Here's what has worked for me:
- Assume control and responsibility for the disorder (it's a disorder, like diabetes, not an illness). You will likely live with it your whole life.
- Get a TEAM together: friends, partner, parents, a GOOD psychiatrist, and also a therapist. You are the COACH of that team, not the football.
- Be zealous about taking the medication prescribed for you. It's a neuro-chemical disorder, and can be minimized with the right medicines.
- Participate in self-help groups. Peers understand better than anyone what you are going through. One organization that does this nationwide is the DBSA (depression and bipolar support alliance) http://www.dbsalliance.org/
- Have hope! It has taken me 4 years to go from 6 months a year of severe depression to 2 months a year of moderate depression. It CAN be done!
- Read all you can get your hands on about your disorder, whether it's panic attacks, attention deficit disorder, depression, bipolar, schizo-affective, or anything else. Knowledge and understanding are your allies.
- There are now magazines for many disorders: BP magazine (not British Petroleum, Bipolar, silly). http://www.bphope.com/
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