Reddit Reddit reviews Welcome to the Jungle: Everything You Wanted to Know about Bipolar But Were Too Freaked Out to Ask (For Fans of All These Flowers or Readers of The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide)

We found 8 Reddit comments about Welcome to the Jungle: Everything You Wanted to Know about Bipolar But Were Too Freaked Out to Ask (For Fans of All These Flowers or Readers of The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Welcome to the Jungle: Everything You Wanted to Know about Bipolar But Were Too Freaked Out to Ask (For Fans of All These Flowers or Readers of The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide)
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8 Reddit comments about Welcome to the Jungle: Everything You Wanted to Know about Bipolar But Were Too Freaked Out to Ask (For Fans of All These Flowers or Readers of The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide):

u/icaaryal · 7 pointsr/BipolarReddit

>What do you say to your employer, do I have to or should I tell them?

You don't say anything unless you absolutely have to and I can't think of a reason that would ever meet that criteria. Hospitalization or otherwise. You are not obligated to tell them anything and you are better off sticking to that.

>How often does it actually come up on a day to day basis

For a lot and arguably most people it doesn't come up unless you bring it up. If you don't tell anyone that doesn't need to know, the most they'll do is suspect something if they know enough about bipolar disorder to pick it out.

>how do you come out as bipolar, maybe?

It's good to tell a couple people who you trust and you know care about you because they can kinda have an eye out for you when you start swinging. You really are better off keeping it between you, your psychiatrist, family/friends you can trust, and supportive people who understand what you're going through.

>suddenly a reality of some description is dawning. It's like I'M BIPOLAR. I'M. Bi. POLAR. WTF?? I look at the word and think, aww, bears..., and then I get a grip and think, uh, no, real, long-term, mental illness; lifetime of drugs and psychiatrists and people thinking I'm going to hang my shoes off my ears and run round shouting FIRE FIRE, people who care about me not knowing how to talk to me, lifetime of blowing relationships with people because I think I'm ok when I'm not... how does this really pan out?

The day I was hospitalized, I had my own collection of moments where that realization dawned on me. As I was driving to the hospital while my mind was going completely haywire, in between the fear and paranoia, the part of my mind I recognize as the real me was like "Holy shit. This is the real fucking deal. I have a mental illness." When I got the hospital and they fast-tracked me to the front of the line it hit me again. When the attending nurse came back and said "We need you to admit yourself or we will have to admit you involuntarily" it hit me. When I walked through the locked door of the inpatient facility it hit me. When they made me take off my shoes and store them in a container, give my mom my wallet and keys, take the string out of my hoodie, stash my notebook in the nurse's station... it hit me.

It was unnerving but I had known that I had bipolar disorder it had just never reared it's head like that. What I also knew was that my medication worked (I had some issues with my psychiatrist and not having access to my medication for about a month. I'll stick up a pharmacy if I have to these days. I refuse to not take meds).

Ultimately though, your life will continue as normal. Yes you'll always have that monster in your head. You'll do your best to keep it caged but sometimes it'll rattle you. Stick to your treatment. Understand the first meds they give you may not work out for you. Maybe the side-effects will keep you from doing what you need to be doing. Maybe it just won't work right. But stick with it and work with your psychiatrist to find the right cocktail. Be honest with them and let them know everything about how you're feeling with the medication and such.

The world is filled with people who don't and will likely never understand mental illness. All they'll ever know are the stories of people (generally untreated) who really lost their shit and did wild things. Or maybe they'll have personal experiences with those people and have a tarnished perspective on what it means to be someone who has bipolar disorder. But don't let that get you down and don't take anything they may say that's hurtful personally. They just don't get it and it's not really their fault. It's okay and maybe even good to provide people with information and perspective of your own. Expressing yourself to the right audience can be not only therapeutic for you but help other people like us in the future as they come into contact with the people who don't have it.

Bipolar disorder will always be a part of you but you don't have to let it define your life. Yeah, sometimes you just won't feel like doing shit or maybe you'll feel like doing everything and then get burned out and disappointed with the numerous and impractical undertakings you took on. But it's okay. Always remember that those phases will pass. When you find the right treatment, they'll be less frequent and less severe. You don't have to let the illness get in your way.

Also, I want you to read this book. It's called Welcome to the Jungle: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Bipolar but Were Too Freaked Out to Ask. I think it will give you exactly what you're wanting right now and it's a fantastic read. I will fucking buy the kindle edition for you if you promise to read it.

Don't worry. You got this.

u/acousticarchangel · 4 pointsr/BipolarReddit

http://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Jungle-Everything-Bipolar-Freaked/dp/1573244724/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299787629&sr=1-1

I found this one at my library and was really impressed with the majority of it. The author is a woman in her twenties and has some hilarious as hell stories like a depression episode where she cried over a "sad" fence. It has a good amount of humor, introduced me to behavioral cognitive therapy (which worked for me) and gives some good research on bipolar. There are parts I don't agree with, she is pretty adamant that there is a super slim chance you can get off medication for good which I believe is false in some situations. The book isn't boring at all and a very easy read.

u/spacemeow · 3 pointsr/BipolarReddit

Welcome to the Jungle: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Bipolar but Were Too Freaked Out to Ask

This book is funny and irreverent and single-handedly got me through the days of loneliness and fear and alienation when I was first diagnosed.

u/emmabug · 1 pointr/bipolar

This book is amazing. My mom bought it for me when I was first diagnosed. It helped me understand my disorder, and helped my mom (she bought herself a copy, too) understand how to help me.
The author is hilary Smith.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1573244724

u/VelvetElvis · 1 pointr/BipolarReddit

Yeah, watch out for the rash. I haven't taken it so I don't have much to say about it. It's supposed to be more effective for the depressive end of bipolar than the manic end but can help even things out overall.

Here are a coulple books:

This is aimed at a slightly younger audience than you but it's still really good:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1573244724/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

Another must have

http://astore.amazon.com/crazyboards05-20/detail/1572305258

Feel free to stop by CrazyBoards, a mental health peer support forum I help run. (not intending to spam)

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/bipolar

I don't have much to add, as everyone has already said it (if you feel you are in need of hospital help go to the hospital).

I did want to suggest you taking your SO with you to your psych next appointment, so she can hear from a "professional" that what you have is more than "just being down". I have come to see that almost everyone that has no previous experience with mental illness seem to share this view. "Why, if you just tried a bit harder, and wanted it enough you'd be able to snap out of it. Even my sweet husband, at first.

So, the treatment for her is to become educated. Knowledge = less fear=understanding. Books on bipolar and again, hearing that it's a legitimate "thing" from a third party professional was key for my situation. I liked this book: Welcome to the Jungle, Everything You Wanted to Know About Bipolar But Were Too Freaked Out to Ask because it's written in a casual, accessible tone. The other one that might be good is Loving Someone With Bipolar Disorder. The more academic books might be a bit off-putting.

Please keep us updated when you are able.

u/chop_talk · 1 pointr/bipolar

I would recommend reading this book called : Into the Jungle.

http://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Jungle-Everything-Bipolar-Freaked/dp/1573244724

It helped me learn a lot about my disorder.