Moving on with the Dirt

For many months, I questioned if I was manic. I looked heavily at my behaviors, examining them carefully. I was drinking. I had a sister (or was it two?) express maybe I was drinking too much. I quit drinking as much as I was and went back to drinking maybe once a week. Now I have one maybe once every two weeks or even longer. I was hypersexual. Well, can I help it I like sex? That tends to come and go in waves, too, depending on how I'm being treated. I was shopping more than usual, but it was the Christmas season. I mulled over these behaviors. I look at my behaviors now. I truly do not believe I was manic over the past few months. I believe every decision I've made, I've made with a clear mind. I also think if I was manic, I'd be in a terrible depression right now. It's been in my history after every manic episode I've had to crash into suicidal depression. I'm still doing well. A bit cranky at times, maybe, but I'm content with the decisions I'm ...

I'm reading a book right now called "Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder." If you want to get technical, I've been reading it for probably over a year. I'll read a chapter here and there, put it down for a few months, then pick it up like I never stopped reading it. It's an easy enough book to pick up and put back down, and if you're looking for insight into how to help your bipolar loved one, I highly recommend this book. I just finished the chapter on hospitalizations, and I'd like to highlight some points while going through some experiences of my own. The chapter begins by talking about how hospitalizations are a normal part of a bipolar person's life, although we may feel shame about them. It also discusses how it can be traumatic for our loved ones. It does not touch on how it can be traumatic for the bipolar person itself, though, and I was extremely disappointed in that. I do understand that the hospital is meant for rest for an ill person, whe...