Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Mania, Mood Swings…

Mood swings

These ailments can cause lifelong stress and hardship.

Yet our support group (at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute – part of McGill University in Montreal, Canada), listening to each other’s stories, was amazed at the creativity, intelligence, sensitivity and strengths of our fellow members.

With each session, we feel less like “patients”, “victims” or “sufferers”, instead wanting to continue to communicate and create something as a group.

Bipolar Symptoms & Support is how we are opening up our doors to a wider community.

If you are experiencing mood difficulties, or are close to someone who is, or you are a health care professional involved with mood disorders, please bookmark this blog.

We welcome your thoughts and experiences and hope you will find it helpful to read about ours.

Beyond Montreal…? What’s the Future of Bipolar Symptoms & Support?

Be on the lookout for the new and improved Bipolar Symptoms & Support

If you’ve been following along with this blog, you know it began as a result of a Tuesday afternoon Bipolar Support Group held every week at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute – part of McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

That particular support group has now concluded, soBipolar Symptoms & Support has been on a brief hiatus.

However, soon we will be coming back better than ever.

In the past, one of our most popular posts looked at what people were writing on other bipolar blogs.

The new Bipolar Symptoms & Support website will not only have excerpts from blogs, but will also have daily news and videos about being bipolar.

These will be automatically generated, so our site will be a continuous source for the latest bipolar information.

We’ll also link with Amazon for the best-selling books on bipolar disorder, as well as music and videos for meditation and relaxation.

Once the site begins to build up an international following, we may have enough visitors to make it worthwhile to add a forum as well.

But, in the meantime, you’ll always be able to leave a comment. 

So please continue to follow along and keep in touch.

Douglas Hospital Bipolar Support Group Draws To A Close

Busy week, so not much activity here on the blog.

Last week was our final Tuesday get-together of our Bipolar Support Group at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute – part of McGill University in Montreal, Canada. It was an enjoyable meeting with everyone expressing how good it felt to spend time in a room full of other people who are bipolar.

Let’s keep in touch here on the web. I’m having some hectic days, but will continue to make our online bipolar presence bigger and better in the future.

Tomorrow is supposed to be our final reunion. “K” says she’ll bring the doughnuts.

I don’t know how I missed the memo about Thursday.

I would have gone Tuesday if “AV” hadn’t filled me in.

I somehow thought it was only a change in the time, not the day as well.

Well at least I hope everyone else is there (along with the doughnuts) tomorrow.

It will be fun to meet everyone’s significant other, too.

I know sometimes people say we’re crazy…

And sometimes we feel that way, too.

But did you hear about that woman in Germany?

She was visiting the polar bear compound at the Berlin Zoo.

She gets it in her head to climb over a wall, fence and hedge, to jump in the water far below, to swim with the polar bears. Not only is this a bad idea, she does it at feeding time.

I’ve included a news video for you from the BBC. You can see in some shots that a polar bear’s mouth can wrap completely around her waist.

Luckily six handlers feeding the bears were able to distract them with meat and pull the woman out.

Of course, she still was badly mauled, sustaining major cuts, bruises and abrasions but, perhaps worst of all…

as Jay Leno said the other night… because she was attacked by two bears… relatives are afraid she may now be bi-polar.

Kind of makes you think you went about it the easy way, eh? 

The easy way to leave a comment is by clicking right here.

The Girl Who Saved Me…!

Talking 'bout My Girl...

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming…

I mentioned that we would be looking at bipolar blogs from other cities, but I feel I need to further explain something I said at the last meeting of our Bipolar Support Group at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, part of McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

“Al” was talking about being bored with her job.

So I spoke about finding satisfaction in a hobby, and I mentioned the example of my wife, “R“, who picked up a digital camera for the first time on New Year’s Eve 2007 and vowed to take part in Flickr’s Photo-A-Day Club.

