Let`s talk about Bipolar

Hi guys. I thought about the Tuesday chat from last night. I really liked that one of the presenters mentioned "self stigma" . I feel that's so well said as I believe we often put stigma on ourselves by not accepting our diagnosis and thinking less of ourselves.

Great forum for bipolar suffers like me. I struggle with meds, am living with osteoarthritis as a consequence, but take meds short term, cos I value my relationships with my family. I've become a bit of a hermit, (6 years of sulking, is this my life now? passive mentally and physically except for the odd manic episode) but after visiting with my kids and getting flooded out, I made a choice to re-engage with life again. So I'm pushing my pain levels, and feeling motivated again, but pain makes me bad to be around and I have the mania doing its best to maintain top position in my life. To feel numb and give up, or open oneself to the pleasure and pain of life and the struggle with the polarity of depression and mania?

Loving the forum, lots of good advice.

I can relate to what you are saying @grayhorn. Sometimes closing off is so much easier. I personally try to open up to life with periods of withdrawal and laying low when the moods are in control. Did you get through the floods okay?

Olga XOXO

Thank you for sharing @grayhorn . You have pointed out some really powerful thoughts. "I made a choice to re-engage with life" brought tears to my eyes. This is exactly what I have also done. And now, as a peer support worker, I am able to use my experiences for the betterment of others.

It's such an amazing feeling to re-connect with life. It's not easy, and there are definitely tumbles along the way, but it's totally worth it!

Thank you so much for sharing,

tyme

Hi Bipolarbunny

I wrote a poem about my cat. During a time when I was pretty withdrawn socially, I was asked to mind my neighbours' 7 year old kid after school for the autumn term, cos their after school care had fallen through and her parents were both working that weekday. This kid was joyful and curious, and barely stopped moving. So we often did activities outside. I was still working 2 days a week but apart from that I didn't have any other regular social interactions.She reintroduced me to my child self and taught me to play again. So I wrote a poem...age adjusted to represent present time

Ode to Bunny

Queen Bonnyvillle Bunnikens Buttons Doreen

is my moggy and she's sweet as a bean

she doesn't do much, she sleeps quite a lot

she won't sleep on my bed when it's hot

Bunny's 9 this April, lo and behold

my truest friend to have and to hold

she never minds when I'm smelly or sad

I love her to bits cos she makes me feel glad

one for all and all for one

tea for 2 and time in the sun

but when the moon's dark and it's time to be still

Bunny's asleep on the windowsill

• I love it @grayhorn !

Hello @grayhorn , @Bunniekins , @Olga , @Shaz51 , @tyme

and other visitors to this thread

@grayhorn, @bipolarbunny is on "leave" at the present time. You mentioned that you would like to be able to read more of @bipolarbunny 's poetry. A couple of threads in which you will find more poetry and prose, by various members, many by @bipolarbunny, are:

"Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy" {lots of poems} and

"Writing and receiving letters via virtual post" {mostly prose}

I looked through this thread {"Let`s talk about Bipolar"} and found one poem which follows:

by

@bipolarbunny

Community Elder

10 May 2021 05:39 PM

Re: Let`s talk about Bipolar

@greenpea

My Beautiful Pea

Love BB

Hoping that you will find more material that will appeal to you

With Best Wishes

@HenryX

P.S. @grayhorn , You may, I hope, find the information in the following post helpful. While it is detailed and covers a lot of ground, it may be a good place to go if you have difficulties in the site. You can get there by left-clicking the following link, or by copying and pasting the link into the browser search bar:

https://saneforums.org/t5/Welcome-getting-started/New-Members-A-few-tips-Please-keep-this-thread-for-tips-and/m-p/1152115?search-action-id=91072652613&search-result-uid=1152115

Cheers, @HenryX

Hi HenryX

Gorgeous to read bipolar bunny's poem, and thanks so much for the link for help with navigating the site.

All the very best to you