John, I would hitch-hike my way from Ohio to Orlando to see you as Mick....

But I think I know what you are saying here.  And it must be exciting to be coached by Tom Wootton!  When I first began reading his book, I felt like I was holding a poisonous snake.  You know: excited, scared, unsure of what to do next.  I put the book aside for awhile while to read the rest of the bipolar library, then picked it up again.  I knew that I was "maturing" in my outlook when I understood his preference for calling it a condition vs. disorder.

I tend to relate everything back to what I knew pre-diagnosis as a framework for understanding, (I'm sure we all do).  For me, it clicked when I went beyond understanding the medical textbook for obstetrical management to a holistic approach of midwifery, (meaning "with woman").  Childbirth wasn't an illness, but a condition.

To get to the point:  I wanted to tie what I knew about the fear-stress-brain connection as I learned that educating my patients about what was happening, how to understand the pain, how having less fear,  and less stress would promote a better, healthier, more empowering outcome.

And sometimes the results were amazing.  It was pure mindfulness at work to witness a natural birth without drugs. The ladies would seem to go "into themselves".

I will make mindfulness my mantra,

Angie 

John McManamy, Health Guide

7/14/07 10:17pm

Hi, Angie. For quite a while I have only thought of my bipolar as an illness in terms of what it is capable of doing to me. Right now, it is just something I live with, a condition if you like. But I know full well that it is a sword hanging over me; hence the need to on one hand forget I have an illness, and on the other always be aware that my condition can snatch everything I worked so hard to achieve away from me in an instant. Hence mindfulness and everything else.

Speaking of mindfulness, I will be receiving a review copy very soon on mindfulness and depression, with Kabat-Zinn as one of the authors. Stay tuned ...

Angie

7/15/07 11:26am

Thanks for the "heads-up" on the book, John.

 

And also gently bringing to my attention that I may have been comparing apples to oranges with my analogy.  While childbrth is a normal, yet altered state of health, bipolar disorder is in no way normal anything.  But, we're all here to learn, to manage, to survive, to educate, and maintain a state of wellness.  Best of luck in Orlando!  Someday I hope to meet you somewhere.

 

Angie 

John McManamy, Health Guide

7/16/07 1:07am

Many thanks, Angie. I'm sure we'll meet up. I definitely agree with Tom W that we should think of bipolar as an advantage, though we need to be sufficiently far enough in our recovery to appreciate that. We do have the capacity to shoot for "better than normal" rather than just normal. But I'm only going to "live well" if I give my illness the respect it deserves, which is why I choose to call it an illness. But that doesn't mean Tom is wrong. "Condition" works for him.