BP Magazine-Hope and Harmony for People with BiPolar

Bipolar disease of the brain is what it is, a disease. Sometimes persons are misinfomed and therefore stigmas are attached to diagnosed consumers. Persons are labeled as crazy, weird or just strange. It is so wonderful that we have doctors, therapists and tools that can assist us in our treatment. One of those tools I am going to discuss today in our session here. It is a new magazine called BP magazine. It gives
hope and enlightenment for those who have this disease and their families/friends. The articles are timely as they focus on certain needs that a person needs such as the proper sleep, creativity and the stabilization of mood. BP mazine is printed twice a year, is 20.00 for the year. You may call 1-888-834-5537 or www.bphope.com. First I would like to start off with a few ads and resources in this Spring 2006 issue.

New York City Voices- A Consumer Journal for Mental Health Advocacy http://www.newyorkcityvoices.org . It is all about survivor stories, diverse views, families, recovery, resources, anti-stigma print editions and news. I believe you can even have your own own website.

Juvenile BiPolar Research Foundation-a 40 question diagnostic interview for children ages 5-12. 40 questions are paired with ilustrations for a girl (Jeannie) and 40 for a boy (Jeffrey) and can be completed online by the child. The children can endorse a symptom or behavior that they, like Jeannie or Jeffrey may be feeling but have no words to describe-and that even their closest observers may not realize.
The interview will be helpful to the evaluating physician and the therapist and will help focus treatment. Parents will better understand their child, and the child will not feel so isolated and alone.

www.JBRF.org Juvenile BiPolar Research Foundation

One more ad before I share the article on sleep.

The University of Chicago is looking for adults who have been diagnosed or have the symtoms of BiPolar Disorder and with immediate family members who have depression, mania or mood swings. Volunteers participate in an interview, provide a blood sample and will be compensated for their participation. For more information, please call (866) 51-GENES or email us at family@yoda.bsd.uchicagoedu Website: www.ucfamily.org

The Quest for Sleep

Sound sleep in our busy society can be an elusive dream with profound impliations for the way we live. Americans sleep far less than people did 100 or even 50 years ago. Moreover, a poll taken by the National Sleep Foundaion revealed that adults sleep an average of 6.8 hours on weeknights. That's more than an hour less than they need according to most sleep experts. Sleep deprivation does not have any good side effects.

The National Sleep Foundation poll also revealed that 75 percent of Amerian adults experience symptoms of a sleep problem at least several times a week. Moreover, chronic insomnia may affect ten percent of the population. Gallup research has indicated that as many as 40 percent of adults have trouble sleeping two or three nights each week, with anxiety and depression the chief causes.

As difficult as getting a good night's sleep is for most people, those who have bipolar know all too well the significant health costs of poor sleep. Most people who don't have bipolar disorder have a consistent sleep problem over a long period of time. In people who have bipolar disorder, sleep problems often occur cyclically. They may fluctuate week to week or month to month. So in the manic or hyomanic phases, they get very little sleep but at times of depression, they may sleep or just stay in bed for excessive amounts of time. ****(that is why I don' t allow myself to get manic or depressed, I have to stay on an even keel, making sure I get my sleep. mania is dangerous for me, I don't want to go there; also I will not get depressed and lay around..that is why i must take my meds to stay balanced)****(if i get unbalanced too much off to the hospital i go!, very seldom though)

Although consumers face many and varied sleep problems, sleep is an area of human experience where good choices and habits can greatly improve matters. Behavioral changes to support good sleep are absolutely essential. The more a consumer can maintain a regular sleep-wake pattern, the better he or she will feel.

Rules for sleep by Dr. James B. Mass

1. Determine your need for sleep and meet it nightly. For most adults, this is seven to eight hours. A rare few need less. A significant number need nine to ten. ( If you use an alarm clock to rise, can't get up easily, and feel tired during the day, you are getting too little sleep)

2. Establish a regular sleep/wake schedule. Go to bed at the same time every night and get up at the same time every morning. (so hard to do!)

3. Get continuous uninterrupted sleep whenever possible, for it is better in one long block.

4. Make up for lost sleep. When you lose sleep, make up for it as soon as possible, either by going to bed early for a few nights or by napping judiciously. Keep naps short, no longer than 30 minutes. Otherwise you risk the impairment of our nighttime sleep.

More Positive Steps for Sleep Dr. James B. Mass

Reduce stress. Focus on what really matters. Try meditaion or yoga. Laugh. Socialize.

Seek mental exercise. Boredom can damage sleep. Do projects you enjoy or volunteer.

Quit smoking. Nicotine stimulates the brain and disrupts sleep in other ways.

Limit time in bed. Be there only during hours you ought to be sleeping and sleep only until you are refreshed.

Reduce caffeine. Avoid it entirely for six hours before bedtime.

Don't try too hard to sleep. If you cannot sleep after 30 minutes, go do something quietly in a dim room. Try light reading or listening to soft music.

Seek help from a professional if you are really having trouble. There are usually sleep centers and even in hospitals they have a unit that tests for sleep apnea and other related disorders.


BiPolar Express Group available for support at bipolarexpress@yahoogroups.com
there is always room for support and encouragment

Also a group meets in Trenton at Greater Trenton Behavioral Health Care at 1pm on Tuesdays with Gail Muizur for those afflicted with bipolar disorder. (refreshments served)

Websites

www.bipolarhappens.com with Julie Fast

www.depressionhappens.com with Julie Fast

www.bipolarworld.net feel free to visit and join

www.bipolarcentral.com with David Oliver

www.NAMI.org National Alliance of the Mentally Ill

Depression and BiPolar Support Alliance (for support groups nationwide) 800-826-3632 www.ndmda.org

until next time, take care and be special!

mizz diamond

Famous Persons Who Have Had BiPolar or Who Have It

These are persons who have either lived and struggled with bi-polar disorder or who are living now and are dealing with the challenge of it. Bi-Polar disorder can be managed if you learn to accept and live with it. You can live a very successful life if you want to do so. Let us name some of the people who are living today with this chemical imbalance of the brain.

