Excuse me. I am sorry, but your ignorance is showing.
You can not clump everyone together and say it's diet. We have tried ruling out certain foods, we have tried including certain foods, I have tried it all. Then I stopped and accepted it was just my children's genes.
I am Bipolar, my husband has ADHD ( we didn't not realize this until our son was diagnosed. Too many similarities.) There are many family members with Asperger's (High functioning Autism). Two of my children (if not all 3... My youngest is showing signs) have ADHD. My son's ADHD is pretty severe and he has a mood disorder. My eldest daughter has all 3: ASPERGER's, ADHD and Bipolar. She calls herself a Trifecta. I thinks she's more like a triple threat!
If you think for a minute, I haven't tried it all, think again. I too know enough and been through enough. All it has taught me, is that every person's situation is different and to judge others based on your experiences is nothing but ignorance. Diet does not cure true ADHD. It may elevate some symptoms in some people, but not all. And when you stop said diet, it all comes back. Ya. Not a cure.
BTW, some of us have to be "drugged for life" and are very happy said drugs exist. Without them, I would not be alive today. And, Thanks to those drugs, you wouldn't know my illness if you met me. You definitely wouldn't know I was "drugged." And for all that, I am beyond thankful.
So, you go right ahead and go to your expensive doc. Just don't preach about the pharmacy taking all my money. I spend less than you do and my kids are just as happy. But hey, if the diet is working for you? Awesome. To each their own.
Just don't think for minute you know what is best for me and my kids or Joe Blow and his. Because honey? You're clueless.
My last post Coming Out, was inspired by postings by Jenny the Bloggess ( a normally very funny, but sometimes very down to earth blogger) and a very moving video by another amazing blogger, Michael Kimber. I concentrated on Michael's plea to "Come Out" and help break the stigma behind mental illnesses, something I feel very strong about. This post, I feel the strong need to focus on the story behind Jenny's post. The story of yet another blogger named Lori. A courageous woman currently in the midst of what she calls her own personal nightmare come true: the aftermath of her husbands suicide.
I didn't dive into this in my last post, because I wanted to focus on the stigma. And, too be honest, I didn't even read Lori's posts until today. Too close to home. Didn't want to face what I could have done to my family had any of my attempts ever been successful. However, I had read in other posts about her blog; that it was real raw emotion. I even read that some had talked crap about her and put her down for posting them where others could see, including her kids. While I was sure I wouldn't side with the ignorant jerks who saw it best to kick her while she was down, I wasn't sure how the posts would make me feel about my personal crap, so I chose to stay away. Today, I felt compelled to read them. I'm glad I did.
Yes, her emotions are raw. Yes, her language is rough. Who's wouldn't be after such a traumatic loss? But the message, and the emotions surrounding it, are important! It's a message not often shared. And when shared, not nearly enough. Why should something like this be shared? You always hear that suicide is not the answer and all it does is make things worse. That statement, while true, is vague and not at all enough to stop someone from thinking that the world we be a better place if they weren't in it. The aftermath of suicide is ugly. An ugly some people need to know about in order to further dismiss it as a personal option. Lori's blog entries are raw and real. Posting them helps her cope with it all. It also helps others, like myself, fight our inner demons and realize what they are capable of doing. More importantly, her blog encourages those who feel like they are losing the battle to speak up, reach out and get help.
So please, if you have ever contemplated taking your life, read her blog. Put things into prospective. Mental illness is not something you can suffer through with out affecting others. Don't be foolish in thinking you can just "handle it". Even the strongest and wisest have battled with depression and lost. There is no shame in asking for help. It takes a very strong person to speak up. And in doing so, you won't be just saving your life. You'll be saving the lives of those you love and those who love you.
The Bloggess said in her post "Your friends and family want you…broken or not." I agree wholeheartedly. Damaged is far better than dead.
You read that right. I'm coming out. I am joining the movement. I have been out for the most part, but now it is time to jump out and slam the door shut behind me!
I am Tracey and I am Bipolar.
I flinch when I say that out loud because those who hear me tend to jump to their own conclusions as to what that means. Some assume it means I'm insane, schizo, psychotic, dangerous... even contagious. Some become "sympathetic" and treat me like I'm either fragile or special needs. I have even come across those who act as if I am full of crap, doing it for attention or just a bored SAHM riding the diagnosis of the month. They assume this not because of my actions or rumors to my past. No, they based them solely on the heinous stigma that surrounds mental illness as a whole. A stigma I have battled against for the better part of my life. For this reason alone, I have kept "in the closet" about this very important part of myself.
But no longer.
I was diagnosed at 19. My story neither begins there, nor ends. But it almost did.
I had already figured out I was Bipolar. Not by a treatment center or a doctor or even an online search (such things were unheard of for the most part back then). It was in my first year of Jr. College. I had just stormed out of my Intro to Business class because I arrived too late to take a test and I completely lost it. I was directed to speak with my college counselor who just happened to run a "Bipolar/Unipolar" support group on campus. I attended one meeting and immediately knew the answer to the question I didn't even realize I had been asking myself for years.
"Why am I so damn different?"
Finding out the answer was an indescribable moment in my life that I will never forget. It was right up there with losing my virginity.... strike that. Better. However, knowing wasn't enough to save me from the self destructive ticking time bomb that had already been set to go off deep within. I attempted suicide twice before I was hospitalized, put on meds and then... finally... diagnosed.
Looking back at my childhood, I can see things that should have been obvious signs. Two things kept my family from properly seeing them. One: Most of them were Bipolar. Two: None of them knew it!! Yep. I was the first of my family to be diagnosed. Unfortunately, the diagnosis came too late for 2 of my relatives who were too far gone and sadly, took their own lives. (Although, in both cases, whether it was an accident or by their own choice is still up for debate by some.)
Those same things I saw in myself as a child, I now see in my daughter. At first, it scared me. Then I realized it didn't have to be scary! Sure it was scary for ME! I was CLUELESS!! She doesn't need to be! It took me years to figure it all out because I had to do it all on my own in a time when people were still being locked away for months even years! Just NOW, they are starting to recognize Bipolar Disorder as a pediatric issue. They are realizing that not all those bouncy kids are suffering from ADHD. Some are Bipolar. Treatments are changing. For the better.
With all this change, shouldn't the stigma change too?
All mental illnesses are REAL ILLNESSES. REAL DISORDERS. They are NOT however, defining.
I struggle with my illness. I live my life in spite of my illness. In order to do so, I embrace my illness.
I am Tracey. I am Bipolar. I am also a daughter, a sister and spouse. I am doting mother and aunt. I am a teacher, a caregiver, an entrepreneur and a bookkeeper. I am creative and open minded. I am supportive and caring. I am funny. I am loving. I am fun loving and wise. I'm a singer and a dancer. I am a jokester and silly. I'm encouraging and courageous. Above all, I am hopeful and sincere.
If you have been hiding, I ask that you join me and come out. Like I said, it's a movement. Well actually, its a campaign. Started by this guy: Michael Kimber. He's also on FaceBook. I learned of Michael and his Coming Out of the Crazy Closet Campaign, through Jenny the Bloggess. She too "Came Out" recently on her blog and asked others "Speak Up!"
So please. Join us. Come out. Speak up. Help us fight the stigma that has held us captive in our silence for far too long.
