View Single Post
Old 05-24-2018, 01:17 PM
  # 5 (permalink)  
Distorted Me
formerly luvSOBERlife
 
Distorted Me's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: East Tennessee USA
Posts: 116
Originally Posted by Wamama48 View Post
If you get your Bipolar under control FIRST, you will be able to start tackling the other issues. You need a base to launch off from, everything is spinning and out of control when Bipolar is raging. I have Bipolar. Every state/county has free clinics and mental health services. When you are ready for help, start calling around to find them. YOU CAN DO THIS!
Not sure if you're still paying attention MerryBee but this is exactly right. I'm bipolar also. I've learned a ton about our condition since I was diagnosed last fall. You CANNOT get better until you remove alcohol from the equation.

Bipolar people have lots of trouble controlling our emotions because our nervous system is out of whack. Our neurotransmitters don't function the same as ordinary people's do. Alcohol reeks HAVOC on the human nervous system, even healthy non-bipolar humans. It throws everything off. For bipolar people, those negative affects are magnified 100 times. There is absolutely no way you can ever get a handle on your bipolar disorder if you're pouring alcohol onto that fire constantly. It's impossible.

Being bipolar is like trying to drive a car down the road but you can't seem to keep it from careening back and forth between the curbs, smacking them each time you hit them (not being able to control your emotions). You're trying to steer a normal car but the problem is your car is not normal. Until you get the proper medication you don't have a chance of driving your car right.

Because of what it does to our nervous systems, drinking alcohol or doing any drugs for bipolar people is like pouring oil all over that same street. You can try and take medication, but it's not going to work because alcohol is still screwing everything up. Even if the meds helped fix the steering in your car, the alcohol (oil on the road) is making steering straight impossible.

I hope that makes sense a bit. I did a lot of research on bipolar disorder but avoided researching how alcohol affects the nervous system until very recently. I was stunned with what I learned. It's a huge factor in what made me finally decide to get sober, 100%, for good.

Once you remove alcohol from your equation (system/ life) it's not going to be sunshine and roses all of a sudden, don't expect that. You'll then have to learn how your moods swing up and down and how to get a handle on that. Without medication, you may not be able to control your emotions that much but that's actually expected. This is probably the hardest part for bipolar people, understanding we're not in control sometimes but we still need to identify what's going on and keep learning about ourselves.
The meds will definitely help but you may have to play around to find the right combination. Don't sell yourself short! Get sober and get help with your bipolar disorder. Please!
Distorted Me is offline