Becoming Strong Again

So you've had a psychotic break. You don't know how to live your life again. You've been told that you will be stuck on medicine for the rest of your life. Your perception of the world has intensified and changed. What do you do?  Instead of putting all of your hope in the medicine that your doctor prescribes its time to get deep and analytical with yourself.

Ask yourself these questions not necessarily in this order:

1. Is there anyone that I need to forgive?
2. How can I commit to one act of self love every day?
3. How can I understand the events in my life that have caused the upset that I dealing with?
4. What alternative treatments are there out there for me?

More and more research is coming out that psychotropic drugs do more harm than good, so it is wise to do
your research. If you have questions or want to be pointed in to the right direction please email us
at destroyingthestigma@gmail.com or follow us on twitter @destroyingdastigma.


Suggested Reading for inspiration: Making Peace from broken pieces by Ilya Vanzant

Success & Satisfaction: Strategies of Fighting the Stigma of Bipolar

As Oprah ends her daytime television show and puts her energy into her O.W.N. network it is appropriate to explore the stigma that people who are diagnosed with bipolar experience in the media. Oprah is an example of a journalist that has done numerous shows on Bipolar disorder. From Sinead O'connor to Michael Douglas' admission on her show that Catherine Zeta-Jones was "outed" about her bipolar condition it is time that we discuss strategies for Bipolar people to people FIGHT THE STIGMA!

First we know that the media is always the first ones to jump to conclusions about the mental health of anyone that does anything rash or violent to others or breaks the law. The media always wants to put people into boxes. This is the way the media can explain things easier to the public in sound bites.  The media is built by and around sound bites.  As a person diagnosed bipolar you can definitely speak intelligently to the media about the ways in which all bipolar are different. Stereotyping is something that the media does with glee, and letters to the editor, blogs, and twitter are all ways for us as bipolar people to fight the stigma by getting the message out.

Fighting the stigma of bipolar is done one person at a time. You can blog about your life victories. Shout it out and trumpet the adversities that you have overcome as a bipolar person. If you love someone who is bipolar let them know how proud you are of them for being triumphant in their life over the obstacles that inevitably manifest themselves in their life. A sense of belonging will continue to mature and develop once the bipolar person knows that they are truly an overcomer and will gain wisdom and strength because of that.

From a collective of Bipolar people to you we say: love yourself, forgive yourself, and treasure yourself. You are truly a gift.

Continue to boldly fight the stigma!

Medicine: Raising False Hopes and Dashing Dreams

Often times when a person is diagnosed Bipolar they are told that they are going to have to be put on medication for life. Their family is informed of this, and then their doctor goes to work guessing about what will work with their body chemistry.  Now keep in mind that this "chemical imbalance" of the brain the mental health establishment calls mood swings has yet to identify genes or true causes or definite solutions to Bipolar that do not have severe side effects like diabetes, blindness, tremors, suicidal thoughts, and more.


In fact some of the treatments for Bipolar are so mind numbing that the pills have been elevated to the level of a weapon of suppression. A Google search on any of the following psychotropic drugs will reveal that many of the manufacturers do not care about the side effects, do not disclose them, and are or had to settle class action lawsuits for them but the medications are still on the market.
This is an outrage! Some medications that are on the market that have class action lawsuits about them are the following:

• Depakote
• Seroquel
• Zyprexa
• Topamax

Now we here at destroyingthestigma do not advocate cold turkey quiting of your medication regime. However we are concerned about is the following cycle:

• Individual gets diagnosed with Bipolar
• Familiy is told that medication and talk therapy is the only way to manage (false hopes)
• Family and individual puts all their faith in the doctor to figure out what medication will work with the individual's body chemistry to find the right balance.
• Family suffers extreme disappointment from failed attempts at getting medication right.
• Individual with Bipolar gets frustrated because all the family wants and the doctors want is for them to continue to take medication that has severe side effects that is not that effective.
• Situation worsens, hence you have a doctor who has raised false hopes in the family of the Bipolar individual and dashed the dreams of the individual who once lived life as normal as normal as can be...ouch. 

To summarize, the ineffective, side-effect ridden medicines raise false hopes for families and those diagnosed with bipolar and dashes their dreams of ever getting back to their life of normalcy. 

This is a cycle that we at Destroyingthestigma believes that

• Needs to be acknowledged.
• Needs to be corrected. 

The first step is recognizing the problem.  The next step is to explore solutions. Finally commit to and implement those solutions. For more information please email destroyingthestigma@gmail.com

Destroying the Stigma -- One Step at a Time

Destroying the Stigma is about Professional Development for those who have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. In the 21st Century, it is not enough to strive for control over ones' moods. Now its time to harness the power of ones' potential and go as far as one can humanly go unfettered by stigmas imposed by ourselves or others.

In order to Destroy the Stigma it is imperative that those who have been diagnosed become their own advocates. How?

• Question the  Pharmaceutical Complex
• Go beyond just exercise, good diet, and talk therapy
• Delve into the psyche
• Forgive...radically
• Form your own support network. 
• Be a part of someone else's support network. 

As an organization, Destroying the Stigma is dedicated to helping those in need find the following in life because this is NOT a dress rehearsal:

• Belonging
• Acceptance
• Success, &
• Satisfaction

Copyright 2011 -- Destroyingthestigma@gmail.com