Me and my condition...
*sigh*Even after 20 years the stigma of having a mental health diagnosis is strong. But here we go.
When I was 14 I was seeing a psychiatrist who was also working as my therapist. After several months of weekly appointments and a variety of tests he told me I had bipolar disorder. Shortly after that I moved and he moved. It was another 3 years before I tried to get help again.
At that point I was getting ready to go to college. I asked my family doctor for meds. He wasn't comfortable with anything more than an antidepressant. I accepted this as good enough, since the depression was the biggest issue. I didn't know how very wrong I was.
A few years later, I began seeing a psychiatrist on a regular basis. Eventually Borderline Personality Disorder was added to the Bipolar. I have been through a variety of meds. It took a while before finding a mix that worked decently for me. I am not anywhere near a "normal" level of functioning, but I am considerably better than before.
And, were those not enough, I also have Fibromyalgia. That is more disabling than the others. Bipolar and Borderline Personality Disorder are relatively well know illnesses with treatments known to work well. Fibromyalgia, not so much. The best advice you get for that is take pain relievers, use pain management, and try to exercise regularly.
How we came to make a blog...
We started as a couple friends just helping each other through hard times. There were many late night text conversations about how to accept our conditions and learn to live with them.
My friend was SO good at talking me through the worst times I told her she should put that stuff down in a blog. For a couple years we talked about it once in a while. We started making up topics from our conversations. That led us here.
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