 06-06-2005, 07:48 PM

I was diagnosed a long time ago with bipolarity. I was put on Depakoate. I guess I did okay. I would go through periods of having lots of energy and then I would get depressed. I also made a lot of poor decisions. When I look back on my life during that time it's like I was living in a fog. I now lead a very stable and satisfying life. I am now on Zoloft and birth control pills(helps control the mood swings during my hormonal times). My life started to get better when I didn't put any substances in my body(marijuana, alcohol). I always thought the reason why I did do that was because of the bipolarity(escaping from how I felt). Who knows? I did hear from an insurance carrier( I was trying to get private health insurance a while back) that you can have periods when you don't suffer from the symptoms. And it sucks with insurance because once you have been diagnosed with this you can hardly find anyone to carry you. So, I am normal now. Who the heck knows? Good luck.

Lanie

Ruth6:11 · 06-06-2005, 07:55 PM

Nope, we can't snap out of it because it is not a question of a problem with our behavior.
Our behavior is a SYMPTOM of the chemical imbalance in the neurotransmitter part of our brain.

My favorite example: Take a "normal" person and inject them with a syringe full of chemicals. Then, just as they reach their brain tell them to "act normal".
They can't - anymore than we can override the imbalance going on chemically in ours.

That's where meds come in until they come up with something better. There has been some preliminary luck with a form of MRI - keep your fingers crossed!!

By the way, we almost ALL have periods between highs and lows where we are "normal". That's classic for Bipolar Disorder - what's different is how LONG between moodswings!