1. Kay Redfield Jamison(1946)-she is a psychologist and science writer. Currently, she is a Professor of Psychiatry at John Hopkins University School of Medicine. "An Unquiet Mind", "Manic Depressive Illness, Touched with Fire," "Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide", and "Exuberance: The Passion for Life." I had the privilege of reading her first autobiography and I will tell you just as it is not easy for me at times in college; it was not easy for her.


2. Margot Kidder(1948)Best known as Lois Lane in the 1978 movie and sequels. She is a Canadian actress.

3. Phyllis Hyman (1949-1995) ( actress, composer, other crew member) Phyllis sang with a life affirming energy and emotional intensity found in few other female vocalists. Born in Pittsburgh in 1949 (raised in Philly) her professional career began in NYC, where she was spotted by Norman Conners, Jean Carne and Roberta Flack among others. Her irrational, self-destructive behavior was becoming common knowledge to those inside the music industry and friends.

4, Jane Pauley- (1950) Jane is an American television news anchor and journalist. She was co-host of the Today Show, Dateline, and The Jane Pauley Show. Her autobiography is "Skywriting: A Life Out of the Blue."

5. Robin Williams. (1952) Robin is a multi-award winning American actor and comedian who was born in Chicago, Illinois. He is known for impersonations, stand-up comedy and his first major acting role was on the Mork and Mindy show.

6. Margaux Hemingway-(1955-1996) She was a film actress and model who appeared in several movies. She was the granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway. She committed suicide on the anniversary of her grandfather's suicide.

7. Linda Hamilton- An american movie actress. Terminator, Beauty and the Beast, Dante's Peak and other shows. She was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder at a young age but until she resisted treatment until the age of 40.

8. Carrie Fisher-(1956) She is an American actress and WRITER......WRITER.....WRITER...!
"Postcards from the Edge" is her book that she had written and she fictionalized it. She won the Los Angeles Pen Award for the best first novel. In the 70's she began experimenting with cocaine which led to an addiction. In 1997, she was hospitalized to rebalance the meds she takes for bi-polar disorder. In 1998, she checked herself into a drug treatment program. She sought help for her drug/alcohol addiction as well as taking care of the bi-polar condition. Good for Carrie!

9. Jim Carrey(1962)-Canadian/American film actor, comedian, writer and producer, grew up in Ontario. He is best known for his manic, slapstick performances in comedy films such as Liar, Liar and Bruce, Almighty. He is an inductee of Canada's walk of Fame.

10. Kristy McNichols-(1962) She's won 2 Emmys and a Golden Globe for playing "Buddy" on the show "Family". At one time she was just running and running for her life, exhausted every day and developed some temper tantrums.


Diamond DeAngelo(1958)this is me and my accomplishments!--an american writer/poet striving to make it in life. Working on a poetry book, first a small chapbook while the first book of one hundredpoems gets published. "Fifty Petals by Diamond" will be the title of the chapbook. Despite the diagnosis of this disorder, she has achieved President's List status throughout her years at the college, has been president or student leader over several organizations, including editor of "Drumbeat" a student-run journal for African-American students. Despite health challenges, she manages to accomplish her feats/goals in life. She maintains several websites and blogs and belongs to several on-line poetry and writing groups. Her hobbies include art and photography; especially child photography. She is a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society Alumni Foundation and will soon receive her next degree by December. She will resume working on the books: "In My Father's Shadow", a memoir and "Diamond In the Rough" as soon as her poetry collections are finished. To help her to deal with the bi-polar condition, she visits the appropriate websites, read the material necessary, attend support groups, sees the dr. on a regular basis and take the needed medication.

next: more persons with this challenge, what to say to a person with bi-polar disorder and what not to say....

BiPolar Disorder Is A Challenge

Being a psychology major and having dealt with bipolar disorder for thirty years, I have decided to have a blog relating to the subject matter. After all, I am going to be working with children and teens with the disorder in the creative arts area. It is going to be a challenge but a great one indeed!

A lot of people are misinformed about the dis-ease. However, in future posts, I wil break it down and help persons to realize that it is a chemical imbalance in the brain and a lot of persons go undiagnosed for many years. I am in a few online support groups as we speak and I will share them with you as well as provide you with a list of websites for you to go to gain more insight into this disease of the brain. I dare not let anyone stigmatize me or label me. I can fight this fight. I can win. It is not easy to deal with especially when you are dealing with so many other things or family members/friends who tend to discourage you. Do not let it happen!

Here are some websites:

1. www.bipolarhappens.com
2. www.bipolarcentral.com
3. www.bipolarworld.net
4. www.depressionhappens.com
5. www.depressionhurts.com


www.nami.org is the local organization that families can get involved in.
it would be nice if families would support their loved ones in this cause.

BEBE MOORE CAMPELL is an advocate for mental illness. She is the author of 72 Hour Hold, a book about dealing with the mental illness of her sister's bipolar illness. She truly believes in standing up for the voice of mental illness. Currently, she is dealing with a neurological illness of her brain which she plans to recuperate in time.

May is National Mental Illness Month. There will be a lot of information going out to the public on the various forms of the challenge regardless of the illness it presents.

That is all I have for tonight. Talk with all of you soon. Take it light please. Always remember:

SUICIDE IS NOT AN OPTION! GET HELP!