BIPOLAR DISORDER: 7 Things I Wish I Knew...

[Music] if i could go back in time even just a few years there's quite a few things that i would tell myself about bipolar disorder things that would have probably saved me a lot of time and grief i can be a little stubborn so who knows if i would have even heeded my own advice at the time i'm just grateful that i know these things now and i hope sharing them helps some of my fellow polar warriors out there all that being said let's get to it number one i'd like to start this one off with an analogy if you had to climb up the world's tallest mountain it would make a massive difference if you did some endurance training before the climb otherwise you'd be suffering and struggling the whole adventure to the top it's not fun or easy to jump on a treadmill change your diet and read a bunch of books about mountain climbing but you know without even doing these things that they'd help here's the thing knowledge and self-awareness are literally the endurance training of mental health those of us diagnosed with bipolar disorder have a huge mountain in front of us there's no avoiding it since we know this it's responsible to prepare for the climb when i was first diagnosed i didn't know words like hypomania dysphoric mania mixed episodes hypersexuality and so many more i'd start to not feel good inside and immediately blame it on my relationship my job or my living situation it just feels better to have a reason for our suffering after learning more about the illness i started to live my life very differently once i had a name for the bad feelings i stopped seeking external reasons for my suffering my relationships my career and even my health have changed forever just by learning about this stuff if i could go back in time i would plead with myself to just learn about bipolar disorder number two i would tell myself to reach out to those i've hurt and try to mend relationships sooner i've had partners who spent years blaming themselves for my breaking up with them during a psychotic episode i've had friends who thought they did something wrong because i'd go from being a social butterfly to isolating from everyone and of course i've had people who i absolutely mistreated when i wasn't well sometimes i'd be so embarrassed that i'd avoid apologizing even if it was the right thing to do i was also afraid of rejection if my apology wasn't accepted well i had to get past all of that and just do it even if it was awkward and uncomfortable it was still an important part of my growth process i also had to make sure i didn't just blame my behavior on the bipolar disorder it was a big contributing factor but i'm still responsible for my actions to my surprise most people were really supportive and there was a strong mutual sense of relief i also had one less dark place that my mind would go to when i was depressed so that's the second thing that i would emphasize if i could go back in time now for number three i would tell myself to take the damn drugs now i have a very love-hate relationship when it comes to meds i'm extremely sensitive to side effects it took me a long time to find meds that work i despise the pharmaceutical industry not to mention drug prices i don't like having to remember to take them and on and on and on although these are all valid objections i learned the hard way that i can't manage this illness by myself and not for lack of trying it would almost be like someone trying to force their pancreas to produce more insulin instead of taking diabetes medication maybe some people can manage without meds but not me i learned this the hard hard stubborn way my relationships my friendships my job and even my pets all suffer when i don't take medication now i'm not here to tell anybody else to take meds i'm just saying that if i went back in time for me personally it would have saved me so much suffering and those around me if i took advantage of the treatments available maybe someday there will be a better way to treat bipolar but with today's technology meds are the first line of defense against bipolar symptoms number four if i could go back i would tell myself to seek out peer support a lot sooner and to spread it out a little i was in denial about my bipolar disorder for a while so there was only a few people that i'd turned to for support when times got tough this was sometimes hard on my loved ones because it was only a few people i suggest expanding your support circle when you're ready of course this could mean joining some online forums or facebook groups maybe interacting with people in the youtube comments or joining the polar warrior patreon community bipolar hope magazine has some amazing free online articles where people can comment and discuss topics those are all great but i think the best way to go is in person or live meetings i know a lot of these have moved to online due to the coronavirus but if you get the chance to safely attend a live meeting it's a great way to expand your support circle the first time i went to a nami meeting or a bipolar specific support group it was like being in a foreign country for years and finally hearing someone speak my language it was so powerful and refreshing to be around other people who get it who share a silent bond through shared mutual experience i know that not everyone lives in a town with peer support groups so you might have to look online or get a little creative for me personally peer support has been truly life changing i've made some lifelong friends in the process so that would be the fourth thing that i would tell myself moving on to number five i would tell myself to be honest with my doctor i know this is hard for some of us unless we've seen the same doctor for a decade most doctors are in all reality strangers it's hard to tell a stranger about side effects like sexual dysfunction incidents of rage we aren't proud of or if we've been abusing substances i remember seeing doctors when i was manic and telling them how amazing life was while my partner's over there cringing in the corner i'd lie about abusing substances i wouldn't tell them that i was in fact suicidal the week before i didn't want to admit to some stranger that my life felt very out of control the worst part about this was it interfered in my ability to get an accurate diagnosis i would have been diagnosed and seeing improvement a lot sooner if i was just honest with my doctors number six i'd tell myself to not get stuck on how or why i got bipolar disorder instead to focus on where can i go from here i think doctors hand out a diagnosis so often that they get used to it and kind of forget how shocking it can be getting diagnosed with mental illness almost has its own grieving process i've had huge feelings of loss anger sometimes pity or even regret over my situation i spent a lot of time wishing i wasn't born or wondering why me just like when we lose a loved one it's easy to get stuck in the grieving process and have it prevent us from moving forward with our lives if i could go back in time i'd work with a counselor specifically on my bipolar grieving process all right we have made it to the last one in this video and i appreciate you spending this time on my channel if something i've said was helpful you can send a giant digital thank you by just liking the video or subscribing to polar warriors so for number seven if i could go back to when i was first diagnosed i would tell myself to be patient with the process and to have realistic expectations i remember getting my hopes up every time they put me on a new medication like i thought it would cure my bipolar or something if the side effects started to become uncomfortable i'd quit if i had a bad episode i'd quit heck even if the meds were working i'd quit because i thought i didn't need them anymore same thing with therapy my jobs and even relationships i've made hasty emotionally driven decisions when times got tough i didn't have or accept much guidance when i was newly diagnosed so it took a while to learn that most of my frustrations were really a part of the process i wish i knew early on that it was okay and normal to take a while to find the right dose that side effects are part of the journey for most of us and that getting a proper diagnosis can take time if i could go back i'd really emphasize how imperfect the road to stability can be and how okay that really is if you're having a hard time navigating through all of this i'm here to help there's a link in the video description where you can contact me directly you can also visit polarwarriors.com for a library of my videos one-on-one coaching and a lot more take extra good care of yourself this week warriors and stop by the channel again soon for more videos stay well you guys [Music]

Channel: Polar Warriors

Views: 29,972

Rating: 4.9748707 out of 5

Keywords: Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar, Polar Warriors, Bipolar Disorder Help, Tools, Technique, Bipolar Family, Bipolar Relationship, Manic Depression, Bipolar Therapy, Bipolar Diagnosis, Diagnosed Bipolar

Id: Ag1jcPL6x-o

Length: 10min 49sec (649 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 24 2020