Flickr is the most famous photo website, started in Vancouver and now owned by Yahoo!, and she committed to a creating a post-worthy new photo every 24 hours for 365 days… as a “jump into the deep end of the pool” way to learn photography.

Appropriate for Good Friday, this is called "Barefoot Restorer" and was shot in St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York City.

You only have to do the math to realize, if you’re going to try and create a photo every day – a photo “good enough” to be judged by thousands of top-notch photographers, you’re going to wind up taking a lot of photos. Still I felt people didn’t comprehend when I said she produced over 15,000 photos.

Not even when I went on to explain that 100 of her 365 photos made it into “Explore” – the world-wide daily top 500 for Flickr – an incredible feat for a new photographer. It can take years for some great photographers to reach 100 photos in Explore.

“Al” has noticed that I can sometimes “drift off”. She’s right, I shouldn’t have stopped talking at that point. I should have continued describing “R“s photography: it’s rare beauty, it’s optimistic outlook, it’s unique perspective and… the following of photographers she has attracted from around the world.

"Brushstrokes"

To put this in perspective, Bipolar Symptoms & Support had 47 views yesterday – which isn’t bad since very few people know about it. “S“s women’s hockey site has had about 3,000 views since January – which is good, but then there must be many teams interested in all the different pages.

But, in comparison, since “R” began her Flickr photostream in January 2008 – without any kind of promotion or mention to friends or family – simply by word of mouth among the photo community, it has attracted over 32,000 views from FELLOW FLICKR PHOTOGRAPHERS.

Although I love her dearly, and “R” was the girl who saved me when I was bipolar, this post isn’t really meant to be about “R” or me.

It’s for “Al” and others who find themselves in deep depression because their entire life seems to be about some boring job.

“R” is very good at her job, often putting in 40, 50, 60 hours/week. But photography gave her life a whole new meaning. And gave us all the photos we’ve used so far on our blog.

Maybe you don’t need to pick up a camera. Maybe a banjo is more your style. Or woodworking tools.

Or maybe you like to write and would just like to comment more often.

Give it a try!

Of course, these colours are perfect for the holidays but, since we've officially finished our 10 weeks together, this also reminded me of graduates in their gowns, tossing up their caps. Happy Easter everybody! "R" and I will see you next week.

Bipolar Symptoms & Support: Planning For The Future

C'mon, people...let's get organized! Today could be our second last session. Who's bringing the doughnuts?

Hey, it’s Tuesday! One of the final sessions for our Bipolar Support Group, so be sure to let me know if you’re interested in being part of the future of Bipolar Symptoms & Support.

Thanks to the person who brought to my attention that we are are now also in the #1 position on Google for Montreal bipolar symptoms support, Montreal bipolar support group, and even simply Montreal bipolar support.

We are putting together one of the favorite topics of our blog readers, so I have to get back to work on that… but also want to take a second to explain why, along with our increased traffic and comments, the above statistics are so important.

So far, we have always been #1 for phrases related to “bipolar symptoms“.

“Bipolar support” and “bipolar support group” are phrases that appear regularly in daily and weekly online publications, usually as part of “community calendar”-type columns.

So, for us to surpass publications that have been using that phrase on a daily or weekly basis for years, is really major.

Here’s what’s coming up in the next episode of Bipolar Symptoms & Support…

Our blog usually comes up at the top of the results for “bipolar symptoms” and “bipolar support” relating to Montreal and McGill University and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute.

One of our most popular posts took a look at what people are saying on other bipolar blogs.

So in our next post we will tour the blogosphere and try to find what’s happening on the bipolar sides of Toronto, Ottawa, Boston and New York.

Until then, leave a comment.

Bipolar Symptoms & Support Soars! Views And Comments Up 500%!

Bipolar Benny is head over heels about all the traffic to our blog. But where are the comments from "K" and "An"? Puppy got your tongues?

And the winners are… (may I have the envelope please?)… the members of the Tuesday afternoon Bipolar Support Group!

