Clincial Depression vs everyday depression

Hobbes

Hobbes

Well-Known Member
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There have been a few threads by/about people with clinical depression - but very few people know how clinical depression differs from having the blues. I'd like people to give their experience and understanding, if you know someone that you think is clinically depressed - or if you think that you are - ask some questions if you're up to it. Say Hi if you're not.

No one will ridicule on this thread without the post being reported and dealt with by RUI staff immediately, if you find this forum too open please private message me and I will at least be a supportive person that you can talk to. I'm running this thread to reach out to the people who need help but have been scared into silence by forum bullies. And for healthy people who want to understand clinical depression.

I've been dealing with my own depression (bi polar + rage) for 25 years and give bud for medical purposes to 3 people who are battling clinical depression. I'm not a medical professional but I can listen, confidentially, and help you to get the help you need.

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hempstead said:
I have been around mental illness and depression all my life yet I still find it hard to understand. Maybe that is why it kinda pisses me off because I had to deal with it and can never understand it. I get depressed too, like everyone, but my life is pretty balanced and I am thankful for that.
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I've found that there are two reasons that people do not understand clinical depression:

1. Depression can mean many things, like different types of snow the word means different things to different people.

Everyone gets depressed now and again - feel bad, things aren't going great, broke up with girlfriend, broke $. The mind is depressed and can be taken to a different state by changing environment or life circumstances.

2. Clinical Depression, however started, results in a change in the way the brain works - chemically, electrically, there is no physical test on brain chemistry (blood, urine, brain fluid, rarely an EEG) but psychiatrists give their best guess and prescribe meds without sticking a needle in the patients brain to see if their brain chemistry is actually out of wack. When the brain doesn't work properly it is hard to make the mind work properly.

Once this change in brain chemistry/brain wave activity happens telling the clinically depressive to use their will power and positive thinking is like telling a double amputee to stop being so lazy and get up and walk - the physical ability to be happy is no longer there for the clinically depressive.

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We all look for cause and effect - he's sad so there must be something wrong so: fix it, tough it out, be a man (or a butch woman). Unfortunately a lack of understanding leads us in the wrong direction because the cause is not (or is no longer from) circumstances or environment but is actually physical - the problem is in the brain now, not just the mind.

The computer's hardware is faulty and is making the software work improperly. We can never make the program work like it would on another computer until we fix our hardware or modify the program to work around the physical fault. And that patch is difficult to write. To be fully depressed, manic or in rage and to be able to function in society takes years of your own type of meditation and training. I'm constantly rewriting the patch, but I'm functional - and 3 weeks without attacking a client. Be content and take pride in small successes.

The brain must be fixed before the mind can work properly, or the mind must be taught how to be functional with a broken brain.

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"The road back from madness is a struggle. Only the luckiest of people find their way, more or less, back to the world you live in." - Dr Bishop, Fringe.

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bongsmilie
 
hempstead

hempstead

Well-Known Member
Sorry if I offended you, that would suck to not be able to feel happiness. I guess I will never understand. Some people do take advantage though.
 
gogrow

gogrow

confused
I'm "clinically" depressed.... but i'm still trying to put a definition on it myself.... I didnt try the "meds" for long, as i didnt like the way that they worked.... i've found (so far) that taking it all one day/moment at a time, smoking bud, making a conscious effort to change your pattern of thinking, are the best ways (for me at least) to deal with it...

and i wouldnt call it an "inability to feel happiness".... more like a limited emotional range.... its either all good, or all bad.... no in between... the only neutral ground is melancholy, which is another demon all in itself....
 
vh13

vh13

Well-Known Member
Hiya Hobbes,

Big supporter of what you do here, happy to stop in and say a few words. :-)

I'm bipolar too, while I fear the mania more, I understand depression all too well. Life would be so much easier for me if I could simply will myself into "feeling better." :lol:

I've seen a few therapists, only one came close to understanding the wretched misery that seems to span eternities and the helplessness that comes with it. Interestingly enough, he's the only one who didn't push for me to get prescribed anti-depressants (which don't work so well for biplar folks).

