ephixia

I was diagnosed with bipolar (type 1) about 5 years ago and it hasn't been easy. I've been working hard on my recovery, so I could use all the advice and help possible.

Coldfusion

Hi Ephixia,

We'll make it easy for you here. Welcome!

Coldfusion

Many alcoholics and addicts are dual diagnosis. I have schizo-affective disorder. They say we "self-medicated," but I just called it getting drunk.

I came to this forum about a month out of detox, looking for help with AA meetings (I still go almost every day). Basically, I am not a religious person, and AA seemed like a religious program. SoberRecovery helped me with that, but I also like interacting with newcomers to recovery because those feelings are fresh in my mind.

For sure, no one knows what it's like to live in your head. We're all different flowers in a bouquet of mental quirks. What substances are you desiring to stop using?

vegibean

Well keep coming back and certainly feel free to share more. There are tons of supportive people here that are going through, or have gone through, what you are going through.

Anna

Welcome!

I know that many of us have self-medicated mental health issues with alcohol. Please know that we understand how hard this is. Does the dr who diagnosed you with bipolar know that you are stopping drinking?

least

I too am manic depressive (I can't call it bipolar as that makes me sound like a big magnet) and I drank to medicate my depression and anxiety, but of course the drinking just made it worse. Now that I'm sober my meds actually work as they should and I feel pretty good most of the time.


to our recovery family! :ghug3

Dee74

Welcome to SR ephixia

There's a ton of support here

D

zorah

welcome! you will find many like you here. i'm bipolar as well. what i find is that if i don't get support for my alcholism, my mental illness suffers, and without psychiatric support for my mental illness (including medication), my sobriety suffers. so dealing with both at the same time strengthens my recovery process. otherwise, it's las vegas and i'm gambling my life away.

soberrecovery is a caring, healthy community--free of close-minded or dogmatic attitudes. a relief for me. :-)


Zorah

HereIAm321

Hello, ephixia! I have depression and ADD. However, I feel that the depression may actually be a case of Bipolar 2...I flip from "happy & content" to "depressed" at least a couple of times a day, usually more. It also definitely runs in my family, with all of my male cousins on one side of the family having Bipolar 1 as well as Aspergers.

Welcome!!!!

HereIAm321

zorah, thanks so much for that post!!!! You described perfectly exactly how I feel regarding alcohol and meds.

ephixia

Actually, I never used drugs and I rarely drink (a beer every couple of weeks or so). My issues have been strictly mental, and bipolar I is very bad. I suppose I just didn't figure to try self-medicating.

Thanks for the kind welcome! I appreciate all of your comments!

Like Coldfusion - I am not strongly religious although I go to a UU church (I'm also a board member) and a Unity Church. Both are great for spiritual community. I work with Buddhism, Norse Pagan, Native American Shamanism, and Christianity (mostly Urantia style so not so common).

My main goal here is to get a better feel for how to help manage my condition. I haven't been taking meds for about a year now, and things are going very well, but I am deeply concerned about relapse. I am always working on ways to strengthen myself to prevent relapse, so I think it will help to ask questions here and find out what people are doing.

Thanks again!