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Founder who lived with bipolar for years started a company to tackle the stigma

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Re: Founder who lived with bipolar for years started a company to tackle the stigma

#11

Post by limeblack »

bipolarengineer wrote: post #7
seibelj wrote: post #6

My belief is that everyone has minor bouts of mania and depression, and bipolar people just experience it more extreme. My psychiatrists have flirted with a bipolar diagnosis but ultimately they think it’s standard anxiety / depression. Every few months I go through a week where I barely sleep, my mind is racing, work nonstop, empathy decreases, basically feel on top of the world. And similar every few months I will…

> My belief is that everyone has minor bouts of mania and depression, and bipolar people just experience it more extreme if you read about the symptoms of bipolar disorder you will see that it is a bit more complex than this. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder/index... Take a look at the list of manic / depressive episode symptoms. Every single one of those applies to me in a very extreme way - i…

The defining factor between Bipolar I and Bipolar II is that you have been essentially never been hospitalized(and never had a completely documented manic episode). Ignoring psychosis the defining characteristic of a mental illness is often abnormal behavior which is slightly subjective. It is essentially the scale of the issue(mania typically) when it becomes a mental illness.

Re: Founder who lived with bipolar for years started a company to tackle the stigma

#12

Post by bipolarengineer »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #8
bipolarengineer wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My belief is that everyone has minor bouts of mania and depression, and bipolar people just experience it more extreme if you read about the symptoms of bipolar disorder you will see that it is a bit more complex than this. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder/index... Take a look at the list of manic / depressive episode symptoms. Every single one of those applies to me in a very extreme way - i…

Let me suggest you start a food diary as a useful tool. I have been successful in mitigating certain somatopsychic symptoms largely using diet.

I probably should. just started looking through the list again:

many people have bipolar disorder along with another illness such as:

anxiety disorder substance abuse eating disorder delusions runs in family Feel very “up,” “high,” or elated Have a lot of energy Have increased activity levels Feel “jumpy” or “wired” Have trouble sleeping Become more active than usual Talk really fast about a lot of different things Be agitated irritable or “touchy” Feel like their thoughts are going very fast Think they can do a lot of things at once Do risky things like spend a lot of money or have reckless sex Feel very sad, down, empty, or hopeless Have very little energy Have decreased activity levels Have trouble sleeping, they may sleep too little or too much Feel like they can’t enjoy anything Feel worried and empty Have trouble concentrating Forget things a lot Eat too much or too little Feel tired or “slowed down” Think about death or suicide

literally everything... and i've been denying it until like 2 days ago and am heading to the dr on monday after being talked out of killing myself for the 5th time by my wife ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Founder who lived with bipolar for years started a company to tackle the stigma

#13

Post by bipolarengineer »

limeblack wrote: post #11
bipolarengineer wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My belief is that everyone has minor bouts of mania and depression, and bipolar people just experience it more extreme if you read about the symptoms of bipolar disorder you will see that it is a bit more complex than this. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder/index... Take a look at the list of manic / depressive episode symptoms. Every single one of those applies to me in a very extreme way - i…

The defining factor between Bipolar I and Bipolar II is that you have been essentially never been hospitalized(and never had a completely documented manic episode). Ignoring psychosis the defining characteristic of a mental illness is often abnormal behavior which is slightly subjective. It is essentially the scale of the issue(mania typically) when it becomes a mental illness.

I'm not sure what you're saying. i was hospitalized last year during the election while thinking that the gov. was after me, reporting a coworker as a terrorist (def not a terrorist) etc. i could go on.

actually i will go on:

reported the nicest guy to HR (he's fine) was on the verge of suicide, then thought "people" were after me and just completely flipped shit. family member kindly allowed me to stay at their home and then took me to the hospital the following day where i checked myself in.

Re: Founder who lived with bipolar for years started a company to tackle the stigma

#14

Post by DoreenMichele »

bipolarengineer wrote: post #12
DoreenMichele wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me suggest you start a food diary as a useful tool. I have been successful in mitigating certain somatopsychic symptoms largely using diet.

I probably should. just started looking through the list again: many people have bipolar disorder along with another illness such as: anxiety disorder substance abuse eating disorder delusions runs in family Feel very “up,” “high,” or elated Have a lot of energy Have increased activity levels Feel “jumpy” or “wired” Have trouble sleeping Become more active than usual Talk really fast about a lot of different things B…

I'm not going to post a link to it on HN, but I have a discontinued food blog with some information potentially relevant to you.

The tldr: I am often suddenly suicidal. I have essentially a salt wasting condition. There is a salt and lithium connection and I have found it really helpful at times to eat a meat and potatoes meal to mediate the salt-lithium connection when I am under stress and expecting to soon fall off the deep end suddenly.