In my time, I've figured out I need 5 things to keep myself feeling as happy as possible as many days as possible:

1) Proper Nutrition

A sense of hunger is the first thing to go when I'm depressed, and so is a sense of nutrition. It can be very hard to get healthy food down, like fruits and yogurt, but that first nutritious meal of the day is sometimes the only thing that can give me the energy to get out of bed... and without it I won't.

2) Regular Activity

Regular exercise, sports, hiking, any kind of stress relieving activity that causes the body to break a sweat is an ALL POWERFUL PREVENTION TACTIC that is instrumental for treating my depression.

Regular, stress relieving physical activity releases a flood of endorphins, causing the mind and body to feel good and the increased strength and vigor (from activity) will help the body stay that way longer.

I use a car as little as possible, they pollute, I used to tell folks riding around on my bicycle 10+ miles for daily commuting was no-inconvenience, it kept me sane.

3) Social Support Network

Nothing has been more instrumental to my recovery then distancing myself from those pessimistic, harsh sources of criticism and surrounding myself with positive and supportive people who genuinely seek to understand and appreciate me for who I am, all the flaws included.

I still keep some of those negative voices, but not close. The difference is, I don't care about their opinions anymore. I care about the opinions of my lover, my closest business partners, and my best friends.

As a result, any time I reach out to someone in my support network in a time of need they pull me closer too, and so it becomes easier for me to reach out again, and again, and again... and now, I no longer fear rejection or isolation.

4) Self Worth

This is the most elusive one for me to attain in times of need, because it is the most easily forgotten.

For me, self worth comes mostly from the nearly ten years I've spent owning my own business.

I was an artist first in my life, a worthless, under-valued commodity easily passed around and discarded by the working world. Since then, I've picked up more valuable skills.

Don't get me wrong, I have no intentions of giving up my artist ambitions, but every year since therapy I've been able to invest more in myself, increase the value of my work to my clients. Some are completely dependent on me for the growth of their business.

This is a very satisfying feeling, to know that the sum of my life's work will have had some kind of meaningful value in this world gives me reason to push through dark times.

5) Medication

Not everyone needs this, but I certainly do, and so I take it every day! :bigjoint:

Also, just as much as certain chemicals can help a person it's equally important to avoid certain other chemicals as well. For example: depressed folks should not drink alcohol, and bipolar folks should not eat MSG, and no one should smoke the schizophrenia inducing, modern skunk strains. :-P
 
vh13

vh13

Well-Known Member
gogrow said:
and i wouldnt call it an "inability to feel happiness".... more like a limited emotional range.... its either all good, or all bad.... no in between... the only neutral ground is melancholy, which is another demon all in itself....
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Agreed, melancholy is a slow death, so minor in comparison it's easy to let it go on for too long. :-|

When I try to explain the darkness to people, I usually use words like these:

Imagine every painful experience you've ever felt, the most mournful loss, the most shameful guilt... all of it... all at once, make every wretched memory available to you. Now feel them, as you did when you first experienced them.

Inversely, do not allow yourself any happy thoughts, there are no feel good memories to cling to, the frame of mind one is in when those memories are created is simply too far away, too far removed emotionally, the happy memories are inaccessible... they are already lost, already long gone before the mind forgets how to recall them.

With so much to be afraid of (a lifetime of pain and failure, with more to come) and so little to hope for (what is hope without an image of something to cling to?), it can be extremely difficult to face even the simplest of situations.

There is no such thing as confidence in depression, there are only doubts, and so the chance of failure is ever more absolute... further deepening the regrets, adding to the sorrows, reinforcing the guilt.

