My little brother managed to become a rather skilled song writer, rapper, and producer within a few months. I’m so incredible proud of him and of how fervently he’s chasing his new found passion. It’s also hard but inspiring to see him engaging in the social realities of today – particularly those of black men. I’ll be sharing his music as he makes it and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!
Monthly Archives: January 2016
Checking In
My mother asking for my help in setting up her own personal blog made me realize its been quite some time since I’ve made a blog post of my own. Just to get myself writing again I figured I’d give a little update on how my life has been going. The last time I checked in it was to describe the awful effect Seroquel withdrawal was having on my mind, body, and spirit. Fortunately I’m off that medication for good and definitely don’t miss it one bit.
I’ve actually been doing very well. I completed six weeks of Intensive Outpatient Therapy (IOP) after a particularly rough patch and learned so many new coping skills and general life skills. I’m honestly surprised by how effective it was! Just three hours three times a week for six weeks. I met some incredible people and heard some heartbreaking and inspiring stories. It made me realize that I’m truly not alone in even the oddest of difficulties that having a mental illness can cause. Once I “graduated” so to speak from IOP I started individual therapy. Now this I was very skeptical of. I’m just not great at communicating my emotions or even admitting something is wrong in the first place. One of the biggest problems of being a functional person with bipolar disorder is it’s often difficult for people to see and believe that you’re struggling, even if in reality you want to die. But I learned how to open up some, though not all the way, and discuss the things that were bothering me and making my life more difficult than I felt it should be. I ended up doing so well that I don’t need to attend weekly sessions anymore – I can space them out as I need them and I now know how to recognize when I do need to have a session.
Life has been great! I got hired at Subway a couple of months ago and have absolutely loved my experience working there. After being unemployed for probably the longest amount of time ever for me, it’s so nice to have a job to go to and to be a functional productive member of society. Doing art is nice, but I can only make so many paintings before I go stir crazy. Though I can apparently make endless amounts of sandwiches and salads and be perfectly happy.
I’m potentially in between psychiatrists – I haven’t decided yet for sure. My potentially new psychiatrist wants to start cutting down on the seven medications I’m currently taking daily, which I am very interested in; but, I also love my old psychiatrist and am one to stick with the same doctor for years. So it’s a tough decision, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out soon.
If you’ve made it to the end, thanks for reading. I’m always surprised by and thankful for how many people have a general interest in my life and wellbeing. If there’s anything in particular you’d like to hear about feel free to ask me through comments, or a message, or any method of your choosing, really.
Keep on keeping on. You all are lovely!
Everyday Thoughts and College Life 