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/15/103039/loving-relationships Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:45:53 -0500 John McManamy Valentine’s Day is approaching and I won’t be taking someone special out to dinner. According to various studies, at least two-thirds of you are in a similar state. Mastering loving relationships is difficult enough as it is without a severe mental illness to contend with. It’s not just the bipolar. Virtually all of us come pre-loaded with at least two or three other conditions - trauma, anxiety, personality issues, drinking... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/103039/loving-relationships http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/102765/loving-relationships Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:44:19 -0500 John McManamy Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and I have no one to send flowers to. I have two marriages that ended, plus a string of short-lived relationships. Don't get me wrong - I see the positives. Nevertheless, I could be doing better. Love is never easy, but on top of everything else, we are contending with an illness that sets us up to be alone. The statistics are sobering, indicating that living in a loving relationship may be beyond the... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/102765/loving-relationships http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/102322/bipolar Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:16:26 -0500 John McManamy Last week, I revisited a piece I published here at BipolarConnect more than four years ago, a top ten list of bipolar myths. To my surprise, the list was not much different than something I would have written today, though I did manage to come up with three additions.The piece drew 33 insightful comments, which I will take up in a future post. Today I will focus on my first reply, from Lori, who had this myth to add:People with bipolar all have... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/102322/bipolar http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/102172/question-symptoms Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:05:29 -0500 John McManamy Let's play a little mind game. The experts have decided that you know more about your own illness than they do. They need your guidance. They've decided that the current DSM description of bipolar and its various symptom lists (depression, mania, hypomania, mixed) are in need of an overhaul. Help us, they are saying. What is YOUR clinical reality? What are we missing?   Question: What additional symptoms or cluster of symptoms would you... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/102172/question-symptoms http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/101564/bipolar-revisited Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:10:17 -0500 John McManamy Back in Oct 2005, HealthCentral signed me on as an “expert patient” for a BipolarConnect site that at the time technically did not exist. My first assignment was an article on The Top Ten Myths of Bipolar Disorder. Seasons come, seasons go. HealthCentral quickly became one of the web’s major health sites, and BipolarConnect grew with it. Not long ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see my original blast from the past featured on... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/101564/bipolar-revisited http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/101490/week-hypersexuality Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:47:44 -0500 John McManamy I need your help here. A couple of days ago, in relation to Tiger Woods, I Googled “hypersexuality.” Half of the first page results were from websites dealing with bipolar. Holy cow! This kind of conversation can go in all directions, so I'm going to make this week’s question as general as I can:Bipolar and hypersexuality - what say you?Go for it ... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/101490/week-hypersexuality http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/100980/resolution-breaking Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:11:47 -0500 John McManamy In successive Questions of the Week, I asked about resolutions and things you plan to do this month, how you keep your resolutions, and successes you've had in moving your life forward. Faced with the daily challenge of our illness, nearly all of us have no choice but to implement major course corrections. We know what to do, we have the best intentions. But - alas! - we're human. "Normal," even.Generally, in these shareposts, I am feeding off... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/100980/resolution-breaking http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/100779/question-success Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:56:22 -0500 John McManamy We're great at beating ourselves up. That's the nature of the depressive aspect of our illness. If you're in a depression right now, the following question may be almost impossible to answer. Please, reach deep and give it a try. You're not the screw-up or lazy person or whatever else your brain is trying to trick you into believing. To the contrary, living with this illness demands extraordinary efforts from you. Don't be shy. Tell us about... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/100779/question-success http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/100292/ten-bipolar-disorder Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:43:00 -0500 John McManamy Last week, as a Question of the Week, I asked: If a newly-diagnosed individual asked you what ten things he or she needs to know about his or her condition, what would you tell that person? The answers I received should be printed out for distribution to everyone newly diagnosed with bipolar. Those of us well-versed in our diagnosis can also benefit from a timely review. Many thanks to Julian, Baptistbo, Nonethewiser, M, Lori, and Lisa.... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/100292/ten-bipolar-disorder http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/100013/question-resolutions Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:07:25 -0500 John McManamy We're all good at making resolutions. Keeping them is another matter. Five days into January and already our lives are littered with broken resolutions.   Resolutions are not a once-a-year thing for our population. Our illness takes no prisoners, and managing it requires 180 degree course corrections in our behaviors - from smart lifestyle choices (diet, exercise, sleep), to disciplining ourselves to new routines, to sticking to our meds,... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/100013/question-resolutions