Until eventually all these retrograde experiences, all the individual episodes of wrong takes its toll on the consciousness, and the ego revolts. Faced with a self-destructive feedback loop which appears to have no end, the sum of one's pain culminates, distills itself, until there is only one hauntingly obvious answer: an ending to it all.

There is no escape, only a long hard struggle, the deepest recesses of the soul know this to be true, and every failed attempt to rise up is proof. The only respite is non-feeling, numbness, a lack of state, a lack of thought, a lack of will... that may as well be permanent...
 
Hobbes

Hobbes

Well-Known Member
hempstead said:
Sorry if I offended you, that would suck to not be able to feel happiness. I guess I will never understand. Some people do take advantage though.
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You didn't offend me at all hempstead, I was replying to your post in the other thread while FDD was closing the thread, my post wouldn't go through. Your quote gives a perfect example of someone familiar with mental illness but still not able to have empathy, although you do have sympathy.

When I am not depressed I feel myself frustrated with one of the people I give bud to, for his depression, and have to sit and remind myself of what's actually happening with him. I've been living this nightmare longer than he's been alive, how can I fault you?

Sorry if my post made it seem that I was singling you out. +rep for the help starting the thread.

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bongsmilie
 
Hobbes

Hobbes

Well-Known Member
.

"When I try to explain the darkness to people, I usually use words like these:

Imagine every painful experience you've ever felt, the most mournful loss, the most shameful guilt... all of it... all at once, make every wretched memory available to you. Now feel them, as you did when you first experienced them.

Inversely, do not allow yourself any happy thoughts, there are no feel good memories to cling to, the frame of mind one is in when those memories are created is simply too far away, too far removed emotionally, the happy memories are inaccessible... they are already lost, already long gone before the mind forgets how to recall them."

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That's excellent VH. Every now and again I still make an attempt to relate clinical depression to a healthy person, very difficult to bridge the gap.

I suggest that if a person really wants to understand the wear of depression then relate it to being alone in your car at night, exhausted, already driven for hours without a break, and you have 4 more hours to drive. You can barely keep your eyes open, you find yourself drifting and jerking awake to straighten the car. You cannot rest, you cannot stop, you must continue driving. This kind of overwhelming fatigue, mental pain, anxiety, loss of intellectual ability, decision making, athletic ability, emotions.

For the litterary crowd I suggest The Long Walk from King's Bauchman's Books. A bleak future where a group of boys strive to survive a long walk for prizes, a Death Race in slow motion. King does a phenomenal job of making the reader feel the exhaustion and hopelessness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Walk



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bongsmilie
 
hempstead

hempstead

Well-Known Member
Hobbes said:
You didn't offend me at all hempstead, I was replying to your post in the other thread while FDD was closing the thread, my post wouldn't go through. Your quote gives a perfect example of someone familiar with mental illness but still not able to have empathy, although you do have sympathy.

When I am not depressed I feel myself frustrated with one of the people I give bud to, for his depression, and have to sit and remind myself of what's actually happening with him. I've been living this nightmare longer than he's been alive, how can I fault you?

Sorry if my post made it seem that I was singling you out. +rep for the help starting the thread.

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bongsmilie
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I must've upset some people because my post doesn't even exist anymore. Thanks for the rep man.
 
sarah22

sarah22

Well-Known Member
i have borderline personality disorder...so im very well acquainted with depression. The main difference with people who just have "the blues" and those that have clinical depression is that the depression just flat out does not go away. if you have the blues for a day or 2, typically it doesnt stick around and your mood will lift. with clinical depression there is no mood lift. there are no smiles. there is no laughter. there is no warmth, no comfort, no light, no future. theres nothing but darkness and cold and despair.

i was in DBT (dialectical behavioural therapy) for a little over a year and i LOVED it. i highly recommend therapy to anyone experiencing any type of mental illness. therapy was the hardest, scariest, best and most rewarding thing i have EVER done. i cannot say enough good things about this therapy program.

they tried me on a bunch of different medications and they all made me so much worse. im one of those people who always gets side effects, and i tend to get really rare side effects. like effexor caused massive anxiety attacks, so they added paxil to the mix to help with the anxiety. well, the paxil killed my anxiety alright, but i also felt like i could stop a mack truck going full speed with my bare hands, and i started having very vivid homicidal ideation. i would pretty much fantasize about killing people all the time, it was really fucked up.
 
