I am excited to present WellStream. >> www.thewellstream.com
WellStream is a project that I launched in September 2020 and is the product of my transition into working on my business full-time. At it’s heart WellStream is about Continue Reading
I am excited to present WellStream. >> www.thewellstream.com
WellStream is a project that I launched in September 2020 and is the product of my transition into working on my business full-time. At it’s heart WellStream is about Continue Reading
The author at his job. Photo credit P Douglas.
Introducing the blog: a space for me to easily share news, progress, thoughts, and stories. This first entry covers important news regarding a change of speed and direction for KindBipolar in 2019 and 2020. Continue Reading
Featured Image by Sean Stratton
This article begins the idea of a Practice Based Cure for Bipolar Disorder. We look at what bipolar does to our mental, emotional, and physical stability. Four precise and powerful techniques are introduced for reclaiming stability in our lives. Video lessons for this are available at the bottom of the article. Continue Reading
In this article we learn how to manage manic episodes by BAILing out of mania.
It is far quicker to destroy than to create. Relationships, a home, a career, self-esteem and peace of mind take time and work to build. They can be damaged or destroyed in an instant. This is the danger of Manic Episodes to us living with bipolar. We become Continue Reading
Featured image by Himesh Kumar Behera
Take our free 2-minute bipolar specific quiz to practice the skills of self-reflection and pattern-recognition.
Knowing which of the six phases of bipolar we are in empowers us to stay mentally well. Successfully locating ourselves in the bipolar cycle requires that we develop sensitivity to our emotions and energy levels. In practice this means reflecting on our day and trying to identify how our energy and emotions are shaping our perspective, choices, and actions. Continue Reading
Here is an updated suggested reading order for the articles on KindBipolar.
Please enjoy the writing and accompanying photographs.
Articles including techniques are marked.
1. Don’t ever forget how amazing you are.
In recognition and appreciation of everyone who lives with mental illness.
2. The Myth of Dry Land.
A personal account of accepting changes to gain control over bipolar disorder.
3. The six episodic states of bipolar disorder.
Euthymia, Major Depressive Disorder, Subsyndromal Symptomatic Depression, Mania, and Hypomania. These five episodic states are described and personal experiences of each are shared.
4. Getting Diagnosed Part 1: a Fork in the Road.
Describes my own fear of diagnosis and my step by step experience of becoming diagnosed, including medication. I discuss how being diagnosed with bipolar suddenly changed my life.
5. Getting Diagnosed Part 2: My Self in Society.
Describing aspects of human rights, confidentiality, and privacy in society and at work. I examine how the diagnosis has changed the way I relate to other people and myself.
6. When your emotional compass is broken, steer by kindness.
Technique. The first KindBipolar article. An important technique for making good decisions, taking safe actions, and communicating during intense bipolar episodes.
7. Five priorities for creating a healthy bipolar life.
Technique. Sleep. Exercise. Empty Time. Real Communication. Self Kindness. These five things enable me to live a healthy, happy, and productive life even without medication.
8. Learning to recognise depression and build a ramp out of it.
Technique. Describes my experience of depression and how to recognise that it is happening. Teaches a simple technique for gradually and safely climbing out of depressive episodes based on easy daily actions.
9. Figuring it out and becoming well over the long term.
This article focuses on the mindset needed to beat bipolar in the long term. Cultivating the will to survive. Setting real expectations. Creating a sustainable life. Building up tools, skills, knowledge, and kindness. Nurturing good relationships. Dealing with failure.
10. Stability One: A Practice Based Cure.
Multiple techniques. This is the first must-read article that offers a foundation and strategy for managing bipolar disorder.
11. Manage Manic Episodes: BAIL.
Technique. Brakes – Avoid Stimulation – Isolate at Home – Limit Communication. A recipe for quickly and effectively ending a manic episode or hypomania.
12. Quiz – Finding your Phase in Bipolar.
Technique. Utilizes a quiz to help people learn the skills of self-reflection and pattern-recognition.
Part two of two. An article about my experiences after bipolar diagnosis and my thoughts on being mentally ill in modern society. Please read part one first.
Part one of two. An article about my experience getting a bipolar diagnosis and my thoughts on the big picture around becoming diagnosed as mentally ill in modern society.
This article is about figuring out how to become mentally-well over the long term with bipolar disorder. My twenties were a battlefield. A decade spent fighting my mental illness. I recall the few beautiful victories, the many crushing setbacks, and the ground eventually gained towards figuring out how to live well with bipolar. I am grateful that I am not still fighting the same battles that I was back then. Continue Reading
Images by Ben Ngapo
Thoughts and emotions will combine to recreate our perception of the world for brighter or darker. A stubbornly grey day may transform into a world of fun and laughter and endless possibilities. A beautiful holiday can be a leaden prison of self-hating apathy. I think it is actually pretty amazing how much our brains colour how we see the world and ourselves. Amazing or terrible, agonising or blissful, these big moods that shape our bipolar life are definitely disruptive. It is as if Continue Reading