About Natasha Tracy, Author of 'Breaking Bipolar' Blog

Hi Natasha,
Thank you very much for all your beautiful writing here and on your blog. I'm just starting to wear my bipolar T-shirt after trying to pretend I'm normal for far too long. Got my self-diagnosis confirmed just last month. Woop de doop, eh?
Thank you for your posts, and for the responses they inspire. Lots of good information and support and food for thought.
Wishing you well, and very well indeed,
Helene.

Thank you and of course I will be patient .. Just don't want it to affect her quality of life when not working where she doesn't feel like enjoying it or doing things thanks for your time I do appreciate it

My wife has only been on her new bi polar meds for a couple weeks the non functional hours are really showing. She's up at 3/4am does stuff here at home goes to work gets done around 1/2pm comes home does more stuff and by 4 she's done. This worries me because it's as if every night we are in bed by 6 or 7

G'day Natasha.
I'my Peter from Perth, Western Australia. I wonder if one of your travels included Australia? If not, you need another holiday! Come to Perth, meet my wife, our menagerie of pets, and my humble, bipolar self.
I have battled with Ultra Rapid Cycling, Type II Bipolar, and comorbid (Don't you just love that hyper-appropriate word?) Generalised and Social Anxietiy Disorders, Seasonal Affective Disorder, mild OCD traits, pretty lousy self image resulting in occasional Suicidal Ideation, and some good stuff.
I am 54, a "bit" overweight, and have had strong intermittent painting neck ,back, and legs from wear an tear and a few accidents (like falling 120 -180 feet off a cliff, when I blacked out, while abseiling). And I have Severe Bilateral Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and Bilateral Brachio-Radial Pruritis which causes my shoulders down to my hands to itch, burn, and strongest below the skin'surface. I have been on the maximum dose of Pregabalin, a nerve suppressant, for a few months with total success. The last two weeks it has returned and is worsening. It drives me INSANE! Especially at night.
I came to find your site when searching for one help for my incessant, intrusive melodic humming. Often it is, as you have described, a persistent tune. Sometimes it is only a non musical word or short phrase/sentence I have just heard. But the worst is when I can't think of a song/tune and start improvising. I must say at this point that my improvising is grnerally, pretty bloody good! It can go on, over and over, then changing, because it has been so long, I can't remember how it started! Often I will recognise a few notes an the incessant, infuriating improvised, humming will morph into an existing song or tune or symphony. :-D
I sometimes scream out, "SHUT UP!" - usually tearing at my hair and trying to resist the urge to punch my head or bang it into a wall to interrupt what has become unbearable, unrelenting, repetitious, melodic "noise" in my head.
I too have been, and still am, on numerous medications, but I genuinely express my sadness for your ECT experience.
Thank you for letting others know we are not alone in our "crazy" behaviours.
Regards, Peter

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
You wonderful creature.
Words fail me. This is what the internet is all about, or should be. I don't know how to cheer in comments, but if I could I would deafen you with my cheers. Keep it coming Natasha. You've made my millennium. God bless you. Bipolar sufferer in Ireland xxxxx

You are my new best friend :)

Wow... Just came across this blog as I've been dealing with bipolar since I was 13 years old. Originally diagnosed with OCD alone, the symptoms didn't quite 'fit'. I've had a few periods of remission over the years, but once my brother was diagnosed with severe bipolar (he is in a halfway house under state care), things started to 'make sense'.
Fortunately, I have a doctor that I met eight years ago that actually cares, and is not a pill pusher. He's worked with me diligently on getting me the right mix between medicine (I don't want to just be burdened by 1000 medications), and my 'sanity'.
I also am a high-functioning 'victim' of bipolar. I say that, because fortunately I have been able to become very successful in my career and my bipolar with OCD tendencies really helped me along in my project-management field.
As you stated, people don't even guess that I have bipolar, but I like to share that I do to remove the stigma associated with it. However, I do not like the association that people have with their OCD and/or bipolar, when they have no idea what it truly is like to have it.
I can't say how much things struck me with your blog to make me actually register and post - as it truly mimicked what I go through. From the exhausted weekends and the 'secret' home-life that the work relationships don't reveal. The want to be the person to go out, but the desire to stay home. The frustration of living with it, and the want to icepick my head with the earworms that I have had lately.
Suicide has fortunately not been an issue for me. I have a son who I cannot leave without a father, but that I hope I can explain the times where I was not so nice, where I was frustrated, and how much I regret it, but love him.
Thanks and it's nice to know something like this exists on the web.

I had ECT done after burning thru diff meds which ceased to be effective anymore. This most severe ever depression was sent into moon when I (stupidlly)

I appreciate your responses. People have to use their brain in making choices of a medical nature. I hope I have spawned an ounce of doubt on top of the doubt you already have concerning interactions with brain doctors. Perhaps our little disagreement can be neutralised and we can talk about things without worrying about an agenda.

