Is family really all we have? (Last post??)

Greetings, Readers!  This blog hasn’t had one follower sign up, so this may be my last post.  Unless I can get at least 5 followers in the next couple of days, I will be shutting this blog down.  So, if you enjoy what you’ve read already, spread the word, k?

I have been thinking lately about family.  Not just mine, either.  I know I’m not the only person with bipolar that has burned some bridges with family members.  Why does that happen?  “Is it my fault?” is a question I ask myself all the time, but I know it’s not.  It’s not my fault that I have bipolar disorder.  Like other bipolar people, I have other illnesses that go along with the disorder.  Depression and anxiety disorder are two of them.  The two pretty much go hand in hand, am I right?  Not all family members understand mental illness.  And not only do they not understand, there are some that don’t WANT to understand.  I have experience with both kinds of family members.  It’s not easy.  And to those of you who are newly diagnosed or haven’t dealt with this yet, you will more than likely NEED to part ways with either some friends or family members.  I’ve learned that this can be necessary for the proper healing needed in your treatment. 

When I hear someone say, “Family is all we have,” I want to scream.  No, family is NOT all we have.  Those of us with mental illness have surrounded ourselves with at least one or two people that truly understand and that we can trust.  Among those that we trust can include psychiatrists, doctors, and/or therapists.  Not everyone is lucky enough to have health care professionals that they trust.  I truly believe that those people will eventually find that right person that can help with treatment either with medication or just to lend an ear.  Having someone that’ll listen to us sob, rant, rave, complain, or even rejoice can be our saving grace.  Even I have a couple of people that I know if I didn’t have them around me, I may not be here.  I hope those people know how important they are to me.  I try to let them know every now and then. 

In the future, I hope to be someone’s “person” so that I can help them get through their difficulties with mental illness.  My story could truly help someone learn what to do and what NOT to do.  There have been several mistakes I’ve made that I wish I hadn’t, but they’ve gotten me to where I am today, and I’ve obviously learned from them. 

Until next time… (hopefully)

Continuation from last post, teeth grinding, and insomnia

So, in my last post, I mentioned a new concept in our healthcare system.  I tried to find out if there was a specific term for these offices, but was unsuccessful.  I call them one-stop-shops, but that’s me.  So, I’ll just describe it to you, k?  In this clinic, there’s general physicians, nurse practitioners, behavioral health providers, and in some clinics are dentists.  From what I’ve heard, they’re hoping to open more clinics like this and want to include eye doctors.  I’m definitely in favor of this concept.  If you really think about it, a lot of physical ailments/issues are mental health-based.  For instance, think of how you feel when you’re stressed.  Symptoms include muscle soreness, headache, jaw pain, backache, low energy, upset stomach, insomnia, etc.  I have friends that have gone to the doctor for symptoms similar to these and the doctor will eventually ask, “Are you under any kind of stress?”  Of course, who isn’t these days, right?  So, if you go to one of these clinics for a regular doctor visit and the doctor thinks you might benefit from talking to a behavioral health provider, you don’t have to wait for a referral and usually have a long wait.  The same goes for a dental health provider.  If you go for headaches and it turns out that you grind your teeth, the dental health provider can help treat you for this problem.  By the way, if you do grind your teeth, I highly recommend a night guard.  It’ll help deter morning headaches.  You can either get one specially fitted at the dentist’s office or throw the dice and get one at Walmart, Target, etc.  That’s the route I go, and it works for me.  I can’t guarantee it’ll work for you, though.

So, since I’ve brought up the issue of teeth grinding and insomnia, I want to talk about it a bit.  When I was younger, I was really bad about grinding my teeth.  It got bad enough that the dentist specially fitted one for me.  Now, this was MANY years ago, so technology has helped the process since I went through it.  It’s been within the past 3 or 4 years that I’ve gotten worse about it, and have had to go back to wearing one.  I was a happy girl when I found out they can be bought at the store.  I’ll admit that I was leery of getting it at the store instead of having the dentist make it for me, but it works well enough to help with the headaches I get frequently.  The bad part of a store bought one is that they don’t last NEAR as long as the ones from the dentist.  I got to a point that I went through a guard every two weeks.  Yes, my grinding has been so bad that I’ve chewed holes in the rubber-like material. 

Now, the insomnia I suffered from wasn’t related to my teeth grinding.  My insomnia stems off of my anxiety.  You have probably heard at least one person say that they can’t get their brain to shut off when they go to bed.  I’m one of those people.  Not only do I easily get off on a tangent when I’m talking, I go off on tangents when I’m trying to sleep.  I can go from “Should I apologize for telling so-and-so to shut up?” to “I need to have that rash looked at.” in less than a minute!  It’s not a good time.  And of course, while I am thinking about the funny looking rash, I can’t get comfortable at all!  Not only can I not get comfortable, I have two Chihuahuas to worry about when I’m trying to readjust.  9 times out of 10, I’ll hear one of them squeal.  That’s, of course, when I freak out because I thought I squished one of them.  If I have one of those bad nights, absolutely NO ONE gets any sleep.  The pups and I usually spend the next day trying to keep our eyes open.  Am I alone in this? 

Until next time…