Re: Founder who lived with bipolar for years started a company to tackle the stigma

#16

Post by bipolarengineer »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #14
bipolarengineer wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I probably should. just started looking through the list again: many people have bipolar disorder along with another illness such as: anxiety disorder substance abuse eating disorder delusions runs in family Feel very “up,” “high,” or elated Have a lot of energy Have increased activity levels Feel “jumpy” or “wired” Have trouble sleeping Become more active than usual Talk really fast about a lot of different things B…

I'm not going to post a link to it on HN, but I have a discontinued food blog with some information potentially relevant to you. The tldr: I am often suddenly suicidal. I have essentially a salt wasting condition. There is a salt and lithium connection and I have found it really helpful at times to eat a meat and potatoes meal to mediate the salt-lithium connection when I am under stress and expecting to soon fall of…

i am supposed to be taking lithium but have refused medication for a few reasons.

mainly everything i have been prescribed has screwed me up further -- lithium specifically felt absolutely amazing to be on, i felt "content" and started feeling more balanced and creative etc... however i was sleeping until noon and felt a weird fog and felt like i couldn't program well (which is pretty much the only thing i do).

edit: the above fogginess may have been from the seroquel actually i can't remember.

I tried other medications but has other weird effects (i'm not good with drugs).

secondly, the suicidal thoughts weren't fading and I was very focused on the drugs as a means to my end (they were hidden from me by my wife because of this and she would give me my dosage when it was time).

i have to use a number of techniques to keep me grounded and most of the time I'm fine (i meditate, read, listen to specific types of music, exercise, etc) however there are triggers in my life which i have no control over and i lose control (ex wife making my life a nightmare via legal system, lack of funds etc).

to be honest i'm sort of fucked. i'm an aging dev with mental health issues, little to no support from family, can't really do meds because it fucks up my ability to work. sucks

Re: Founder who lived with bipolar for years started a company to tackle the stigma

#17

Post by limeblack »

bipolarengineer wrote: post #13
limeblack wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The defining factor between Bipolar I and Bipolar II is that you have been essentially never been hospitalized(and never had a completely documented manic episode). Ignoring psychosis the defining characteristic of a mental illness is often abnormal behavior which is slightly subjective. It is essentially the scale of the issue(mania typically) when it becomes a mental illness.

I'm not sure what you're saying. i was hospitalized last year during the election while thinking that the gov. was after me, reporting a coworker as a terrorist (def not a terrorist) etc. i could go on. actually i will go on: reported the nicest guy to HR (he's fine) was on the verge of suicide, then thought "people" were after me and just completely flipped shit. family member kindly allowed me to stay at their home…

Psychosis is not required to have a diagnosis of bipolar and frankly I do not personally believe that it should be included in bipolar(it should be a separate diagnosis). IMO and many other psychologists opinions is that bipolar by the general public is often viewed as a mood disorder(not the psychosis part).

Re: Founder who lived with bipolar for years started a company to tackle the stigma

#18

Post by DoreenMichele »

bipolarengineer wrote: post #16
DoreenMichele wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not going to post a link to it on HN, but I have a discontinued food blog with some information potentially relevant to you. The tldr: I am often suddenly suicidal. I have essentially a salt wasting condition. There is a salt and lithium connection and I have found it really helpful at times to eat a meat and potatoes meal to mediate the salt-lithium connection when I am under stress and expecting to soon fall of…

i am supposed to be taking lithium but have refused medication for a few reasons. mainly everything i have been prescribed has screwed me up further -- lithium specifically felt absolutely amazing to be on, i felt "content" and started feeling more balanced and creative etc... however i was sleeping until noon and felt a weird fog and felt like i couldn't program well (which is pretty much the only thing i do). edit:…

I'm talking about a much gentler approach than taking drugs.

Best.

Re: Founder who lived with bipolar for years started a company to tackle the stigma

#19

Post by marojejian »

limeblack wrote: post #9
marojejian wrote: post #2

FYI - I am Daniel's co-founder, if you have any questions on Campfire or whatev's.

In the same way that ADHD is very much agreed to be over diagnosed, do you believe bipolar might also be over diagnosed? I have seen family members conditions worsen after treatment(which may just be a coincidence), or maybe the inadequacy and/or causation of treatment.

I think Daniel would know more about this - I'll see if he has a comment.

Re: Founder who lived with bipolar for years started a company to tackle the stigma

#20

Post by bipolarengineer »

limeblack wrote: post #17
bipolarengineer wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what you're saying. i was hospitalized last year during the election while thinking that the gov. was after me, reporting a coworker as a terrorist (def not a terrorist) etc. i could go on. actually i will go on: reported the nicest guy to HR (he's fine) was on the verge of suicide, then thought "people" were after me and just completely flipped shit. family member kindly allowed me to stay at their home…

Psychosis is not required to have a diagnosis of bipolar and frankly I do not personally believe that it should be included in bipolar(it should be a separate diagnosis). IMO and many other psychologists opinions is that bipolar by the general public is often viewed as a mood disorder(not the psychosis part).

regardless, i had some sort of psychotic attack which lasted for several days along with a list of other symptoms which are fully documented, observed and on record. i have hardly been able to hold a job since that event and am stumbling through life.
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