Hi John,
I was sitting at the same lunch table as you on Saturday before your second session. We talked about the spectrum thing... I wanted to tell you that I have almost finished your book and I am planning to pass it along to my therapist and psychiatrist next week. Your name will be known in this corner of Jacksonville Beach. I have chronic unipolar
and substance abuse. I believe we have more in common than not and the tools
for recovery are essentially the same.
I don't expect you to remember everyone you met, but please know that you made an impression and I am very grateful to have met you and to have this additional resource.
Best regards, Margaret Gates
hi john,
thanks for the reply.one question is killing me these days-since i was diagnosed bipolar i have been thinking over my life-and i found that i really dont want to live the life of an average man.since my childhood i was different and now i want to help out others who are like me and still don't know what's wrong with them(call it advocacy,volunteering whatever)!only problem is that i am worried if i am running away from problems(as psychologists put it-"altruistic defence mechanism") so should i follow my heart or am i just compounding my problems by seeking a reprieve elsewher???
My husband's sister has been struggling with bi-polar disorder for many years. She has been hospitalzed several times and for quite a while has done a pretty good job of maintaining her medication schedule and going to counseling. We are worried though because when she is depressed, she delays getting medicine becuase she doesn't like to have to manage what she describes as getting "too high" and then tapering off. So, she waits and while she waits for a real crisis to develop, she is very abusive to her 85 year-old mother. She also withdraws so it is very hard to help her. We do love her very much but just don't know what to do. We have tried just about everything we can think of - buying her vacation trips and other gifts to help her rest and feel better, but it doesn't really work. She has had this diagnosis for over twenty years and she is pretty resistant to any suggestions - maybe rightfully so because we certainly don't know it as intimately as she does; but we are so worried because when she is depressed, she talks about finding a way to kill her mother that won't be easily traced back to her. We don't think that she would really do anything like that, but it is awful to hear and we've heard it a lot. She said that her therapist agrees with her that her mother is an awful person, which I find hard to believe. Do you have any suggestions? My husband (her brother) thinks that if we just keep buying her things, it will help, but it really doesn't seem to make a difference in the long run. If there is anything you know of that would help, could you please let us know? We don't want to upset her when she is already upset, but we want to try and help her and also protect our mother(in-law) who is really suffering from these episodes and is not in the best of health. We appreciate any advice you can offer us. Thank you.
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Greetings John!
Your post brought me right back to the days when I gave presentations at conferences on topics like: assertiveness, self and peer advocacy, my personal experiences with bi-polar and other topics. I could feel the pulse of the conferece, and I must admit, I became quite nostalgic, longing for those days when I was doing what you are.
You are a fantastic writer; you describe everything in such great detail, that anyone could imagine being right there with you. I know this is going to sound stupid, but what does DBSA stand for? I have been trying to figure it out, but so far, no luck.
What other kinds of conferences do you attend, either annually or just when requested? What kinds of topics do you usually cover? Have you been doing this for a long time?
I like your comment that you will always make time for the "little guy" rather than for the big shots. I think it is all too easy to get caught up in the "fame" of being a national speaker, and forget the reason why we are there to begin with. It sounds like you really have your head in the right place.
Well, gotta go for now. Keep us posted with your delightful stories of life as a bipolar person, who just happens to be a national speaker. It is possible that we may know some of the same people on the national circuit. I would love to hear more from you. I just recently signed up for this forum, and I like what I see coming from you. Keep up the awesome work!
Kay
Hi,John. i am very new to shareposts and blogs,but an avid reader of your website articles.They are the best available on the net so far.i wanted to share something about me and mailed it to you.just wanted to know whether it will be read or mails from unknown peolple just end up in the junk folder?Is it ok to mail u at your mail address about anything?