About the creation of this blog:
This blog came about as a way to hold ourselves accountable as we develop new life management skills. What does that mean exactly? Well, there is a lot of research happening these days that show that we suffer from decision fatigue, and that a lot of the highly creative / highly successful people out there make a conscious effort to take as many of the mundane decisions out of their life in favor of set routines. Set routines allow our minds to be free to make more important decisions at work, at school, or in our creative / intellectual pursuits.
See the following:
New York Times - Decision Making Fatigue
Sarah Wilson - Certaintly Anchors / Managing Uncertainty
Lifehacker - 10 Ways to Upgrade Your Morning Routine
One of the main points of this blog is to chronicle our journey in creating these routines and life management plans, celebrate the successes, denote the hiccups, and interact with others who are on similiar paths or would like to be but don't know where to start.
We will be exploring this from the mind of someone with Biploar 1, mixed and the mind of someone with adult onset ADHD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
So with that said, onto the introductions:
About Persephone Raynes:
Hi y'all! I'm Persephone Raynes (at least as far as the internet is concerned) and I have been diagnosed with Bipolar 1 - Mixed. For those not in the know, this form of bipolar is one of the hardest types to treat as far as medication is concerned. I'm lucky that I have a great mental health team who listen to me and understand that I want to be medicated as little as possible. I don't agree with medication to combat side effects of other medication, etc.
Unlike most people with bipolar, I am 100% med compliant. I have never decided "oh hey I'm feeling better, let's stop taking the meds". I make a point to remember that the meds are a large part of WHY I feel better, and also, going off of them creates bigger / more destructive cycles....thereby accelerating this already progressive disorder.
One of the most important things a person with bipolar can do is to establish routines. This is something I embrace with gusto in short bursts, and then abandon with the same gusto and then wonder why my life / brain has suddenly become way more chaotic.
This blog will chronicle my journey as I learn to manage life with this disorder. My primary goal is to make the medication the secondary support system for my brain, with myself as the primary director.
To give you a glimpse of what I need to manage - I am employed full time as a contract writer, I am in school full time for Business - IT Management, I am a competitve bowler, and I'm a fiction writer. It is utterly imperative that I conserve as much brain power as I can in order to do those things well and with complete focus, so my main goal will be in stabilizing my life to eliminate as many "pointless" decisions as possible.
And with that ramble, how about I turn this over to my GuruMate Abby - Abby? Take it away!
About Abby Normal:
Ummmmm...first of all, I have what Persephone likes to call "blog post fright". I'm also not a writer, so bear with me as I try to put my thoughts into some semblance of order that makes sense to someone other than me.
I was diagnosed with ADHD in college, a diagnosis that was met by everyone in my family (including myself) with a great deal of skepticism. I didn't have a problem, I was just flighty. After attempting one medication which gave me heart palpitations (thanks, Adderall!) I decided that, whether or not I actually did have ADHD, my life could use a bit of organization. And less procrastination. And I could use help completing projects. And finishing my sentences. And not interrupting people. And sitting still. And sleeping. Yeah...I was in total denial.
Cognitive behavioral therapy helped to some extent, until the parts of my life over which I had no control got to be far too stressful. That was when I decided that I needed to try medication again. This was back in March of this year. I am happy to say that after a few false starts and a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), I'm on medication that works amazingly well. It's my belief that medication is only a part of the whole treatment package, therefore I've always had grand intentions of researching, reading, and practicing different types of therapy. I, predictably, have never managed to finish even one book, let alone my entire plan. It's my hope that this project will help me build a routine that will be a strong foundation on which to stand. Then perhaps I'll be able to finish what I start.
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