Hobbes

Hobbes

Well-Known Member
hempstead said:
I must've upset some people because my post doesn't even exist anymore. Thanks for the rep man.
Click to expand...
Probably more of a quick clean up in the thread, who ever did it probably didn't analyze every post and yours got thrown out with the derogatory ones. I did a pharaphrase of Peter Griffin's (Family Guy) giant yellow chicken monologue a while back (expired cupon - "You son of a bitch.") and got an infraction, happens sometimes.

All that I saw in your post was an explanation of your experiences, nothing derogatory or aggressive.

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bongsmilie
 
Hobbes

Hobbes

Well-Known Member
.

"The main difference with people who just have "the blues" and those that have clinical depression is that the depression just flat out does not go away. if you have the blues for a day or 2, typically it doesnt stick around and your mood will lift. with clinical depression there is no mood lift."

That's the horror, the constant wear. Like holding a 1 pound weight shoulder height, sideways, at arms length - eventually the exhaustion and pain builds and our resistance goes to zero. Chinese water torture that wears away the insides and leaves a shell.

"there are no smiles. there is no laughter. there is no warmth, no comfort, no light, no future. theres nothing but darkness and cold and despair"

One of the worst times for me when I'm deep in depression is the split second of waking up - sometimes it's like my mind is temporarily reset on waking, for just an instant - no depression, no fatigue, no pain - just clearness - then the depression comes crashing through like the ocean crashing through a glass ceiling.

Through the day I'm resigned to the depression, it's who I am, everything that exists in the world. When it hits me in the morning it's like getting hit in the face with a baseball bat, almost like loosing a loved one.

Sarah do you ever feel that? Anyone else too please, I've wondered if other people feel that as destructively as I do.

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dialectical behavioural therapy - (DBT) is a therapeutic methodology developed by Marsha M. Linehan, a psychology researcher at the University of Washington, to treat persons with borderline personality disorder (BPD). DBT combines standard cognitive-behavioral techniques for emotion regulation and reality-testing with concepts of mindful awareness, distress tolerance, and acceptance largely derived from Buddhist meditative practice. DBT is the first therapy that has been experimentally demonstrated to be effective for treating BPD.[3][4] Research indicates that DBT is also effective in treating patients who represent varied symptoms and behaviors associated with spectrum mood disorders, including self-injury.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_behavior_therapy

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"well, the paxil killed my anxiety alright, but i also felt like i could stop a mack truck going full speed with my bare hands, and i started having very vivid homicidal ideation."

"Homicidal ideation is a common medical term for thoughts about homicide. There is a range of homicidal thoughts which spans from vague ideas of revenge to detailed and fully formulated plans without the act itself.[1] Many people who have homicidal ideation do not commit homicide. 50-91% of people surveyed on university grounds in various places in the USA admit to having had a homicidal fantasy.Homicidal ideation is common, accounting for 10-17% of patient presentations to psychiatric facilities in the USA."

Sorry about the definitions, every time I look something up I figure I should post it for others.

"i would pretty much fantasize about killing people all the time, it was really fucked up."

I call that "drilling the full nelson front roll from the referee's position". Although I'd like to pretend that I'm joking I am not. I isolate myself from others as much as possible, one of my biggest concerns is some jackass starting a fight and my beating him to death in a fit of rage. The jail part is the big concern.

.

Both Effexor and Paxil caused me terrible anxiety and sleeplessness. I'm on a mix of Welbutrin, lithium, Seroquel and Clonazepam. It worsens my acid reflux so one doc gave me Omeprazole, which causes other digestive problems. Still, with the relief of marijuana it's the best mix that's worked for me.

