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My illness
No longer ashamed of having a mental illness, I would like to tell you what things were and are like for me. I have Bipolar Effective Disorder. Once known as Manic Depression, the effects can be catastrophic on the individual with it and his family and friends. I was diagnosed with this condition about 10 years ago. It was said to have been triggered by job loss and the need to return to the UK from the States after many happy years (10 in all). After diagnosis the psychiatrists settled on a regime of drugs, which kept me in a stable condition. This meant that I no longer went from serious depression to manic highs. In the depression phases I attempted to take my own life at least once. In the manic phases I thought I could do anything and started dozens of projects at the same time and never finished any of them. During these phases I was never aware of my condition. When I told my daughter of 34 years, she said "But Dad you have always been like that!" It just goes to show that mental health problems can be insidious. My problems is now controlled by drugs like Priadel(Lithium), Sertraline and Tegretol (Carbamazapine) Due to the side effects I have to have blood tests every 3 months to see whether I have liver damage and serum changes. Regardless of the side effects, I have taken these drugs for over 10 years and will continue to do so until I pass away.
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Contributor's Note
If you or your loved ones become aware of this sort of condition. Try to persuade them to get treatment and stick with it. The problem is just a chemical imbalance in the brain and like any physical illness is nothing to be ashamed of.
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Like you said, it just goes to show that mental health problems can be insidious. Thanks for the information.
There is really nothing to be ashamed of.
Call me old-fashioned, but I would agree with your daughter, being alternately morose and euphoric is just the way one is, not an "illness" to be treated with medications that can cause liver damage. What's wrong with having lows if one is compensated with the occasional high? If one were depressed ALL the time, perhaps medication would be a good idea, but swinging wildly from depressed to delighted is just normal if you ask me. I've probably got it too, I guess. 
 | | nick Sep 22, 2008 16:11 | |
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
In fact the degree of my Bipolar is such that to be without medication would put me at risk from severe behavioural problems including suicide.
The medications are monitored for side effects. I would rather take the risk than suffer the effects of my bipolar.
I too have to agree with Nick. Consuming pills for years and years can not be good for the body's natural harmone balance. I suffer chronic low-back pain from an injury back in the mid 70s. Many years of pain pill consumption broke down my digestive system; then there were many years of digestive adjustment (via another pill to work with the pain pill) both still breaking down my digestive sytem to the point I could not burp or pout. My system got to the point where nothing would digest. Anything I consumed would just rest somewhere in my digestive track and firment. Gas started traveling anywhere it wanted inside of me, behind the lungs even arteries. I took myself off of everything and tried different teas and consumed lots of liquids. Consuming 1.5 liters of purified water ~ time my feet hit the floor (before brusing teeth) in the mornings relieves more than just digestive issues.
Mental illness is not the same as other health conditions and Bipolar illness is definitely not the same as being alternately morose and euphoric. It's the degree of mood that makes the difference between being suicidal (mental illness) and just being very sad.
I agree, physical ailments are not the same as mental ailments. The point of my offering is prolong use of medications "can not be good for the body's natural harmone balance" ~ now that I can no longer take meds, I often wonder if my treating physician failed to mention, there should have been breaks in medication therapy in order to try something else more natural or even alternative medicines. Some cases of bipolar disorder may benefit from alternative medicines.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Be that as it may, the results of my not taking my medication are very severe both for me and my family. I had a problem when I ran out of my medication whilst away in France. I was only without the tablets for 2 or 3 days but it caused me to be extremely manic so much so that I nearly wrecked the holiday.
All this withought me recognising my condition.
I think I will stick to the medication in future.
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