New Member - Trying Hard

Trying Hard said...
hi everyone
i am a 15 year old high school student and i have just been diagnosed with bipolar 2 disorder. as well as this my best friend has also recently been diagnosed, he was diagnosed before i was and when he found out he couldn't handle it. i now know what it is like, being diagnosed with bipolar 2 disorder, other students in my school spreading rumours i tired to kill myself isnt making it any eaier. i dont know what to do. i have lost all my friends expect the one mentioned above, and my family doesnt know what to do. i see a councellor 3 times a week and i am about to see a psychologist. when i finish with my councellor i feel worse each time after i see her. i dont feel it is working. i am starting medication, but since then, i have lost alot of wieght and i feel it would be safe to not take the medication in that respect, but i have self harmed. so maybe not.
can anyone help me?

i am 15 and i have recently been diagnosed with boarderline personality disorder and bipolar 2 disorder.
i dont know what to do or how to help myself, i have social phobia anxiety disorder, so speeking to a councellor or a psychologist or someone face to face is not an option..... ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO HELP ME ????!!!!!????!!!

Post Edited (tortoise11) : 5/23/2012 8:35:22 AM (GMT-6)

red lightening said...
Hi Trying Hard

1. Begin your meds
2. Begin educating yourself on these mental challenges
3. Reach out here for support
4. Remember that you are perfect just the way you are
5. Keep a mood chart
6. Avoid stress as much as possible
7. Do not drink alcohol, do drugs
8. Try to go to bed at same time every night
9. Exercize and cut out sugar and junk foods
10. Keep posting here, we will be your friends in support

-tortoise 11 - i cannot talk to people due to my social phobia anxiety disorder, i am forced to go and see them, but i don't say anything, it is hard, its hard to explain the feeling i get but it is too hard, so i guess i cant be helped in that regard..... sorry for the misunderstanding, i go to the councilors but i don't say a word.

-Red lightening
everything stresses me, work school, people.... i can't stop all of that. i try and find things that make me happy but not alot does...

-Its Genetic
i have contacted my school, along with my parents and not much can be done there they say to ignore it, but its hard to ignore people laughing. they need to somehow provide support at our school,,, for people with illnesses like this, rather then out them down and make them feel even worse...... i try and explain the seriousness of it to people, and just what the illness does to people but they don't listen

im starting to wonder, if its even use me trying to seek help.

Okay, Trying Hard,

One writer has expressed the teenage gang group as "the herding instinct".  That doesn't mean, however, that something can't be done about it.

Have your parents go over the heads of the school administration to talk to the school board about bringing in someone who is a professional in the field of bipolar illness to talk to all the students in group instruction.

I really believe there are laws that prevent this type of behavior in schools, but that's another subject for some other day for your parents to check into.

They do need to go to the school board, however, to talk about it. It may wake up some of the people there to the fact that information is woefully lacking in their school system about how to maintain a healthy school atmosphere. The one you're in now is definitely not a sound one for treatment of all as equals in the system.

If necessary, you can always request a transfer to another school or enter a parochial school which may be far healthier.

Good wishes,

It's Genetic

Trying Hard,

It was Madame Curie who said that "nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood." The behavior of the student body toward you is largely the result of ignorance; in fact, most arrogance is largely the result of ignorance.

All schools need to have instruction in what mental illness is; it should be part of the curriculum to help remove the fear of things students don't understand and so laugh at it in ignorance.

An understanding of what bipolar illness, schizophrenia, depression are will go a long way to removing the ignorance that is so prevalent in society.  At your tender age, it's difficult to think that you could mount the strength and power to counter the affronts you are being subjected to. You are just beginning to understand the illness and you need assistance until you are genuinely in full grasp of the personalities of those who are part of the "herd instinct" group. There's no need for you to have to do that.  Society is largely civil, for the most part.

I encourage you and your parents to proceed to talk to the School Board and if you can't find an environment there that will help you feel secure, by all means change schools and move into one that is healthy or into a parochial school where children are taught these things because of the standards of the school or because the parochial schools stress compassion, a part of  religious views.

Most youngsters, in my experience, are willing to have open minds if they are provided an intelligent and reasonable way to understand truth.

It is true that they are still immature in their minds, but these steps to help them learn are part of the process to help them grow into maturity.

From an educator's viewpoint and from the condition you seem to be in right now, I think it's sound advice.

I would not presume to advise your parents how to proceed if you find that transfer to another school without help from the school board or moving to a parochial school are not within their reach.

I hope you find some relief from this because the stress is, in my view, a major factor in your feeling insecure.

I wish you all the best.

It's Genetic

Post Edited (It's Genetic) : 5/24/2012 7:32:34 AM (GMT-6)

Don't worry about it. I mean the student body being comprised of idiots and your best friend calling you a phsycho. Because the social aspect of school doesn't matter one fig. It's a lie. The sooner you realize that it doesn't matter the better off you will be. I was a teenage psycho, often with head lice (Thru no fault of my own or lack of cleanliness), living in a rundown trailer filled with cats, whose clothes came from church donation bins. Food was scarce. My parents were also. AND I was a bit gayish but hiding it well. And school was a nightmare... until I realized it didn't matter. I spent my entire school career until eleventh grade trying to cram my misshapen puzzle piece into a puzzle I didn't fit into and it only made me miserable. I was different. So was everyone else, they were just better at playing the game. But once it hit me that I was being a pathetic little tool, whiny as a emo with one hand caught in a mousetrap, I realized I was the one doing the most damage to myself. I was already crazy. Heredity had seen to that. Nothing would fix that. I was already a social pariah. Inability to blend in with the crowd had boned me there. And I was already despised by most the teachers and staff. Fighting, family reputation, poverty, and a cocky defiance against authority had me pegged as a rebel though I was meek. So I had nothing to lose. And what I had to gain was my self respect and that was only something I could fix. So take a lesson.
The best thing you can do for your mental health is lessen the stress around you and since you can't change the world, and you can't, then just LET IT GO. Dress to please yourself. I personally dressed to annoy, wearing clothes that would so offend the statusquo that no one could mistake me as sane. Oddly my mismatching stripes and bow ties earned me a fashionable title which was the opposite of my aim but whatev.
Be nonchalant in all your dealings with friend and foe. I took to thinking of my school life as a marvelous play of which I was not the star but a comic relief of sorts. A supporting role. When crap hit the fan I let it roll off me. When ppl gossiped I added to the gossip until the falsehood was so unbelievable it ceased to be credible. And I spoke to whoever I pleased, nerds and jocks alike, with a cocky smile and and a half bow. Don't let your emotions overtake you, especially at school because teens are vicious hellspawn who will use them against you. Rise above it. In a few years you will not speak to any of these people. Their opinions will only matter then if you've allowed them to shape you. If YOU let their jerkery become ingrained in your very personality, it is not their fault, they are just being moronic youths picking at the weak to elevate themselves in the manner of all species, but it is yours for not saying, "To hell with this. These people don't know me." Even your friends, trust me, will be gone in a few years. You will go your separate ways. They will go to college, find partners, get married, have babies... not necessarily in that order. And you might too. You will meet new and different people and wish to all that is holy that you had not put so much stock in all that high school drama crap. Please. Pleeeeaaase my young friend. This is a message I long to share with all struggling teens. You will feel much better if you learn to ignore your peers and start living for yourself. Also your diet. Change it. If you really really want to improve sacrifices must be made. I've got a lot more suggestions for you that will help you to treat yourself but lets see if you read all this first. I'm lazy.

Post Edited (Illmissucat) : 6/5/2012 6:49:31 AM (GMT-6)