Seems I’m bugging you a lot today...:)
Psychiatrists operate from the “hollow and deceptive philosophies of this world”, ie, not from truth.
They tell their patients that the guilt they feel, or the compensatory behaviors they do for that guilt, need to be rejected, as the guilt is false. There really isn’t anything such as sin, and therefore you shouldn’t feel guilty about it.
The reality, the Christian worldview, is that sin is real, it is the cause of all problems and all “mental illness” (barring actual physical defects). The “cure” is to confess, repent, and let Jesus action on the cross cover for that sin.
I have decided that bi-polar is not good enough for me and I am going to claim tri-polar.
Sounds like the explanation for 99% of all “apparent” mental illness. Sadly it makes those people who do have genuine mental health problems look bad.
The comments on bipolar disorder reveal a lack of knowledge about the effects of malfunctioning brain chemistry.
Persons with bipolar disorder can lead highly effective lives once they learn to deal with it.
Many of our most effective leaders have had the disease (Churchill comes to mind).
I know a guy that stays in a fetal position in his bedroom while his wife works extra shifts to support him & their 4 children. His kids are on their own to fix their meals while he cries in the bedroom. They are under orders not to disturb him for any reason. He goes to a doctor that medicates him heavily. They are always having to "tweak" his medications. The doctor says he is bi-polar. Sometimes this man self-medicates himself by buying an eight ball of cocaine - those are usually his "up" periods.
All of this - I have always thought - was setting the stage for him to be able to start getting disability checks because "he can no longer work". He used to have a good job. He used to be a friend of mine, but now I think he is a useless jerk.
Depression runs in my family & I've had to fight it for years - but here is something that I've found works for me & it is illustrated in this article. It isn't all about me! The world doesn't revolve around me!
When I do something to help someone else - my depression magically goes away! It really does work! I believe the cause of depression really, really is - thinking too much about yourself. It is just that simple.
Even the earth is bi-polar.
Most of the “bipolar” persons I’ve met also had a history of childhood abuse. One such person had scars on her face from the day that mom threw drain cleaner on her.
These people have lots of issues, and dealing with them is very frustrating. In fact, I wonder if the childhood abuse was the result of parental frustration over the condition, rather than the condition coming from the abuse. At any rate, if someone comes in and says that they’re bipolar, you know you’ll have a lot of frustration with them.
In my experience, you still have to be firm with them. You have to NICELY defend your boundaries, such as telling them that your class starts on time, just as it ends on time, and that this student will not be an exception. If that student cannot meet those expectations due to health concerns, perhaps they need to quickly seem medical care.
This article tries to deal w/ the complex issues around depression, bipolar, mental illness, etc with the old “think happy thoughts” idea. While that indeed does work as one of many mental coping mechanisms, the truth is that it doesn’t work for some.
And, no, it’s not “SIN”, no more than a gall bladder attack is “SIN.”
I believe this to be very true, most of the time. Look at kids in skewl today, every trait of maleness restricted as "bad". What happens to those kids?
I see a lot of people sitting in cubes, hammering at the keyboard wasting their bodies that are profoundly unhappy.
True mental illness, the organic kind, is not the same
It’s getting old, isn’t it? Everyone these days is bipolar
Hey, this psycho terminology is what keeps he psycho babble jerks in business.
It’s called job preservation.
Ping.
I’m definitely hetero-polar.
Introspection is, by far, the most overrated “virtue” in modern society.
SnakeDoc
> The truth is that changing one’s behavior with an exercise in other-absorption, rather than self-absorption, will cure what most people label as depression. If that fails they should talk to a professional. If that also fails they should consider an experiment with prescribed medication.
I was going to tear the author of this piece a new one, until I read this second-to-last sentence.
As one who has Depression and who is Bi-Polar I can attest to the fact that both mental illnesses are real and that putting on a happy face does not fix either of them. Medication and therapy and self-discipline do, eventually.
However, it is also true that both mental illnesses are often mis-diagnosed or (worse) self-diagnosed by people who are self-absorbed. In which case altering one’s behavior will often fix whatever is ailing them.
If you are feeling Depressed (trouble sleeping, low energy, sluggish, malaise) see a Doctor. If you’re feeling Sad, see a comedy and cheer up.
Better bi-polar than bi-curious.