Hi John,
Thanks for sharing your experience. It's quite different from mine.
- Natasha Tracy

I will tell you a little about my experiences. While at a group home still under a misdiagnosed illness I noticed some things. We had group meetings where the psychologists presented an agenda, and afterwwards we had group comments and discussion. Although we talked about side effects of drugs they were spoken as inevitable for many of them. It was known that some of the drugs were known to cause weight gain but we were given less food han I normally ate to maintain weight and we were always hungry. Like children our snacks tha we ate were locked up except we could eat what we wanted from the snack locker twice a day but what we ate wwas recorded. How about I get to eat whn I want to? Sure nobody starved to death but they bought low fat and no fat items which of course were tasteless and lacking in sustenance. But through all this was a noticeable lack of voicing questions of treatment in those group meetings. They had the subtle threat of sending you across the street to a secure facility for non compliance of any kind and of course would delay you getting out. The mental health field by widening its diagnosis with the new dsm will even more send more threats to the average family. People can only be thhreatened for so long before they demand change. Psychiatry through its greed has declared itself unfit to handle our childen our aging mothers who they target with ect, and ultimately you. I'm not the only one who has woken up to the incompetent mishandling and cowardice of your average psychiatrist. I'm not afraid of psychiatrists or of speaking what I know directly to them or their umbrella of front men and government pawns. Just look at your low cost mental center. Everybody walks out with a dumb ass prescription in their hand. I'm not afraid of what they'll do to me anymore and I'm not intimidated by their threats. It's this use of threat that keeps most people in line and their check happily deposited in their bank all the while treating 2 year olds for bipolar. Somebody should put these men and women in jail. If a few of them did go to jail the mass incompetence on their part would have them squealing the lies they've concealed for years.

An interesting point. I would think those studies with an active placebo were taken into account in the meta-study I linked to, but I couldn't be sure without further reviewing the data. If you would be so kind as you link to a study you're referring to, I'll review it.
There are reasons for selecting voltages in ECT. I won't get into them, they're technical, but they have to do with seizure threshold of the patient and type of ECT being done.
Yes, we know how some medications work, many we do not. This is hardly unique to psychiatry. We use drugs that work long before we understand them. Like, say, Aspirin that was used for decades before we understood it.
You are correct that insulin's effectiveness doesn't compare to antidepressants, however, if you look at the study, many other types of medications (like statins, statins have a tiny effect size when compared to antidepressants) do. Antipsychotics for schizophrenia fair even better.
- Natasha Tracy

If you look at studies where instead of sugar pills they used ingredients such as atropine that causes a side effect of dry mouth instead of just an inactive ingredient in the sugar pill, patients assumed they got the antidepressant and thus the placebo effect was srengthened and those patients reported the same improvement in their depression as those that got the antidepressant. This worked in major depression. On the subject of ect your reasoning baffles me. You may not be aware but there are videos that ect doctors view that trains them on how to adjust the voltage past the manufacturer's default setting and how to modify the machine beyond it's normal capacity although your doctor will not tell you this while you lie on the table. Look at ect hall of shame on google for starters. You may have received less than a "therapeutic" dose. There are countless people who have lost yars of memory and forgotten family members. Your amivalence to this points to something I won't theorize. If you find that callin you spoiled upsets yu what about your family's feelings and then hearing you describe logically that it was your illness. I tell it like it is and what you say here infuences people until brainwashing has no further effet. But aside from the very serious matter of people's decisions, things in internal medicine actually have a target and an established relationship between the targt the drug interacts with or effects and the therapuetic model that is known to be a culprit in the disorder or pain. In other words they understand what the disease pathway is or the pain model is. What exactly is that antipsychotic you take doing in th brain and what does it do to the patient? Does it stop voices, improve organization, or what or is it just to calm the nervous system and slow down all connections so that florid symptoms are not present? One certainly can'tcompare for instance insulin's effectivenes and antiepressants so I would say there are flaws in what that study is saying exactly.

Hello John,
To be clear, I will not be getting into a big argument here. It's not what I do.
Your depression is not an indication of what every depression is. You experienced one thing but many others experience depression differently and it has nothing to do with "selfishness" although yours may have.
_Some_ psychosis can be managed in alternative ways, yes. That is the case with all mental illness. A variety of treatments work for different people as people experience the illness and response to treatment differently.
I like people who say, "you don't know what ECT did to you." Um, and you do? Were you there? Do you know me? No? Well then I'll thank you to let me make that assessment.
It is not the case that antidepressants are not more effective than placebos - that is the case in _minor_ depression, statistically, but it is _not_ the case in severe depression and there is no evidence to the contrary. Moreover, antidepressants are approximately as effective as other medications used in internal medicine, as a meta-analysis recently showed. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20051569
You may attack my character, if you wish, but that says more about you than it does about me.
- Natasha Tracy