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bongsmilie
 
sarah22

sarah22

Well-Known Member
Hobbes said:
.

"The main difference with people who just have "the blues" and those that have clinical depression is that the depression just flat out does not go away. if you have the blues for a day or 2, typically it doesnt stick around and your mood will lift. with clinical depression there is no mood lift."

That's the horror, the constant wear. Like holding a 1 pound weight shoulder height, sideways, at arms length - eventually the exhaustion and pain builds and our resistance goes to zero. Chinese water torture that wears away the insides and leaves a shell.

"there are no smiles. there is no laughter. there is no warmth, no comfort, no light, no future. theres nothing but darkness and cold and despair"

One of the worst times for me when I'm deep in depression is the split second of waking up - sometimes it's like my mind is temporarily reset on waking, for just an instant - no depression, no fatigue, no pain - just clearness - then the depression comes crashing through like the ocean crashing through a glass ceiling.

Through the day I'm resigned to the depression, it's who I am, everything that exists in the world. When it hits me in the morning it's like getting hit in the face with a baseball bat, almost like loosing a loved one.

Sarah do you ever feel that? Anyone else too please, I've wondered if other people feel that as destructively as I do.

.

dialectical behavioural therapy - (DBT) is a therapeutic methodology developed by Marsha M. Linehan, a psychology researcher at the University of Washington, to treat persons with borderline personality disorder (BPD). DBT combines standard cognitive-behavioral techniques for emotion regulation and reality-testing with concepts of mindful awareness, distress tolerance, and acceptance largely derived from Buddhist meditative practice. DBT is the first therapy that has been experimentally demonstrated to be effective for treating BPD.[3][4] Research indicates that DBT is also effective in treating patients who represent varied symptoms and behaviors associated with spectrum mood disorders, including self-injury.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_behavior_therapy

.

"well, the paxil killed my anxiety alright, but i also felt like i could stop a mack truck going full speed with my bare hands, and i started having very vivid homicidal ideation."

"Homicidal ideation is a common medical term for thoughts about homicide. There is a range of homicidal thoughts which spans from vague ideas of revenge to detailed and fully formulated plans without the act itself.[1] Many people who have homicidal ideation do not commit homicide. 50-91% of people surveyed on university grounds in various places in the USA admit to having had a homicidal fantasy.Homicidal ideation is common, accounting for 10-17% of patient presentations to psychiatric facilities in the USA."

Sorry about the definitions, every time I look something up I figure I should post it for others.

"i would pretty much fantasize about killing people all the time, it was really fucked up."

I call that "drilling the full nelson front roll from the referee's position". Although I'd like to pretend that I'm joking I am not. I isolate myself from others as much as possible, one of my biggest concerns is some jackass starting a fight and my beating him to death in a fit of rage. The jail part is the big concern.

.

Both Effexor and Paxil caused me terrible anxiety and sleeplessness. I'm on a mix of Welbutrin, lithium, Seroquel and Clonazepam. It worsens my acid reflux so one doc gave me Omeprazole, which causes other digestive problems. Still, with the relief of marijuana it's the best mix that's worked for me.

.

bongsmilie
Click to expand...
when im going through the depression every moment, awake or not, is full of sadness. i have nightmares every night, and when i wake up im depressed, when i go to bed im depressed, and every moment in between. its rough. and im really self destructive. i've had a lot of problems with that. the docs wanted to have me hospitalized 2 days before xmas because of some things i said in my group session...but i managed to get through. i used to hurt myself purposely a lot, in different ways. not so much now...thats even gotten a bit better.

my homicidal ideation was really scary because i wouldnt just sit there and think about what i would do, i would think about how i would get away with it. i formulated very intricate plans inside my head and if i'd had the right opportunity and the right combo of meds i honestly think that i could have done it. the meds killed the anxiety and made me feel invincible. like i could do absolutely anything i wanted and no one could touch me. i almost left my house with a meat cleaver one night while in a full on psychotic episode. if i'd gotten out of the house im 100% sure i would have hurt someone. i was in a total murderous rage. i wanted blood and lots of it.

they tried me on effexor, paxil, wellbutrin, prozac and seroquel, all within a year to a year and a half. fucked me up really good. i find that marijuana in combination with the skills i learned in therapy is the *perfect* combination of treatment. therapy was incredible.
 