Wow! I hope yesterday’s post didn’t sound like too much of a rant, but sometimes you just have to rattle a few cages to get something happening.

Our group’s sessions at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, part of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, are coming to a close and members are considering if they are interested in taking part in the future of Bipolar Symptoms & Support.

Half of our members have now shown their support and the blog received more views on the last post than almost every other post put together.

We are still lacking the input of our 2 moderators – K and An – and we can’t understand why.

You would think they would be proud of what has been accomplished here on their watch.

They’ve both claimed they’re not good with computers or the internet. And they don’t know how to leave a comment.

But we keep making it easier for them. K and An, to leave a comment, simply click here.

We’d love to hear from you.

Anyway, based on the overall interest and vote of confidence, here’s what is being proposed:

- We will continue to publish Bipolar Symptoms & Support.

- We will continue to make it better, so that it reaches an ever wider audience.

- As soon as we have viable traffic, we will monetize it and regular contributors will share in the profits.

In other words, the day may come when you can write your thoughts on being bipolar on our blog – from the comfort of your home – and get paid for it.

This is what was always envisioned for our group. It’s just a shame that many of the people who claim to be professional, in fact can’t even write a comment for the group.

But then again, it seems like “the cream always rises to the top”. When we look at who has commented on our blog, we see those truly capable of self-determination and action. We applaud you.

Of course, Bipolar Symptoms & Support will always continue to be successful, but success is a journey. We’ve been a great group together and we should stick together.

It’s not too late to get on board. It will be so much better if as many members of our group – yes, including YOU – are along for the ride. No matter where your life and travels take you. Join us in being a part of our bipolar adventure.

Agree, disagree, questions, suggestions… leave a comment here.

Why Is It So Difficult To Place A Comment On Bipolar Symptoms & Support?

Awooooh! Spring is sprung! Time to shake your tail and kick up your heels! It's the end of the semester for our Bipolar Support Group. Will there be a dance?

You are all right (and you’re all alright, too!) 

This WordPress theme is so confusing when it comes to placing a comment.

You have to click where it says “No Comments” (or “Comments“), beneath the post you want to talk about. And then your Comment does NOT appear on this page, but rather on a SEPARATE PAGE that ONLY shows that post and all the related comments.

Whew!

I’m mentioning this because a very nice post just came in, so let’s all have a good thought for “J“.

“J“s thoughts can be found on a post down near the bottom of Bipolar Symptoms & Support, the one with the big yellow flower.

Simply click on “Comments” at the bottom of the post to read what “J” has to say. Thanks, “J“!

Our bipolar support group met once more this week at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, part of McGill University in Montreal, Canada. It seemed most of us were amazed to learn that our sessions were over.

Still, through much cajoling of the powers that be, we will likely carry on for another 2 weeks.

I appreciate “J“s remarks. You can see I’ve become ambivalent about the blog.

But now I feel like Al Pacino in The Godfather…

“Every time I think I’m out, they pull me back in.”

I really think we should continue.

This blog was meant to follow through on the mutual support we find in our group sessions.

Our group is creative, so I simply offered us this outlet for our creativity.

Bipolar voices… in a blog.

People are talking now about possibly paying to sign up with Revivre.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that! Any kind of support is good.

But so many times I’ve checked their website and it’s been offline.

And our blog surpassed them in the Google rankings (eg. for bipolar symptoms Montreal) after only 2 weeks.

(And our rankings continue to climb. We are currently in the #1 position of Google’s search results for all of the folowing keyword phrases:

“bipolar symptoms” + “McGill University”

“bipolar symptoms” + “Douglas Hospital“

And even for bipolar symptoms Montreal or Montreal bipolar symptoms!

Click on the above links and you can see for yourself.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m NOT trying to say anything bad about any group or anyone. And surely we aren’t in first place or on the first page of Google results for every variation of “bipolar symptoms” + Montreal or McGill or Douglas Hospital. But the emphasis here is on “after only 2 weeks“. Imagine what we could do if we put in some time on our web presence? Imagine if a few people posted their thoughts a few times a week? We’d become top-ranked for other bipolar terms as well.)

