Blogs
How do you maintain parental authority when your frazzled mind makes you look like a parental chump? Teenagers constantly test the bounds of your authority whether you have ADHD or not. Still, with a brain filled with cotton candy where gray matter should be, the ADHD parent has some unique challenges. Here are some tricks I use to keep a good rapport with my kids and preserve the illusion of authority.
Bipolar Disorder can kick you to the curb. It can be demanding and dominating, but I will not give in. I will continue my fight and I will be victorious. Nothing will stand in my way. Not even myself.
We have drugs for everything now, right? Too hot, too weak, too sad, too hyper - there's a pill. Not enough hormones, low insulin, can't breathe - the doctor has a script for you. But what about anorexia? Bulimia? Binge Eating Disorder?
At the beginning of May, my Twitter stream was on fire with angry ADHDers. They were sick and tired of ADHD being stigmatized and they weren't going to take it any more! And what had set their tweets a'fire? A YMCA ad.
I am a tap dance student, and last night was our yearly recital. As I stood in the wings, literally, reading a review copy for an upcoming book about anorexia, I was surrounded by dancers of all ages and shapes. As a job hazard, I watch the kids for signs of eating disorders. Since no one is eating on the stage - or face the wrath of Miss Linda - you may wonder what I'm looking for.
This was one of the first books that I read shortly after being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. I wanted to be sure that I was diagnosed correctly. Coincidentally enough, I have not been correctly diagnosed by my current psychiatric nurse. She says that I'm a Bipolar II and I think I'm Bipolar I, according to the DSM-IV-TR. She told me once that it didn't matter as long as the treatment took care of my episodes. But it's the new edition, the DSM-V, that has really grabbed my attention.
I saw an article on CNN today about how Walmart's sales at U.S. stores fell 1.4% from the same period last year. When customers are living paycheck to paycheck more than ever before, the sales aren't there because "customers can't afford the gas to get to the stores and that they're increasingly using food stamps when they get there." It's no secret we are living in difficult times. It's a no brainer that anxiety levels in the country must be rising. It made me wonder how much.
Sometimes the ADHD mind strikes when you least expect it leaving you holding a big bag of embarrassment. Do you have good friends to not hold it against you?
The anniversary of my father’s passing is nearly here. It’s given me pause to reflect on what my life’s been like this last year. I went into a deep depression that lasted from September to February. I had a short lived hypomanic episode, too. I would say that I wish my year had been better, but it could’ve been worse.
We've all heard of patients and parents of patients "Googling" an illness or treatment and arriving to appointments with print-outs and pointed questions. The problem is new, but not unexpected. New technologies and access often make people nervous. There was a time when women weren't allowed to read novels and locomotive trains were believed to cause internal damage because they traveled so fast. To be fair, the public is known to over-reach on new ideas as well: the Atkins Diet and pet rocks come to mind.
Happiness and freedom come from within.