Major Mood Extremes that cause Miner Struggles and Challenges

It is the major mood extremes that bring on the struggles and challenges that I, Cam Miner, face. I am Bipolar, and I have written some notes to myself about some of my mood cycles. As the cycles come full circle, I thought it would be neat to share for others. I have been encouraged by family and some friends who are close to me, to share some of my experiences for those interested. It has been great for me, to put some thoughts and life impacts to ‘paper’. It might be helpful to some, or even mildly educational to others, to read and hear about someone who lives with Mental Health concerns.

The following is the Wikipedia definition of Bipolar:

Bipolar disorder, also known as bipolar affective disorder, manic-depressive disorder, or manic depression, is a mental illness classified by psychiatrists as a mood disorder. Individuals with bipolar disorder experience episodes of a frenzied mood known as mania alternating with episodes of depression. –http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipolar_disorder

If you want to know one individuals experience with Bipolar, I encourage you to keep reading this blog. According to Wikipedia, 4% of the population will suffer from Bipolar disorder. So for every 25 people you know, it’s possible 1 person has this fascinating yet sometimes crippling Mental Health Disorder. I thought I would start this blog to share my history.

First, a brief background: I was diagnosed Bipolar at the age of 22, back in 2008. I was severely depressed, and my mother insisted I see a doctor. I reluctantly agreed to see my family doctor in April, and that is when I was diagnosed. I did not believe it at first, and I was very anti-medication. I did not want to rely on a pill, or several pills in my case, to function like everyone else in society. At first the meds worked, and then I found I had a terrible reaction to them. I discontinued about 4 medications at once, and the journey of 2008 began. I will save that story for a book I am slowly working on, but some of my friends know the story of my rise to mania leading to a spontaneous plane journey across Canada, in a state of psychosis.

Since being on medication I have found my mood cycles are much milder. A typical person suffering from untreated Bipolar will go through the following levels of mood. Starting with normal and going down in mood: normal mood, mildly unhappy, exceedingly sad / isolated and possibly angry, depressed to the point of suicidal thoughts. Back to normal and going up in mood, the following levels may be experienced: normal mood, enthusiastically happy, extremely full of energy, uncontrollable psychosis causing thoughts of grandiosity. I am going to outline my experience with some of the milder levels in my following blog posts:

• Normal Mood: Coasting through life, at the pace society deems usual
• Enthusiastically Happy: Viewing life as a glass that is not half full, but is overflowing
• Extreme bout of Energy: The feeling of being awesome and being hypo manic
• Mildly Unhappy: The free-fall from feeling normal or overly happy to feeling sad
• Exceedingly Sad / Isolated or Angry: Withdrawing from society and hiding from life

I encourage those who show curiosity toward the subject of Mental Health to stay tuned, and come back to visit this site. If you feel so inclined, maybe you know somebody who would find this blog helpful; please share. I can’t promise how often I will be writing posts, but I will try my best not to leave them too far apart. Thanks for reading, and have a good one.