Explaining Your Mental Health

Who should I tell? When is the best time to share my mental health issues? How do I explain it? What should I share and what information should I leave out? These are all questions that arise in people with mental illnesses when relating to friends, work relationships and family. Sharing your mental health issues can have a positive or negative outcome but one thing's for sure is that there is an uneasiness about sharing this personal information about yourself and how the other person is going to react. Is your friend, boss or family member going to treat you differently? How to make a person understand what you go through and how to treat you when they could never fully understand when they have never experienced it and media portrays mental illness in the most dramatic ways?

First, why do you want to share this information? How will it benefit you or the other person? Is the person your sharing with able to understand and is open to what you are going to say? I tell people for various reasons. It can help explain my actions and quirks, once they are close to me I like them to know how they can help me or I just need some one to talk to.

The following are suggestions on how to explain your mental illness like bipolar.

-Simplify your explanation, strip it down to the basics. Share the information that is needed for each person.

-Educate yourself in your mental illness medically and socially.

-Don't use a lot of personal emotions while explaining.

-Have information like web sites for the person in explaining symptoms and other useful information.

-Think first how to vocalize highs and lows you may have in a way that's relateable like, 'Being manic doesn't make me crazy, I just feel adrenaline that I can't come down from. I don't sleep well, my brain races with thoughts from one to another and I tend to be impulsive. Then I have periods of time where I feel depressed and it's difficult to be motivated. Some times it's hard to get out of bed.'

-Let them know how TV shows and movies portray a small percentage of people and the reality is that your not violent or....

-Tell them the steps you are going through to help yourself like medication and therapy.

-Discus some of the symptoms they may see in you and how it may affect them, also how they can help. Some times when I'm manic I'm not aware of others because my thoughts are racing and I become impulsive or quick to be angry. I tend to spend too much money and talk a lot. I ask some of my friends to let me know if they see this behaviour because I'm not always aware of it. I can make adjustment accordingly.

-Discus when a depressive state is serious enough to call and hospitalize you. Let them know if you are able to distinguish the difference. I have a good friend where if I call and need to talk, he knows when I'm emotional and I want to talk when it's serious. I say I need to talk when you have time, med serious really serious or I need help. Serious is wake up, phone me even if on a date or sleeping and serious is come over now or call an ambulance.

-How can that person help you. It can be something as small as them understanding you and your actions, being a person you can talk to, letting you know when you aren't acting normal, helping you seek options for help, being an advocate, passing your thoughts by them to know if your level, getting help in finding and understanding information or supporting you with positive support. I have person in my life I trust no matter my feelings. I have a friend and family member I trust, they keep an eye out on me and I listen to them for guidance as to whether my thoughts are logical and rational as well as actions. They have the OK to talk to my Doctor as well. I have another person in my family that I've given permission to keep an eye on my moods and progress, giving me input. I have 2 people I can call in emergency and need help medically or to talk whatever the time. I'm fortunate to have people who care about me and support me but it did take work building this support network. Being honest with myself and others of my needs, asking for help and letting them help me as well as distinguishing who is genuine and trust worthy, vocalizing their role in my recovery and releasing trust to them in areas I saw fit, was pivotal in building a team to strengthen my mental health.

-Ask the person if they have any questions.

People may look and treat you differently after you tell them so be aware of the impact this may cause. This is why I need a reason to tell people. Not every friend and person I meat needs to know, especially the minute I meet them.

Please share with me some of your successes, fears and positive outcomes in sharing your mental illness with people around you.

The Difference Between Normal Moods And Bipolar?

I was asked the question what makes mood symptoms ones of bipolar disorder and normal mood fluctuations. This became a difficult question to answer even after research. There are two areas to look at, one being an teenage stage and the other an adult one. Teenagers all go through more turmoil with emotions that may appear as bipolar to adults and is not always the case and adults are more likely to have been able to hide such emotions outwardly that it's not easily seen by others.

I first revert to the basic symptoms of bipolar disorder and what a couple of this my own Dr has said to me. First is when your own symptoms prevent you from living life then it's some thing you should look into. Another is that when your manic mood, or feeling of excitements is so great you can not pull them back when you desire to. That would be the case if you are so excited and seeing you be this way, you can't get control over your emotions. This would be true in a depressive state as well, if you can't see anything beyond the negative feelings you have.

