A Push For Colleges To Prioritize Mental Health : NPR.

When I was diagnosed as bipolar in 1997, I was diagnosed by a college psychiatrist. My first real experience with a psychiatrist and navigating the ins and outs of having a diagnosis and trying to find a treatment plan that would allow me to function was a key defining moment in my life. Reducing these services will only result in more students dropping out or opting out of college as an option. At this stage in life, at this age, university mental health services are often the only option students have for ever-increasing emotional problems.

» Continue reading “A Push For Colleges To Prioritize Mental Health : NPR”

I’ve been battling some wicked fatigue due to my sleep schedule going completely down the toilet. I am trying to get back on track and I am starting to see some improvement in my level of energy, but I will be happy when DST ends. Waking up in the dark is definitely no help to my low energy level.

lunasdad was scheduled to come home for good at the end of October but then his contract was extended through the end of the year. That means we haven’t seen him since September and won’t see him until Thanksgiving. The good news is that he was able to get a contract with his old employer; after a three week stint in Seattle starting November 1, he will be home for good at Thanksgiving and able to work from home from then on for the next year or so. This is a huge relief on so many levels.

» Continue reading “Long overdue update”

I feel “off” today. Kind of…flat. Don’t really want to do anything, struggling through work because there are problems causing confusion and delay, and generally kind of feeling tired and ambivalent about everything. Maybe I need a nap; I know going to bed at 4am didn’t improve my situation. It’s harder getting out of a funk when you work from home, I think. I find it harder to pull myself together and focus.

» Continue reading “Have you ever just felt “off?””

The last month or so, I have basically been underwater. In addition to work, school, pets, kids,  enduring the absence of my husband, finishing out the church school year, choir, and trying out a new extracurricular activity (soccer), I also have weathered a few health issues, including chronic back pain due (apparently and surprisingly) to mild scoliosis, “benign labyrinthitis” which I can tell you does not feel at ALL benign, a really stubborn tooth that has me scheduled for my FOURTH root canal tomorrow, and, of course, my ever present friend, depression.

» Continue reading “Where I’ve been”

I have witnessed first hand the bootstrap conundrum. There is a prevailing attitude in our country that people who have problems need to learn to pick themselves up by their bootstraps, snap out of it, and “just do it.” A typical bipolar response to this attitude, however, is “how do you pick yourself up by your bootstraps when you don’t even have any boots?”

» Continue reading “Part 4: The Bootstrap Conundrum & Personal Accountability”

In ye olde days, doctors used to call it “compliance.” You were prescribed medication and if you took your meds, you were compliant. If, for whatever reason, you did not take your meds, you were labeled “non-compliant” with all the attendant bad juju that went with it. Non-compliant was fairly well synonymous with “difficult” or “untreatable.”

» Continue reading “Part 3: Treatment, Adherence, Crisis, and Stigma”

“Denial is an unconscious defense mechanism used by those faced with a painful reality. It is an automatic reaction in an attempt to reduce anxiety by denying thoughts, feelings, or facts that are consciously intolerable. It is common for those who are diagnosed with a life-long illness to go through periods of denial.”

» Continue reading “Part 2: Denial”

Someone recently related to me that they had received a diagnosis but weren’t sure they accepted it. I have seen this scenario played out in the bipolar community many times: “But I am not psychotic/manic/suicidal” etc. The “problem” with diagnosis, with any kind of labeling or categorization of a person’s personality or identity or deeply ingrained mental characteristics, is that it is an incomplete way to communicate information.

» Continue reading “Part 1: Diagnosis, Misdiagnosis, and Manifestations”

I have been thinking about mental wellness over the past few days, in response to the idea that a patient might not accept a diagnosis and the role diagnosis plays in mental wellness. I’ve also been thinking about the concept of “reframing” that my therapist has me working on, and the concept of mental illness. I wanted to try to reframe the idea of mental illness to approach it from the perspective of mental wellness instead.

» Continue reading “Four Part Series: Diagnosis, Denial, Treatment, and Personal Accountability”

Raw food for pets? / Despite warnings by veterinarians, growing numbers of dog and cat owners are serving uncooked, homemade fare.

While there are real warnings to be heeded when feeding your pets a raw diet, including making sure that you follow appropriate protocols for food safety and avoiding poisonous foods, for the most part, feeding your pets a raw diet of biologically appropriate food can do wonders for their health. For some good information on raw feeding, visit:

» Continue reading “Link of the Day—Raw Feeding Pets”