All About Bipolar

Posted By atorturedsoul on January 26, 2010

Did you know that ready-to-eat cereal eaters consume less fat, less cholesterol and more fiber than non-cereal eaters? Cereals also deliver important vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients, making cereal a top source of key nutrients in children’s diets.

Other cereal benefits:

• Ready-to-eat cereals, including presweetened cereals, account for only 5% of sugar in children’s diets.
• Ready-to-eat cereal is the No. 1 source of whole grains in a child’s diet today.
• More frequent cereal eaters tend to have healthier body weights and lower Body Mass Index measures.

Studies also demonstrate the benefits of eating breakfast. A 1998 study showed that children who eat breakfast tend to perform better at school. Compared to children who skip breakfast, children who eat breakfast score higher on tests, are less likely to miss class or be tardy, have fewer reported discipline problems, and make fewer trips to the office.

For more information about kids and cereals, please visit Cereal Health and Wellness.

Right now if you visit here you will find a $1 off coupon for one of four General Mills cereals.

***This is not a paid post. General Mills and MyBlogSpark provided me with free coupons for General Mills cereal in exchange for bringing you this information.

Category: My Personal Experiences | No Comments »
Tags: about, all, bipolar, general mills

Posted By atorturedsoul on January 11, 2010

It appears that I will not be skipping my normal first of the year crash. My sanity is slipping and I’m not sure how long I will be able to hold on to it.

It started with the voices but they have disappeared. I think they might be comforting at this point but they are gone. I moved on to seeing shadow people and things have continued to go downhill from there.

I’m craving silence, but there isn’t any. Even when all is quiet there is noise. I only slept three hours last night because it was too loud to sleep. There was a loud beating sound, an annoying humming sound and someone screaming. That doesn’t include the light show.

Then there are the visions. They’re horrible visions of mutilated bodies. The worst one involves one of my children and each time it happens the pain is so great that I have the urge to bang my head against anything until it’s gone from my mind.

I just want it to stop. I want it to go away. I just want all of this out of my head. I’m trying to stay busy and drown it all out. I’m okay as long as I am busy but at night…oh the nights are horrible.

For the time being, I am going to stay as busy as I can. I am going to keep working as much as I can until I crash completely. I am not ignoring anyone. I am not avoiding anyone. For now, I just have to stay busy.

Category: Bipolar 1, My Personal Experiences, Psychosis | 5 Comments »
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Posted By atorturedsoul on January 5, 2010

Not many people understand bipolar disorder, and even those who live with people who suffer this mental condition are not really sure about what it entails. We’ve heard of depression and some of us have even undergone it at some point of time, but bipolar disorder is not the same, and when it is misdiagnosed as depression, it could have detrimental effects on the patient. For those in the dark, bipolar disorder causes rampant mood swings where the affected person alternates between bouts of feeling low and experiencing random highs that give them a sense of false positivity and over confidence. So when misdiagnosed as depression, bipolar patients are treated with anti-depressants which causes their high (or manic) moods to worsen. In order to prevent this from happening, bipolar disorder has to be diagnosed correctly. To do this, it is essential to:

• Monitor their moods: If there are signs of intense depression, watch for bouts of euphoria as well. Most people miss signs of the intense high feelings because they think that the affected person is getting over their depression and showing signs of recovery. But when the mood swings alternate frequently accompanied by insomnia and reckless behavior, it’s time to have your loved one checked for bipolar disorder.
• Consult an expert: Seek the opinion of a medical practitioner who is an expert at diagnosing bipolar disorder, someone who is able to monitor the patient for a while and gauge their moods and the way they swing. If you’re still not sure, get a second opinion to prevent unnecessary exposure to drugs that could potentially cause harm and side effects.
• Examine the causes: While no one knows exactly why bipolar disorder occurs, the reasons could be genetic or environmental. Your genes or some adverse circumstance could trigger an imbalance in the chemicals in your brain and cause bipolar disorder. So if a close relative has been diagnosed with this mental affliction or if your loved one has suffered a traumatic experience in the not so distant past, perhaps they are suffering from bipolar disorder.

