Information and opinions on BipolarConnect from Lynne Taetzsch http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70 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/70/9791/goodbye Thu May 24 16:06:01 -0400 2007 Lynne Taetzsch This will be my last sharepost as an expert patient for BipolarConnect.com.  I am a full-time abstract artist, and lately it has been hard to keep up with everything.  In June I’m going to be in shows at The Hopper House Art Center in Nyack, New York, and Monkdogz Urban Art in New York City.  Plus I’ve been getting a lot of activity through my art website, http://www.artbylt.com.    Today being an artist means... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/9791/goodbye http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/9478/support-groups Mon May 14 11:02:01 -0400 2007 Lynne Taetzsch This week I got a call from a college student, let’s call her “Jane,” who wanted to observe our bipolar support group meeting in order to write a paper about it to fulfill a school assignment.  Jane was taking a class in Clinical Psychiatry and was to write about the format and process of our meeting rather than the content.  She assured me everything would be confidential and that she would use no names.  She asked if she... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/9478/support-groups http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/9287/sick-give-break Mon May 07 14:24:01 -0400 2007 Lynne Taetzsch After getting through the whole winter without being sick, and congratulating myself on that fact, I picked up a head cold from my granddaughter last week.  I had had some sleepless nights and our new spring weather slipped back into freezing temps, so my defenses were down.    Adrian and I both got the cold, but each of us dealt with it in opposite ways.  Adrian went to the gym to work it out of his system.  I... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/9287/sick-give-break http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/9062/money-management Mon Apr 30 13:23:01 -0400 2007 Lynne Taetzsch This week at our bipolar meeting, we talked about problems dealing with money, and in particular, going through bankruptcy.  I remember the first time I had to file bankruptcy in the early 70s when my small business failed.  I felt such a sense of shame, failure, and humiliation.  I sat around drinking all day and thinking about killing myself.    The bankruptcy put the final nail in the coffin of my... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/9062/money-management http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/8865/harder-bipolar Mon Apr 23 14:42:01 -0400 2007 Lynne Taetzsch We flew from New York to California for ten days to visit family, and while it was a good trip (every day sunny and warm), I seem to be having a lot of trouble getting my life back on track after returning.  Maybe it didn’t help that we got home at 2:30 a.m., or that traveling by plane these days is a grueling ordeal.  We started off on the wrong foot by missing our plane because Adrian left his wallet home and had no picture... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/8865/harder-bipolar http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/8553/kurt-social-critic Fri Apr 13 14:34:01 -0400 2007 Lynne Taetzsch Kurt Vonnegut, one of my all-time favorite authors, died this week at the age of 84.  His 19 novels and dozens of short stories, essays and plays, made him world-famous, but many people may not know that he suffered from depression all his life and attempted suicide with pills and alcohol in 1984.  He was a humorist, a skeptic, and a social critic who entertained us at the same time he made us think deeply about serious issues.One... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/8553/kurt-social-critic http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/8391/individual-reactions Mon Apr 09 13:56:01 -0400 2007 Lynne Taetzsch At our last bipolar support group meeting, one of our members mentioned that he had had a terrible reaction to Risperdal. Instead of helping calm him down, the Risperdal made him so jittery he thought he might jump out of his skin. Another member said she was prescribed Risperdal to help her sleep, and was knocked out for two days.  A third person said that cutting her 25 mg pill in half did the trick.  She was able to get a good... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/8391/individual-reactions http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/7689/program-working Mon Mar 19 14:15:00 -0400 2007 Lynne Taetzsch When young people first come out of a hospital diagnosed with a mental illness, they are often too ill to immediately return to school or work, yet they still need someplace to go and something to do.  This is what motivated Carole Stone of Ithaca, New York, to work with others to form a board and incorporate Compos Mentis: Working Toward Wellness Inc.  Compos Mentis means, in Latin, “in control of your mind.”  After she... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/7689/program-working http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/7471/diagnosing-bipolar-ii Mon Mar 12 14:35:00 -0400 2007 Lynne Taetzsch Those of us who get a milder form of mania called hypomania, in which the symptoms are not as severe and certainly never require hospitalization, are said to have Bipolar II in contrast to Bipolar I.  But very often, because we only complain about our depressions and actually welcome the hypomania, we are misdiagnosed.That is exactly what happened to me.  Most of my life I had no idea I was bipolar, even though I'd had symptoms... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/7471/diagnosing-bipolar-ii http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/7470/wake-lynne Mon Mar 12 14:21:00 -0400 2007 Lynne Taetzsch “Wake up, Lynne!”I’m in one of those moods where I’m doubting everything I’m doing and want to make major changes.  Just get me out of the status quo.  I think I need a road trip.  But wait.  I had one a couple weekends ago, and it didn’t seem to help.  I think I need a break from winter.  Temps have been in the low teens for the past two weeks, with the wind-chill making it feel much colder.  Yet... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/70/7470/wake-lynne