With our track record, Bipolar Symptoms & Support could be not only spiritually and artistically rewarding, but financially as well. We could wind up making money (just like Revivre does)

…only, instead of charging memberships to bipolar outpatients and their families, we could get advertising or sponsorship (Isn’t there someone in our group with experience in that? And our group has so many other talents.) for a blog that we manage to keep online and on the first page of Google

…or is that just my bipolar brain thinking now?

Let’s keep in touch. If there’s anyone in our group for whom I haven’t done a good deed, or at least made you laugh a couple times, please let me know before the 2 weeks are up so I can take care of you.

Watch this space for future developments and… like AV and J… feel free to jump in

whenever you connect the dots…

Wait! Was that too controversial? Are we going to be flooded with comments?

Pro or con any of the above?

Click on Comments below to leave your comment(s) or, just to be sure, simply click here!

(Hope this is now easy enough for you and your friends, “K”?)

P.S.: “J” is the youngest member of our group, and the one who worried about the privacy of posting on a public blog, yet she did it. As you can see, her identity is kept private. Because so many say they are having trouble with the Comments system, simply click here to read what “J” wrote.

“AV” was in the worst state of all of us when she joined the group. Now look how she’s blossomed. “AV”s remarks are here.

Once you’ve read a comment, simply click on the BACK button (The arrow pointing LEFT, usually in the upper left corner of your screen. Do I really have to tell you this?) to come back to this page.

So if they can do it, where are the rest of you? I created this blog after weeks of us sharing our experiences, problems, questions and suggestions. Tall S, little S, S from C, A, M, E, L, and especially K and An – Bipolar Symptoms & Support was created because of our time together.

When you look at all the work put into it, don’t you feel you could maybe leave one comment?

“AV“, “J” and me… I thought ALL of us in the group were supporting each other.

No? Then write us a comment telling us WHY you can’t be a part of our online communications.

Click here and type whatever you like.

Or not. Silence speaks volumes.

Bipolar Symptoms & Support doesn’t need your participation to succeed. To stay at the top of the search engines and even provide revenue for contributors.

But, one day, you may look back and say: “That was a pretty good group. I wish I had stayed in touch. I hear they are all doing well now.”

Today’s the day to start. Lines are open.

Have a good weekend everybody.

P.P.S.: Thanks, “S“! See Comments below. Re: my comments above… “Al” you know they don’t apply to you. You’ve been very supportive. But… here’s where to click to leave a comment.

Do Bipolar Symptoms Seem Selfish? Where Do You Find Support?

Benny the Bipolar Mascot demonstrates how gardening can be a hobby offering life-long pleasure and relaxation.

Our Bipolar Support Group meets every Tuesday afternoon as part of the Bipolar Disorders Program at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, part of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

This week, our immediate observation was how content we all were to be meeting once more, especially when compared to the fears and uncertainties of the first couple of sessions.
The happiness is palpable. Everyone is smiling, we all arrive early and linger afterwards.
It seems we feel better simply being together where everyone understands and has experienced bipolar disorder symptoms.
For us, our Bipolar Support Group has been a very successful experience.

If we can use an analogy with Sesame Street, this week’s session is brought to you by the words: “selfish”, “guilt”, “pleasure”, “success” and “failure”.
For our entire meeting, we discussed the role that these words play in defining our bipolar symptoms and support, both to ourselves and to others.

More to come…

Bipolar Support Group Bands Together To Create Top-Ranking Blog!

All together we can make a lot of noise

Blog news: It seems the internet is taking us seriously.

Bipolar Symptoms & Support has only been online for 2 weeks and already we have front page Google results for many of our principle keyword phrases.

These include “bipolar symptoms and support“, “bipolar symptoms & support“, as well as almost any combination of “bipolar symptoms” or “bipolar support” + “McGill University” or + “Douglas Hospital” or + “Douglas Mental Health University Institute” or + Montreal.

