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Elder
Soupe du jour
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Member Since: Jun 2015
Location: Czechia
Posts: 5,149
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#1
Many here in the bipolar forum know that I'm in the midst of a major change in my life. That includes, preparations for a home sale and a move to another country where I must improve my Czech (and possibly future French) language skills. Plus other stuff (leaving family in the US, some culture shock, etc.)
I don't want this to be a place where I post daily updates or thoughts. Rather a place to address and share each others' strategies and experiences with major life changes. I do really need advice and/or encouragement and hope, whether it be coping skills, what not to do, or how you got past shock/mental health setbacks. Stories of your major life changes would be helpful to read, if you wish to share. I see this topic as very relevant to bipolar disorder since such major changes often trigger hypomanic/manic, mixed, and/or depressive episodes. |
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Anonymous41462, bpcyclist, Fuzzybear, Yaowen
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*Beth*
is practicing healthy breathing for brain, mind,
body, spirit.
Member Since: Jul 2019
Location: Downtown Vibes, California
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#2
I went through a major life change in 2015. I was renting a cute little 3 bedroom house, which was in a ghetto in a city. I'd lived there for 7 years and one night there was a home invasion. It was terrifying. I was so extremely frightened that I felt numb. Checked out. Most of my possessions were stolen...my wedding dress, the precious hand-crafted dress my sister had sewn for me to bring my newborn babies home from the hospital in. Baby clothes I had saved.
I won't even take up a bunch of time and space to explain the horror of going through such an experience. Much of my clothing, jewelry...the list is almost endless. Gone. That night I gathered my cats and pet rat (thankfully, they had not been hurt in any way). I dumped whatever I could gather in 1/2 hour in big garbage bags, grabbed a box of family photos and a load of books, put everybody and everything I could stuff into my little Honda, and moved to a different town. I stayed with a relative for 10 days until I found my own apartment for my cats and I. The major life change was ultimately a good thing, but at the time I was severely affected, terrified, and pretty depressed. What I did was find a pdoc and a therapist ASAP. I began using breathing techniques right away to calm myself. Readjusted meds. Rode a bicycle I bought (my fab vintage Raleigh had been stolen) and took walks. Read every book I could get my hands on- re-read Full Catastrophe Living and took it to heart. I immediately got involved at with my local NAMI chapter and eventually trained to facilitate my own NAMI group. I worked hard to look forward and not back. About a year later, after the home invasion, I did go into the worse mania I had ever experienced. I eventually wound up handcuffed and dumped IP, which was horrible. Nevertheless, I kept working on my state of mind, including staying on my medications and talking to my therapist twice/week. I can honestly say that the terror and pain of that part of my life is behind me. Every day I remember some possession that was stolen or destroyed, but I've reframed it, for the most part, into "I'm fine with less 'stuff'." So. I don't know if any of this translates into what you're looking for, Soupe, but that's my life-changing story. __________________ |
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Anonymous41462, bpcyclist, fern46, Fuzzybear, Skeezyks, Soupe du jour
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Elder
Soupe du jour
has no updates.
Member Since: Jun 2015
Location: Czechia
Posts: 5,149
13.4k hugs
given |
#3
BethRags, I am so glad that is now behind you. You really did take great actions right after the burglary.
Do you think that particular mania was some delayed reaction or something separate? |
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*Beth*, Anonymous41462, bpcyclist
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*Beth*, bpcyclist
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catches the flowers
*Beth*
is practicing healthy breathing for brain, mind,
body, spirit.
Member Since: Jul 2019
Location: Downtown Vibes, California
Posts: 15,701
(SuperPoster!)
23.7k hugs
given |
#4
Quote:
I feel sure that the manic episode I had (which lasted for 3 months and wrecked big parts of my life because I lost a number of relationships) was connected to the stress of the home invasion. That episode was the worst I've had...my thinking was essentially "I survived a home invasion and carried on with my life. Due to being a survivor I now know how to communicate to everyone who has been dropped into my life path how they must think in order to fulfill their highest potential"...or something along those lines. A God-given responsibility was in there, somehow. __________________ |
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bpcyclist, Soupe du jour
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bpcyclist, Soupe du jour
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