"Sicko" is Not Controversial; It is a Challenge

Dear Angie

You are doing the right thing learning all you can. I am in a priveleged position with the experiences I have and am now dedicating my time to developing the approaches that bipolar people need to "have their cake and eat it" .. see comment 9 on John's Eight Fold path. I am working with a behavioural medicine specialist who was my GP for 20 years and allowed me to be free of psychiatrists for 24 years. We developed a Self Management technique using Mindfulness or awareness of mind/mood state so action could be taken to prevent further elevation.

We are now developing onward from that after I drifted away from being mindful with dire consequences. Four years later and a failed suicide I am back to stability and a new life at 60. Mindfulness has to be for life - we must never forget we have the capability of becoming ill !!!

We have made discoveries which will become apparent over coming months which we believe will enable many bipolar people who have the will .. to slowly and carefully go drug free. It is like riding a bike .. you have to learn and often it is best to do so with stabilisers.

I now have a huge amount of information regarding brain physiology and how to influence it. Breathing right is absolutely key. Keeping the brain predominantly working in the frontal cortex (thinking brain) instead of the emotional brain is possible when you learn mind changing techniques.

Nick

Before meds ... there were mind tools and much understanding that has been lost. My thesis has to be, as we understand more of the physiology and understand more how our individual minds operate and we fullfil our needs and improve the physiology we CAN get control of our mind .. i.e. we can change our minds ... slowly and carefully we can remove the meds and gain confidence.

Yes, as you say we need the hygiene factors right .. but perhaps most of all we need the mind factors right ... connectedness, mindfulness and breath control.

Yesterday at a local bipolar group meeting we connected three bipolar people to a capnometer and checked their blood carbon dioxide levels. Two were below the 'normal' level and one had severe chronic hypocapnia. Search hypocapnia on the web and understand what that condition does to the brain ... severe cognitive thought impairment ... and blood chemistry imbalance. Hypocapnia, which is caused by overbreathing, can be corrected by breath retraining but it can take a lot to achieve it. How many bipolar people unknowingly suffer from a degree of hypocapnia ??? a physiological problem. It is a very destabilising condition. As the body works to compensate it excretes electrolytes. Hypocapnia causes a lot of other physical complaints that defy diagnosis ..

Nick

Meds have the advantage of working regardless .. my 24 years of stability used mindfulness to realise I needed to 'slow down'. The action was to relax, walk or whatever. When all else failed then a few (2 or 3) 0.5mg Haloperidol capsules always did the trick.

Same will apply, but as confidence builds .. read meditate instead of Haloperidol ? The jury will be out for a few years shortly, when I ween myself off everything.

Nick