Bipolar Expert John McManamy shares Bipolar management news and commentary at BipolarConnect.com. The HealthCentral Network, Inc. (www.HealthCentral.com) is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15 http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15 http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/36396/sitting-olympics Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:29:00 -0400 John McManamy It's Olympics time. Which means statistics, fact sheets, and a bit of history. Following is McMan's Olympic Guide:650: Buddhism introduced to Tibet.1949: Communist government established in China.1950-1951: Chinese invade and occupy Tibet. "Autonomy" accord signed. The Chinese Foreign Ministry in 2007 describes events as a "peaceful liberation."1959: Chinese crush rebellion. An estimated 430,000 Tibetans are killed (the Chinese cite a much lower... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/36396/sitting-olympics http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/35717/relationships Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:39:53 -0400 John McManamy This morning, a reader brought to my attention a blog I had posted 10 months before:Bipolars in Relationships: Emotional Safety is ParamountInteresting, I thought. I wonder what I wrote“My ‘normal’ may well be my partner's ‘strange,’” I read. Too often, we’re the ones who cause our partners to walk on eggshells. We have to take responsibility. We have to modify our behavior. But what about our needs?Our... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/35717/relationships http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/34728/hug-gorilla-sing Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:30:25 -0400 John McManamy   Chances are you’ve experienced one of these moments.  You wake up in a state of total shock and dismay over something you did the day before. You know how it is. Maybe, at the office party, you had too much to drink and you hit on your boss’ wife. Maybe, you suddenly realize that, at a Star Trek convention, you spoke Klingon to a bunch of Cardassians.The truth strikes home. You can’t take it back. There will be... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/34728/hug-gorilla-sing http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/33948/joseph-brother Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:21:00 -0400 John McManamy What I miss most about trimming back my public speaking to almost nothing is what I learn from interacting with my audience.Last week, at a Q and A with a NAMI group in Pasadena, a young man asked: "I have schizophrenia. Will I benefit from your book?"Yes, I replied without hesitation. In my warm-up to the Q and A, I had referred to stress as complicit in virtually all symptoms and behaviors, and that included bipolar and schizophrenia. No... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/33948/joseph-brother http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/33431/back-world Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:18:07 -0400 John McManamy I’m in Union Station, Los Angeles, awaiting the Surf Liner back to San Diego. The trip features spectacular vistas of the Pacific Ocean, but I’ll probably sleep the whole way. A brief recounting:Monday: I check into a hotel in downtown San Diego. I’ll be boarding AMTRAK to LA the following morning. I’ve got the phone number of a very lovely woman I met the week before. Should I call her? I fight off a severe anxiety... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/33431/back-world http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/32858/back-belong Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:35:33 -0400 John McManamy Mid-May. I am in Washington, DC on the last day of an exhausting east coast road trip. I already know from past experience that once I return home it's going to take at least three days for my brain to reset to normal.A new email, from a good friend in LA, is in my inbox:" ... invite you to be a speaker ..."No way. Last year stretched me beyond my limits. Mind you, by the standards of a Presidential candidate, I had the equivalent of a year off.... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/32858/back-belong http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/32022/farewell-weatherman Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:53:00 -0400 John McManamy Dateline; The distant past.I am 16 or 17. I am channel-surfing all three channels."This is the Hippy Dippy Weatherman with the hippy dippy weather, man."Pause."And today's high was 212. That's when the weather station caught on fire."This was an era when "Get Smart" and F-Troop" were the hippest, smartest comedies on TV. "And the temperature at the airport ... No one lives at the airport."This was an age of great stand-up comedy, but the punch... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/32022/farewell-weatherman http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/31585/glass Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:48:44 -0400 John McManamy Interesting ...I just found something more revealing than a mirror, more accurate than a crystal ball, more perceptive than a trusted friend, more objective than a professional advisor.It's called starring in your own videos.Until very recently, I would not have even considered doing a video. Until my daughter got married in March, I never even owned a camera. I don't like looking at my own face.Same with hearing my own voice.I have been... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/31585/glass http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/30867/manic-memoir-thumbs Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:13:39 -0400 John McManamy “I could feel the sunlight through my clothes, dilating my pores and flushing my pasty, winter-white skin. I could feel the little hairs along my arms and the back of my neck start to ripple with pleasure like wind-stroked wheat and -“Oh my God ... the little hairs.”The passage is from the recently-published “Manic: A Memoir” by Terri Cheney.To Terri, her little hairs are equivalent to the numbers dropping off a... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/30867/manic-memoir-thumbs http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/30028/making-movies-lincoln Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:34:51 -0400 John McManamy On my trip to Washington DC last month, I packed my new camcorder. Until my daughter's wedding in March, I never owned a camera. At the psychiatric conference I attended, I got some talking head shots, then I paid a visit to the FDR and Lincoln Memorials.I paid $800 for my camcorder. Little did I know I should have shelled out $3,500 minimum, plus another $3,500 for a decent lens, probably $10,000 for three more, plus $20,000 worth of... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/30028/making-movies-lincoln