Like many people with bipolar, my daughters symptoms come and go. And, no medications work for very long with her, but fortunately she is stable more often than she is ill. She says she finds it easier to deal with the symptoms if she assigns personalities to them.
So, she says that psychosis is like a screaming toddler, who needs constant attention in spite of having all of the attention, and God help you if you stop giving them attention for five seconds, they’ll scream louder. They’re often clinging to Mania’s pants leg, throwing one of their famous tantrums. The way to manage them is to distract them.
Mania: That excitable friend who drags you to a party (even though you’d really just rather stay in and watch a movie) because that cute guy from her chemistry class will be there and oh gosh, she has the biggest crush on him. And /of course/ she needs you there, since you’re her “best friend” and she needs the emotional support. Even though you know she’s going to ditch you as soon as you’re inside. But, being the nice friend you are, you go in and sit on the couch in the hopes that no one will bother you.
As it turns out, there are a /lot/ of people who want to talk to you. You have to participate (even though you’re missing the movie you wanted to watch alone at home) or else everyone at school will think you’re weird and antisocial. When she strikes out with the cute guy, she get /mad/ that you’re off talking to people. So you two drive home in silence and she makes you hang out with Depression (her less fun twin-brother, according to her), while she disappears into the night
Depression: Once his sister is gone and you’re stuck with him, he decides that it’s time to show you everything that went wrong in the world that day. And everything that’s gone wrong in your life so far. He gets annoyed when you want to leave because “you just got here” and “do you like Mania more than me? I can be fun too”. Unfortunately, his version of fun is watching sad things and struggling to take care of yourself. IT'S NOT THAT YOU AREN'T TRYING, IT'S THAT HE'S GETTING IN THE WAY and being a giant pain in the butt
Anxiety: Anxiety doesn’t like hanging out by himself. He usually accompanies someone (his best friend is Mania, but he’ll settle for hanging out with Depression if Mania isn’t available). While Depression is a quiet sort of conspiracy theorist, who usually keeps his delusions partially grounded in reality, Anxiety will go as far as he can and scream it from the rooftops. When he doesn’t get his way, he throws tantrums, much like Psychosis. Whereas Psychosis’s tantrums are mostly screaming, Anxiety will keep you from breathing and he’ll overload your senses. But fear not, dear friend. He’s loud, and sometimes scary… But he likes his vacations
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A well known writer once said that he was at a party for writers and he realized that every writer there had a mood disorder. If they are like my daughter, they have an unusual view of the world
So, she says that psychosis is like a screaming toddler, who needs constant attention in spite of having all of the attention, and God help you if you stop giving them attention for five seconds, they’ll scream louder. They’re often clinging to Mania’s pants leg, throwing one of their famous tantrums. The way to manage them is to distract them.
Mania: That excitable friend who drags you to a party (even though you’d really just rather stay in and watch a movie) because that cute guy from her chemistry class will be there and oh gosh, she has the biggest crush on him. And /of course/ she needs you there, since you’re her “best friend” and she needs the emotional support. Even though you know she’s going to ditch you as soon as you’re inside. But, being the nice friend you are, you go in and sit on the couch in the hopes that no one will bother you.
As it turns out, there are a /lot/ of people who want to talk to you. You have to participate (even though you’re missing the movie you wanted to watch alone at home) or else everyone at school will think you’re weird and antisocial. When she strikes out with the cute guy, she get /mad/ that you’re off talking to people. So you two drive home in silence and she makes you hang out with Depression (her less fun twin-brother, according to her), while she disappears into the night
Depression: Once his sister is gone and you’re stuck with him, he decides that it’s time to show you everything that went wrong in the world that day. And everything that’s gone wrong in your life so far. He gets annoyed when you want to leave because “you just got here” and “do you like Mania more than me? I can be fun too”. Unfortunately, his version of fun is watching sad things and struggling to take care of yourself. IT'S NOT THAT YOU AREN'T TRYING, IT'S THAT HE'S GETTING IN THE WAY and being a giant pain in the butt
Anxiety: Anxiety doesn’t like hanging out by himself. He usually accompanies someone (his best friend is Mania, but he’ll settle for hanging out with Depression if Mania isn’t available). While Depression is a quiet sort of conspiracy theorist, who usually keeps his delusions partially grounded in reality, Anxiety will go as far as he can and scream it from the rooftops. When he doesn’t get his way, he throws tantrums, much like Psychosis. Whereas Psychosis’s tantrums are mostly screaming, Anxiety will keep you from breathing and he’ll overload your senses. But fear not, dear friend. He’s loud, and sometimes scary… But he likes his vacations
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A well known writer once said that he was at a party for writers and he realized that every writer there had a mood disorder. If they are like my daughter, they have an unusual view of the world
