Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Support is key to survive with bipolar disorder

This morning as I was going through reading my daily blog post, and I was suddenly empowered by how much support there is out there for people that have bipolar disorder. Back in the 1980's when I was first diagnosed with bipolar disorder, support groups were confined to going to a local meeting and sometimes with this disorder you are not always able to physically make it there. While those meeting are valuable and needed, it is encouraging to find new ways to interact with others immediately and read about their own struggles and success. I know this weekend my depression was starting to rear it's ugly head and I was empowered and refreshed from responses from others that follow me on twitter as well as some blog post I was reading. Here is a list of  a few blogs that I looked through that truly made me feel not alone and they knew exactly how I was feeling.  I encourage you to check these out as well and find more personal stories and others that have bipolar disorder to interact with and to most of all feel connected.

http://geneanderson.blogspot.com/
http://suddenlybipolar.wordpress.com/
http://myyeartothrive.wordpress.com/
http://bipolarbatesy.blogspot.com/

I guess I am still amazed at how social media sites can actually be the newest form of support.  The best part of it is when you are depressed you may not feel like getting out of the house at that moment but by making these connections before you have an episode you already have a nice network to reach out to for help.  I believe if everyone that has bipolar disorder had some type of support they would be much more successful in staying stable and reaching out for help.  I know when I first heard of twitter I was not quick to sign up for an account because I thought it was just a place for status updates.  I had no idea how valuable it would be to connect with others that have similar experiences and struggles.  I would encourage you today if you have bipolar disorder to find some type of support.  It can be as easy as logging into http://www.nami.org/ and posting comments on the message boards when you have questions or just need someone to listen.  I think not feeling alone or that you are not the only one that feels the way you do is key and an essential part in living a stable life and surviving with bipolar disorder.

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