Care should be taken not to confuse bipolar disorder with ADHD, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder or other mental conditions. If not diagnosed early and correctly, this condition could lead to the patient harming themselves or even committing suicide. People with this condition can lead perfectly normal lives as long as they are diagnosed correctly and in time. They need to have the support of loved ones and MUST take their medication regularly to avoid slipping into a relapse.

By-line:

This post is written by Susan White, who writes on the topic of Radiologist Technician Schools . She welcomes your comments at her email id: susan.white33@gmail.com.

***This post was written by guest Susan White. All About Bipolar is not responsible for its content.

Category: About Bipolar Disorder | 1 Comment »
Tags: all about bipolar, bipolar disorder, guest, misdiagnosis, prevent, Susan White

Posted By atorturedsoul on January 4, 2010

February 2010 will be the second annual Bipolar Disorder Awareness Month! Our goal is to reduce discrimination through awareness and education.

I need your help!  You can help raise awareness in several ways:

Host a badge!

To increase the amount of participants and spread awareness, I am asking you to consider placing a Bipolar Disorder Awareness Month badge on your blog, website, or profile page of any social networking site. These badges will direct visitors to AllAboutBipolar.com, which is the host of Bipolar Disorder Awareness Month. Here, visitors can find information on how to spread awareness, find educational information about the disorder, and learn how it affects our everyday lives.  Educating the general public is important and will help reduce discrimination by people who do not understand the illness.

You can find badges here: http://www.allaboutbipolar.com/bipolar-awareness/

Badges will be updated shortly and will continue to be updated throughout the year so you can show your support all year long. If you host a badge, please let me know so that I can list you as a participant.

I am also looking for someone to redesign the badges. If you’re interested, email me at support@allaboutbipolar.com.

Share your story!

Last year, participants shared their experiences by completing a short questionnaire. While useful, I would like to expand on that and allow people to share even more and give readers a better picture of how this illness affects them. If you have time and are willing to share your story, submit an essay of at least 250 words to support@allaboutbipolar.com. You can write about anything : your diagnosis, coping mechanisms,  how it affects your day to day life, how it affects relationships…anything you feel will help others gain an understanding of what it is like to have bipolar disorder. I believe that educating the public with the specifics of the disorder just isn’t enough. We need them to see how we manage and cope to gain a true understanding of bipolar disorder. That’s why these essays are so important.

(Note: You can include your website address at the bottom.)

Provide educational materials!

We need writers who are willing to volunteer to compile fact sheets and informative materials to help educate others about bipolar disorder. It can be in any widely used format: Word document, PDF, eBook, etcetera. It would be very nice to have these materials available for download so visitors can find information quickly and easily. While AllAboutBipolar.com provides a wealth of information, it is a fairly large site and visitors may not be able to find the information they are looking for right away. Providing downloadable materials will help to ensure that they find needed information. Here are a few suggestions for materials:

• Facts sheet: separate fact and fiction and dispel the myths
• What is bipolar disorder?
• Treatment options
• Types of bipolar disorder
• Symptoms of bipolar disorder

Bipolar Disorder Awareness Month needs YOU! Your participation is what makes it all possible. I am very grateful for all our participants in 2009 and look forward to many more this year.

If you would like to volunteer to help, email me at support@allaboutbipolar.com.

Category: About Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar 1, Bipolar 2, Bipolar Awareness Month, Cyclothymia, My Personal Experiences, NOS, Psychosis, Symptoms | 13 Comments »
Tags: about, all, all about bipolar, awareness, badge, banner, bipolar, Bipolar Disorder Awareness Month, button, disorder, essay, month, volunteer

Posted By atorturedsoul on December 21, 2009

The children are out of school. Hubby will soon be off work for almost two weeks. With various family functions to attend and all of the holiday hoopla, I have decided to take this week off and will return next week.

During this short break, you can catch me at Mental Health Social from time to time. If you email me at support@allaboutbipolar.com, I will still check in and answer emails daily. I know a lot of people don’t have access to their doctors during the holidays, so if you need to vent or just want to talk don’t hesitate to email me. I will still be around–I’ just not posting this week.

Again, I will be back next week. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Category: My Personal Experiences | 2 Comments »
Tags: about, all, bipolar