Yeah

Yeah

Well-Known Member
vh13 said:
Hiya Hobbes,

Big supporter of what you do here, happy to stop in and say a few words. :-)

I'm bipolar too, while I fear the mania more, I understand depression all too well. Life would be so much easier for me if I could simply will myself into "feeling better." :lol:

I've seen a few therapists, only one came close to understanding the wretched misery that seems to span eternities and the helplessness that comes with it. Interestingly enough, he's the only one who didn't push for me to get prescribed anti-depressants (which don't work so well for biplar folks).

In my time, I've figured out I need 5 things to keep myself feeling as happy as possible as many days as possible:

1) Proper Nutrition

A sense of hunger is the first thing to go when I'm depressed, and so is a sense of nutrition. It can be very hard to get healthy food down, like fruits and yogurt, but that first nutritious meal of the day is sometimes the only thing that can give me the energy to get out of bed... and without it I won't.

2) Regular Activity

Regular exercise, sports, hiking, any kind of stress relieving activity that causes the body to break a sweat is an ALL POWERFUL PREVENTION TACTIC that is instrumental for treating my depression.

Regular, stress relieving physical activity releases a flood of endorphins, causing the mind and body to feel good and the increased strength and vigor (from activity) will help the body stay that way longer.

I use a car as little as possible, they pollute, I used to tell folks riding around on my bicycle 10+ miles for daily commuting was no-inconvenience, it kept me sane.

3) Social Support Network

Nothing has been more instrumental to my recovery then distancing myself from those pessimistic, harsh sources of criticism and surrounding myself with positive and supportive people who genuinely seek to understand and appreciate me for who I am, all the flaws included.

I still keep some of those negative voices, but not close. The difference is, I don't care about their opinions anymore. I care about the opinions of my lover, my closest business partners, and my best friends.

As a result, any time I reach out to someone in my support network in a time of need they pull me closer too, and so it becomes easier for me to reach out again, and again, and again... and now, I no longer fear rejection or isolation.

4) Self Worth

This is the most elusive one for me to attain in times of need, because it is the most easily forgotten.

For me, self worth comes mostly from the nearly ten years I've spent owning my own business.

I was an artist first in my life, a worthless, under-valued commodity easily passed around and discarded by the working world. Since then, I've picked up more valuable skills.

Don't get me wrong, I have no intentions of giving up my artist ambitions, but every year since therapy I've been able to invest more in myself, increase the value of my work to my clients. Some are completely dependent on me for the growth of their business.

This is a very satisfying feeling, to know that the sum of my life's work will have had some kind of meaningful value in this world gives me reason to push through dark times.

5) Medication

Not everyone needs this, but I certainly do, and so I take it every day! :bigjoint:

Also, just as much as certain chemicals can help a person it's equally important to avoid certain other chemicals as well. For example: depressed folks should not drink alcohol, and bipolar folks should not eat MSG, and no one should smoke the schizophrenia inducing, modern skunk strains. :-P
Click to expand...
I'm glad you made that post. Last year I took a psycology class at sacramento city college. Although I did not finish the class it was very interesting. The most interesting part to me was how your diet and nutrition affect the brain. Without proper nutrition, the brain does not function at the same rate and/or with the same ability to process information.

In other words, to keep your brain "happy" it is good to have a well-rounded diet(eat vegetables, meat, starches etc.) and get all your vitamins. Also learned that vitamin C is not only good for the immune system, but the brain, too.

