This weeks Throwback Thursday is from May 2008
I came up with a new term I’ll share with my pdoc. I now can be depressed, manic or “Tigger manic”. If I had a tail I would have been bouncing around the apartment yesterday. I’m surprised I was able to type yesterdays post, which I’m glad I did. Based on emails and comments, there are a lot of peanut butter lovers out there.
When manic, like yesterday, I take on a dozen tasks. The problem is I can multi task, but what I can’t do is “multi finish”. I’ve mentioned washing clothes here several times. It’s one of my big challenges. So yesterday I had this great ambition. I promised myself all the clothes would be washed, dried and folded before Maurice got home.
Please hold on, as you ride Bradley’s Monday Brain Ride:
fold two pairs of socks.
Read one blog
wash three dishes
send an email
return a phone call
read an email
read a blog
fold two pairs of socks
fold two towels
write an email
fold two pairs of socks
read a blog
and so on, and so on, and so on
I hope you enjoyed your tour on “Tigger’s Manic Ride”. When the safety bar rises, please exit to your right.
None of these are conscious decisions. That would be insanity. Surprisingly I have not been deemed insane. I’m bipolar, therefore, the actions are unconscious. While folding socks, there’s no thought that says, “Oh, I should go wash some dishes”. Instead, I’ll be folding socks and suddenly I find my self washing dishes. I may then think “Wait. I was folding socks.” So I walk back toward the socks, but I don’t reach my destination. Suddenly It’s imperative I respond to an urgent email I received three days ago. By the time I’m done with that both the socks and the dishes have been forgotten and I’m on to something else.
I love the elation I can feel on these days. I want to stand on the edge of the bathtub and shout “I’m the king of the world!!!” I am so proud of myself at how much I’m getting accomplished only to find at the end of the day that not a damn thing was done.
When Maurice got home the shirts and pants were waiting for him to finish the job. Having socks and towels folded within 9 hours is good for me. That’s one positive of being bipolar, I can set my goals low. I only have to do what’s on my short list. What’s a short list? It’s a short list (as if you hadn’t figured that part out) and it has all the things I must do in a day no matter what. Others have them too, but everyones may be different. If I’ve accomplished them all at the end of the day, then it was a good day. When I say short, I mean short. Here’s the one that’s posted on the bulletin board above my desk:
1. make bed
2. shower
3. get dressed
4. go outside (even if only to mailbox)
That’s it! And what’s better is if I can’t accomplish the entire list then it’s determine my list is too long and it’s made shorter. The point is to have some, ANY, type of consistency. I think back before my condition worsened. I had meetings, reports, conference calls, contracts signed and they all had to be done by a deadline. Now, it’s considered a good day if I get dressed? Wow! Wonderful concept.
Wonderful concept? Here’s the serious part. It’s not wonderful at all. I’m sure it’s easier to understand these may be hard for the depressed to accomplish, but it can be just as hard when manic. I didn’t complete my short list yesterday. I didn’t shower or dress other than a dirty t-shirt and shorts I wear in case i have to answer the door. The reasons I don’t complete tasks when I’m manic are usually because I forget in all my mania or, most likely, I keep saying I’m too busy and I’ll do later. My head literally feels pain when I try to slow down for simpler tasks. At the same time, complicated tasks or too much stimulation can make me confused and disoriented.
For me the worst part is many people still don’t understand. There’s a lot of ignorance out there. Too many perceive mental illness as personal defect and not a disease. When you’re depressed you’re told to just pull yourself out of it. That’s what they did when they had the blues. The blues, my ass. When you’re manic you’re told how good you look and that their glad you’re doing better. They see you running around getting things done and think all is well, without understanding the insanity that is going on in your mind. You may look a bit edgy but other than that you look good. Of course mania is not fine. They also haven’t noticed you haven’t been around in a week or two or more, when you were depressed. These are things that may cause shame when you have a mood disorder. I wish could say I was above it all.
At first I felt this was a really humorous post, Bradley, but then I began seeing the “Tigger” in me, too. I’ve never been diagnosed with anything other than depression, PTSD–of course, I don’t go looking for diagnoses, I fear hearing what they’d find. But I have days like yours, and the sad part is I know that the following day I will feel a fatigue and depression like getting hit by a truck. I hate knowing that will follow. I relate to so much of what you write. The part about people not getting it, too. You’re so fortunate to have Maurice.
I understand, Mandy, but getting diagnosed was the best thing that ever happened to me. Not only did I get on the right medication, but I knew that what I was dealing with had a name and I wasn’t all alone. While I may be a little crazy, I knew that I wasn’t insane.
You’re right, I am very fortunate to have him.
“Tigger Manic” is a brilliant way to depict the condition. I haven’t been that way in a quite a while, but once you got through it, not even ECT can erase it, at least for me. I never want to be manic or hypomanic again, as alluring as those states of mind can be.
I like your “low goal” list because when I’m depressed, doing any one of those things is a huge accomplishment, let alone all of them.
Since you brought up peanut butter in this throwback I can’t resist sharing the following: yesterday when I went to CVS to pick up my codeine for my evil cough, I wandered over to the tea/food section. I was surprised to see they sold my beloved almond butter of all things – not one brand, but two! Wow! And one of the brands was a buy one/gete 50% of the next deal. Double wow! That stuff is $$$$. I picked up a jar to see what was in it, expecting only almond butter and maybe salt, but there was palm oil and sugar. Grosss! The other brand called Marantha was costlier of course because it had no fillers and was pure yummy almond goodness. Lesson learned – always check the ingredients.
I feel better sharing that with you. Whew! What a workout. Can I log it on Lose It! 😉
With my original pdoc, who I loved, we referred to full mania as Tigger mania and referred to hypomania as the Mountain Dew effect. It worked well for us. Unfortunately she decided to go back to school. I don’t miss mania, but would love just a touch of hypomania.
We do allow peanut butter in the house now. We only buy plain organic peanut butter with no added ingredients, including no salt or sugar. It works well for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but too dry tasting to eat with a spoon. Almond butter is priced way out of my league. There’s a CVS just at the end of our block. I may pop in and see if they’re running that almond butter special…and you’re right about the labels. It takes forever for me to grocery shop because I read every single one of them.
Bwahahahahahaha! “Tigger Manic” I love it!
It describes it so well, doesn’t it?
Yes indeed.
Your ‘Tigger Manic Ride’ describes me to a teeeeeee! I get distracted and walking from A to B, XYZ occurs and I never actually finish anything. I confuse people because I say “I’m just going to do the dishes” and half an hour later they find me digging in the garden, dishes untouched in the sink, but a load of laundry on and an unfinished craft project, glue drying, in the kitchen. I love the idea of your short list. I’m going to make one of my own
The shortlist idea was given to me by a friend and it really helped me to get through some difficult times. I hope you find it as helpful as I do. Let me know.
Thanks Bradley, I will do 🙂
I relate a lot to this post. It’s one of the reasons why I was diagnosed with ADHD first. Thank you for sharing.