New Year’s is coming up, and any people make New Year’s resolutions about how they are going to improve their lives. However, as is well known, most New Year’s resolutions are rarely kept. It is difficult to simply decide to improve one’s life and to have those resolutions stick.

For those of us with bipolar disorder, the condition compounds the problem. The ups and downs of bipolar disorder make sticking to resolutions or to any goals more difficult, since what is an easy plan to stick to in one mood state becomes a difficult one in another mood state. Continue reading →

I know one of the most common questions when it comes to bipolar disorder is whether people with bipolar disorder can lead a normal life. The question, unfortunately, is one of those loaded ones. It really depends on what one means by “normal”. However, rather than simply throw up my hands and yell “Semantics!”, I thought I’d look at some of the different senses of “normal” and whether or not bipolar people can lead a normal life in those senses. Continue reading →

My life with bipolar disorder has certainly become better in the last ten years or so. The first few times I was asked why that was, I didn’t really have a very good answer. However, in retrospect, I think what has really improved my ability to live with bipolar disorder is developing emotional detachment. By this, I don’t mean that I don’t feel emotions. I have a mood disorder, so I couldn’t stop them if I wanted to. What I mean is that, along the way, I stopped thinking of my emotions as real. Continue reading →