We are in Google’s top 10 results for almost all variations of searches on these keyword phrases.

As an example, for the keyword phrases “bipolar symptoms” + “McGill University”, we occupy the 3rd AND 4th positions on the page showing Google’s top 10 results for that search.

And for “bipolar symptoms” + “Douglas Hospital“… our blog is currently the #1 AND #2 result on Google!

And for “bipolar symptoms” + Montreal … our blog is in the #1 spot on Google!

Click on the links in the previous sentences and you can see for yourself. We’re already in the top positions on the world’s biggest search engine.

We’re #1 !!! What will we do for an encore?

Update: The search engines continue to LOVE our blog!

Now you can go to Google and type in bipolar symptoms Montreal or Montreal bipolar symptoms – without any quotation marks or plus signs. Both searches put our blog in the #1 and sometimes both the #1 AND #2 positions.

Click on the links in the above paragraph to see for yourself.

Don’t forget to leave a comment. See you Tuesday!

Empowering An Interactive Bipolar Web Community

An Interactive Bee Polar Community

We’re hearing that people want to leave a comment but can’t figure out how.

You’re right, it’s very confusing.

You see at the bottom of each post there’s a tag that says “No Comments“.

You actually click there, the post opens on a separate page with a box in which you write your Comment.

Once you’ve added your comment, it will then say “1 Comment“, “2 Comments“, etc., instead of “No Comments”. And that’s where people who follow you will then click to be able to read your comment.

The other point, recently brought up at a weekly session of our support group, is that people may not want to have their name or email posted on a public blog.

The Comments form is really meant to guard much larger blogs from spam. In our case, only our one editor will see your message. You still have to fill out the form – but you can use a made up name and made up email and it will still reach us.

Here’s why it would be such a great thing if you would submit even just one comment. Especially now when there are only a few weeks of sessions remaining.

Bipolar Symptoms & Support is just a tiny hint of all the online services we would like to establish for our bipolar support group.

We also hope to launch a forum and provide our members with password-security to post anonymously.

So, more than just make comments, you’ll be able to author and contribute as well.

Your thoughts can be public or, if you prefer, you can share your words only with the immediate members of our group – or even only with an individual member, as we also plan to have chat and private messaging.

And you won’t be limited to written words. You’ll be able to share audios and videos, too.

In fact, now we’re going to try to use this blog to share videos.

But first, let’s tie in with this week’s session…

“K” moderated a fast-paced 90 minutes filled with important information.

She began by following up on the previous week’s discussion of medications.

This led to talk about diet and nutrition.

Almost everyone had various problems with not eating enough or too much and/or sleeping too much or not enough.

“K” introduced the subject of stress – how it can affect our health and ability to cope.

As we move into spring and summer – the most common time for manic episodes – it’s so important that we learn to gain control of our stress.

“K” spoke of the value of exercise in helping with diet, sleep and reducing stress. She also suggested meditation and, in the final portion of our session, we all listened to a recording of a meditation instructor with background music.

This is a perfect example of the opportunities and interactivity available to us thanks to the internet.

Through the web and this blog, we can immediately share with each other our favourite meditation recordings – including music, natural sounds – and video!

YouTube and other video sharing sites give us a selection of thousands of these recordings.

Below are a few examples to enjoy.

But now… it’s time for YOU to get interactive!

Share a meditation video you like with our group.

Here’s how to do it privately and easily:

1.) Click on the “Comments” tab at the bottom of this post.

This post will open in a new page with a Comment box for you.

2.) Where it says “Name“, enter your first initial or a name that begins with your initial, or whatever you want if it will help you to share your thoughts and a favourite video.

3.) Where it says “Email“, write the name you used and then @videotron.ca. So, for example, my real name starts with “E”, so I might say my name is “Ethan” and my email is ethan@videotron.ca. It won’t be your real name, it won’t be your real email, so we all enjoy complete anonymity.

