Information and opinions on BipolarConnect from G.J. Gregory http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41 en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/ http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/26845/thanks-to-all Sat May 03 03:06:00 -0400 2008 G.J. Gregory Seven years ago I began blogging.  First to document my son’s struggles, then to help me deal with mine.   Blogging for me has filled many needs.  I started off looking for answers, hoping others could share insight on what my son, and then I, was experiencing.  While looking for answers, I discovered the therapeutic powers of blogging.  Then, while reaping those benefits I discovered an incredible community... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/26845/thanks-to-all http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/23525/wanted Sun Mar 30 14:48:00 -0400 2008 G.J. Gregory I’m still around, even though I’ve only been able to manage one post in the last 2 months.   BipolarConnect has published a few of my older posts, so I appreciate them not allowing me to fade completely away.   It's been 2 months, and I continue to experience a debilitating mania.  But debilitating in ways I can’t understand.  I can (more or less) work, I can interact with others, I can attend... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/23525/wanted http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/21379/hold-im-coming Tue Mar 11 13:42:00 -0400 2008 G.J. Gregory Just a quick post today to say I'm still kicking.Recovering from a nasty episode of mania.  I've never been hospitalized for bipolar disorder, but I probably should have gone on this one.  I was in pretty bad shape.  For me, as I've written before, the criteria for true mania (as opposed to hypomania) is psychosis, or loss of touch with reality.  I know the perceptions of the word "psychosis", it has... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/21379/hold-im-coming http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/21191/mania Wed Mar 05 23:41:00 -0500 2008 G.J. Gregory It seems like I'm always whining about something, doesn't it? I'm actually a very positive person, but when writing it's like opening the vault. All the stuff I've been holding inside comes to the surface. That's a very good thing - for me. But thinking back, a lot of my shareposts have been negative in nature. I try to give an accurate picture of how this disorder impacts my life, and for me there's a lot of... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/21191/mania http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/20352/sing-cry-mania Wed Feb 13 22:20:00 -0500 2008 G.J. Gregory Like much of bipolar disorder there is a lot of confusion on moods. What is depression, hypomania, mania? How can you distinguish between the various moods? I’ve put together a tongue-in-cheek list of ways I distinguish between my personal moods. As you read these, get ready to leave comments with your own lists. Hypomania: It’s great not having to sleep. Mania: If I don’t sleep I’ll end up in the... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/20352/sing-cry-mania http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/19906/soldier-record-level Fri Feb 01 15:31:00 -0500 2008 G.J. Gregory Soldier Suicides at Record Level - Washington PostIncrease Linked to Long Wars, Lack of Army Resources"Suicides among active-duty soldiers in 2007 reached their highest level since the Army began keeping such records in 1980, according to a draft internal study obtained by The Washington Post. Last year, 121 soldiers took their own lives, nearly 20 percent more than in 2006.""At the same time, the number of attempted suicides or... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/19906/soldier-record-level http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/19840/thoughts-nami Wed Jan 30 17:09:00 -0500 2008 G.J. Gregory NAMI (National Alliance On Mental Illness) recently sent out questionnaires to the US Presidential candidates on mental health related issues. They just published those responses, they can be seen here. That's right, this is a US political post. I can hear the groans from my friends as far away as Australia. I promise not to write too much about US politics, but the issues go to my core. Let me pause right here and talk about my... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/19840/thoughts-nami http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/19462/bipolar-paradox Mon Jan 21 23:19:00 -0500 2008 G.J. Gregory This is one of those philosophic posts, when I’m over thinking everything. I can hear it coming – “GJ is in one of THOSE moods again…” The funny thing is, I can’t tell you what kind of mood I’m in. I know it’s changing, I have a feeling it could get pretty bad. It might be mania, I slept little last night, I’m VERY irritable, and I’m not able to concentrate. It might be... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/19462/bipolar-paradox http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/19380/follow-previous-post Sat Jan 19 15:54:00 -0500 2008 G.J. Gregory A couple of weeks ago I made a post called Stories In The News. The last part of that post was about Percy Paul, a brilliant mathematician from Canada who suffers from bipolar disorder. He's the subject of a documentary that originally aired on CBC called "Flight From Darkness". Percy found this post, and in the comments left us a link where we can see a video of this documentary:Flight From Darkness.  This is an excellent... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/19380/follow-previous-post http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/19364/bipolar-disorder Sat Jan 19 02:08:00 -0500 2008 G.J. Gregory Recently I wrote about triggers, and discussed the recognizing those situations and events that can trigger a bipolar episode. Currently I’m finding myself in a different situation, that of recognizing symptoms that might signal an impending mania.My biggest concern right now is the hallucinations I’ve been seeing. I frequently see movement from my peripheral vision, but the last several days it’s escalated. It peaked last... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/41/19364/bipolar-disorder