I don't suffer from severe depression, just wanted to elaborate on a good post with some information that I think not everybody knows.
 
Hobbes

Hobbes

Well-Known Member
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I'm bumping to see if there is anyone else on the forum who would like talk about depression, or check out my other journal, for one of the other points to the triangle of my mental illness: Depression, Mania, Rage.

https://www.rollitup.org/medical-marijuana-news/315813-rage.html

"I've been in a particularly entrenched rage for most of last week, I had an important family event to attend Saturday night but I know myself - I would have ruined the event if on only my regular medication and missing the event would have hurt some people's feelings (they can't comprehend mental desease). Once in a lifetime kind of thing.

So I checked into my legal prescription drug box I keep locked in my attic - I had 5 each of Oxycotin and Percocet from when I had both of my elbows taken apart and put back together so I could hit people harder. Sounds funny but I am serious.

The event was at 6pm, I had been taking Clonozepam (0.5mg) since waking and every hour, I was up to 8 by that time but they were having zero effect. 1/2 an oxycotin, nothing, the other half, 15 minutes later a full one, by 5pm I've gone through the 5 and 2 percocet. Still not coming down from the rage so I break open my benzodiazepam that the doctors give away like glasses of water (4th most dangerous drug-BSSC) and start taking 4 clonozopem (2.0mg) every half hour.

All told, in 4 hours, 5 Oxycotin, 3 percocet and 17 Clonozopam - all three drugs were my prescriptions but were probably not meant to be taken that way. I got through the night, eyes shutting by times, then wide awake after wards but no rage."

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.
.

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bongsmilie
 
vh13

vh13

Well-Known Member
Hobbes said:
I'm bumping to see if there is anyone else on the forum who would like talk about depression, or check out my other journal, for one of the other points to the triangle of my mental illness: Depression, Mania, Rage.
Click to expand...
Very good. Even though you may have taken those medications for reasons other then they were prescribed, as a fellow bipolar I think you did the right thing given the circumstances.

After your last few posts in this thread I turned inward, a little introspection, and I noticed I do have difficulty with the "rage" still as well. I always figured it was just a symptom of the mania, but now I'm not so sure.

I've gotten a pretty good handle on the mania, and so the depression has been prevented for me. Lately I've been focusing on understanding the "rage" better.

I've been doing a bit of research into bipolar rage, how it influences "kindling" in particular. If I can put together something substantial I'll be sure to share it.

The "kindling" theory is basically this: each episode increases the rate and severity of subsequent episodes. It seems "kindling" is an observed pattern in bipolars (and epileptics, interestingly enough) where the physical/chemical/neurological "manic" pattern in the brain becomes reinforced and strengthened every time the pattern is exhibited, causing the brain to repeat episodes spontaneously even more frequently.

This seems to imply ALL moments of strong emotion, not just manic episodes, especially "rage," but not limited to euphoria from a wedding or a birth, will further the progression of the disease.

I'm sure us bipolar folks already know, but our condition can only get worse over time, especially if untreated. This is why treatment is so very important, not just because it makes us feel better now but because it keeps us from descending into a more difficult to treat condition later.

Can you post a link to your other journal please?
 
Hobbes

Hobbes

Well-Known Member
.

"The "kindling" theory is basically this: each episode increases the rate and severity of subsequent episodes. It seems "kindling" is an observed pattern in bipolars (and epileptics, interestingly enough) where the physical/chemical/neurological "manic" pattern in the brain becomes reinforced and strengthened every time the pattern is exhibited, causing the brain to repeat episodes spontaneously even more frequently."

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That's a very interesting concept, like a cascade effect. I'll research that as well. Thanks!

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"Can you post a link to your other journal please?"

lol! The link was actually the "Rage" title from the post above. ;)

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Rage

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bongsmilie
 
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