Saying that the difference is how it does or doesn't interfere with ones life is not all that clear. I have been bipolar all my life and learned how not to let it interfere. I was skilled in making all my physical ticks as a child not be seen as an adult like my need to lick, touch my nose then chin or problem with walking on cracks.

When I was depressed I had a bright logical reason for why I wasn't able to go out with friends for the weeks or months that it occurred so they were never worried. This is why it wasn't diagnosed in me earlier.

To make it easier there are some questions you can ask to differentiate between bipolar and depression.

How intense is your mood? How long is it lasting and can you see beyond this mood.

How long dose your mood last? Weeks, months.

How much does it interfere with your life? Does it keep you spending time with your friends or makes it difficult to get out of bed.

If you relate to these answers than it's important that you talk honestly to a Dr as well as a friend or family member.

It was the most difficult to diagnose me when I was manic because I felt so good and didn't see the harm it was causing. Most people don't seek help during this time. Now I see how harmful it was for me. I put myself in such harmful positions because I felt so powerful. I had such an intensity of emotions that made me think I was thinking so smart, would make me not think of consequences financially and sexually, I was on top of the world I thought but not seeing how I was harming others and myself from my bliss.

What I can say is that if your may be thinking you have symptoms then seek professional help. If you are depressed than there are solutions for you other than you being bipolar and you may still need help. If you are asking the question than that means something. Seek out the answers for your questions. Like the person who asked me, that person knows there is a happier more fulfilled life out there for him/her and it's worth looking for those answers. Whether your not happy because of moral dilemmas, chemical problems in your body or situations in your life that need changes, there are people to help you find answers.

Natural alternative to meds

Anthony Stephan is the founder of True Hope. True Hope is a non profit company that gives an alternative to RX drug therapy for people who have mental disorders. It includes a combination of water soluble vitamins and minerals in high doses.

The people who have to watch and live with family members and friends who suffer from a mental disorders go through anguish watching them while feeling helpless not knowing how to help. This is what empowered Anthony to find a permanent workable solution to help people like his wife, Deborah Starr Stephan who took her life due to bipolar, as well as her father years before and now has four children, including Autumn and Joseph suffering from the same disorder, he was in a fight to save there lives.

A fathers love and determination to not settle for anything else but happiness for his kids is what it took for a break through. Anthony studied and prayed for answers, then met David Hardy, a biological scientist who coalated his own research with pigs emotional problems like ear-and-tail-biting syndrome and nutritional supplements with mental disorders in people. The two men partnered up to create supplements for humans that would affect humans the same way as in pigs. This was the birth of EMPower.

Studies started in the University of Calgary under the advisement of Dr Kaplan and now is studied in three different countries in six Universities with hundreds of medical Doctors using the program.

The basic philosophy behind these studies is that people who suffer from a chemical imbalance have a nutrient deficiency because they have a problem absorbing nutrients naturally. EMPower is a formula of high doses of those vitamins and minerals that make the body and brain function as it should. I look at it as giving the body the means to heal itself by feeding it what it needs to connect those wires that have been misfiring.

My family, especially my mom suffered as they watched me struggle with bipolar disorder and knew there was a better answer than medication. I improved on RX medications but had to take more medication to counteract the symptoms while my liver and kidneys suffered from those drugs. My mom was like Anthony, determined to find a solution and pushed me to start EMPower therapy after she researched it.

I was reluctant to try the supplements and only did it to shut my mom up and prove to her it wouldn't work but am glad my mom advocated on my behalf, almost forcing me to give it a chance. I talked with my family Dr as well as partnering with my Phyc Dr and the TrueHope specialist while I slowly went off my RX meds and on the supplements. I never knew I could be this happy and stable. It's like a dream I'm not waking up from. I don't have the drowsy side effects of RX drugs and feel like I want to live again, not just surviving like before.

I am in no way against RX medications to treat mental illnesses. It's all about finding out what works for each individual person. My goal in writing this post is to give another alternative to drug therapy as well as portray how important it is for people to get involved with helping loved ones find solutions. If some one suffers from a mental illness it's so hard to think clearly and research the answers on there own.

You can find more information at truehope.com.