4.) Leave the “Website” box blank.

5.) In the “Comment” box, simply write a couple words about the videos on today’s post or, if you have even just a little web experience, share a meditation video you like with the group.

If you know the video you want, just go and find it on YouTube.

Or do a search on YouTube for “meditation“, or “meditation music“, or “meditation music relax“.

You’ll see there are thousands of videos to choose from.

Pick one you like best.

When it is playing, or has just finished, copy from the top of your browser the entire url address. It will look similar to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR3dM-GlZK8

In the Comment box, paste the url of your favourite meditation video from YouTube, and click on “Submit“.

Don’t check the box saying you want email notifications, because you didn’t put your correct email.

Et voilà! You will have successfully published and shared with the other members of your support group.

All from the comfort of your home.

So enjoy the videos below and give back to the group.

Using the url you submit, your favourite meditation video will be posted here on our blog.

Below you will also see the sample video from “Ethan” submitted in his comment, which you can see if you click on “Comments” below. I did this so you can see that there is no information revealed about “Ethan”.

But I understand he’s an old guy! So, if he can do it, you can do it, too!

Relax to all the natural energy and beauty of the Amazon Rainforest – our planet’s lushest environment. The background music perfectly accompanies the visuals but, if you would prefer only the natural sights and sounds, if you click through to YouTube, you can watch a version without the music. The video starts with about 15 seconds of silence and darkness, but “Don’t touch that dial.”, you’re about to spend over 25 minutes where very few people have ever been.

This video takes us to the water and glaciers at the top of the world. A soothing mix of sights, sounds and music. There are 2 buttons at the bottom of each video that can greatly increase your appreciation of the presentation. Over at the bottom right, you see the length of the video. To the right of that is a tiny icon of a speaker. If you click on that you can raise or lower the volume. Best of all is the button to the right of that. It looks like a small box inside a bigger box. If you click on that, the video image will enlarge to fill your entire computer screen! Perfect for the visuals for meditating. To return to your regular screen, click the “X” in the same box, or press the “Esc” key in the upper left of your keyboard. Enjoy!

This is only a single visual – at night. But the recording is of such high quality, the crickets and water drops are so crisp and clear, that you really do imagine yourself on a back porch somewhere… relaxing in the rain.

And the interactivity has now begun. You’ll note our Comments scoreboard is now reading “1″. A special shout out to “Ethan” for being the first across the finish line with his favourite meditation video you can see above. We look forward to you sharing and letting us enjoy your comments and/or video submissions soon.

Update: March 21, 2009 -   This time it’s a tip of the hat to AV whose message doubles our number of comments. Simply click below where it says “2 Comments” to read that new entry.

Your Comments and Your Privacy?

Is it safe to leave our names and email addresses?

Commenting on this blog is perfectly safe, but there are some simple steps you should take to ensure your privacy.

To leave your comments on any post, simply click on “No Comments” in the line under the post.

Once you leave your comment, this will change to “1 Comment”, “2 Comments”, etc.

You are taken to an interior page with the post you wish to comment on.

There’ll be a box in which to write your thoughts.

To help keep Bipolar Symptoms & Support free from spam (for example, nonsense or hate or non-related comments), you are asked for your name and email. The purpose is only to ensure people who comment are serious and to dissuade inapproriate comments.

However, it’s very understandable that you may wonder if it’s a good idea to have your name and email floating around the internet on a public blog.

So, here are some precautionary steps…

1.) Use a made up name. You can always share the name with friends or support group members in the future but, for now, it’s more important that you feel free to make your comments in complete anonymity.

2.) Your email will NOT be published. Once again, it’s only filed away for the security of the blog/group. We will email you back, so you have our email and know your email is in good hands.

3.) If you prefer, don’t use your regular email. Get a FREE gmail account from Google. You can even use your new pen name as part of your gmail address or password, so it’s all easier to remember.

Any questions? Leave a comment.