With that type of thinking perhaps we should invent a medication for adult spoiled brats who commit suicide when they don't get their way. I had depression once and in hindsight it's an intriguing experience but an experience I immediately recognize cmes from my own selfish desire to have things go my way. Life is a struggle. I don't ever tell people what I think about their taking medication but what I do talk about is that it's a choicce and one that should be supported by close friends as long as they don't do dangerous things. Psychosis can actually be managed if they have experience and people to help them. That goes against the psychiatric protocols I'm aware. You are lucky or perhaps not fully aware of what ect did to you. You know about the people who no longer remember their husband their children or how to play the piano. Whereas you perhaps (maybe your telling a story) attempted suicide others reach the end of that tunnel and instead of harm turn around and actually recover without a bag full of pils that are no more effective than placebo in depression. You say no no no to the abiity to recover from bipolar or perhaps depression without help. Your way of thinking is countermanded by he thousands who believed in themselves. Your love of pills and medical procedures as well a your flair for crass dramatics really paints you to be on the spoiled side. At this point I would say that maybe your calling is to speak out against abuse and to take your own advice and you not tell others what to do when they become experimental subjects of a doctor's fancy. At the end of the day those medical profssionals go home and enjoy their money while you and others go hoe asking yourself what the hell just happened. The fact that the majority of foster children are on some type ofpsychiatric disorder shows in clear light the unlimited capacity of the medical sadist profession. I await your reply.

Hi John,
Mostly people with bipolar are afraid of depressive, manic and hypomanic episodes if they stop their medication. Each of these types of episodes have ruined and taken plenty of lives. Many people credit psychotropic medication for saving their lives and I would suggest that others have no right to tell them any differently. It's not until you have been at the depths to attempt suicide that you can truly know that feeling and it's not until you have looking into your families eyes after just having slashed your wrists that you can truly understand how imperative it is that you get help.
Someone didn't "perform ECT on me." I elected to undergo that treatment for a severe depression. While it didn't work for me, it works for more than 80% of people with depression. I am not against the treatment although I will be the first to say that it comes with risks and it's not very fun.
You can feel that bipolar is not in the "league" os schizophrenia if you like, but technically, more people with bipolar commit suicide than people with schizophrenia.
- Natasha Tracy

I hate to sound confrontational but what are bipolar people afraid of if they quit their medication? I'm very sorry someone peformed ect on you. I know that many have lost their memories, abilities, and their lives to ect. Perhaps you could speak out against it and talk about the deception that surrounds the mental health field. Bipolar is not in the league of schizophrenia. I may be a strident voice on this blog but I've always believed in frank discussion. Perhaps those who are so enamored with psychiatry that they are in league with them will see their flawed thinking as time passes and today's barbaric treatment will be condemned. I hope that ect is made illegal in terms of prison sentences and doctors who lie about psychiatry's "robustness" will see prison sentences as well.

Hi Paul,
That might be your opinion but it's not medically accurate. People with bipolar type-II, by definition, do not experience mania, they experience hypomania.
- Natasha Tracy

If you have Bipolar Type-II, you haven't yet experienced a full-blown manic episode (with psychotic features). Therefore, you are not truly Bipolar... in my opinion.

[...] manic. This alert can immediately be sent to one’s doctor or caregiver. . HealthyPlace writer Natasha Tracy won a Bronze Award in recognition of her HealthyPlace.com blog “Breaking Bipolar”. The [...]

Some genuinely quality posts on that site, saved to fav.

Hi Mark,
I agree completely, communication is key for anyone, those with mental illness and those around them included. I think you've shown great empathy for people with bipolar, and that's wonderful to see.
Thanks for your positive thoughts.
- Natasha

Thanks for the great blog. Communication is the key. This illness can be so cruel to BP'ers and friends and loved ones of BP'ers. Never be afraid to express yourself, never be afraid to be put yourself out there. Being able to express the frustrations and the feelings will hopefully someday lead to a cure.

You are both (Natasha and Jackie) wonderful persons...Jackie, you are right when thinking of people who are worse...
Imagine you are ill and have to struggle for life in a country which doesn;t offer any chances!...
I wish you all well...

SteaceatPes,
Glad you find it useful.
- Natasha

Your blog is so informative … keep up the good work!!!!

I was diagnosed as having Bipolar 1 disorder in 2000 and having been taking Lithium and Risperdal since. NOw I feel great!

theres hope for all

Hi Jackie,
Thank-you for the wonderful comment. I have a lot of compassion for people with schizophrenia. I know there are forces in my head, and I even talk about voices, but I know these voices are not like the ones of schizophrenia. Those must be very difficult to deal with.
I wish you well. I've always felt like bipolar and schizophrenia were cousins so you have a home here; drop by any time.
- Natasha

Natasha:
You are a beautiful, talented, young, awesome writer! I can sympathize with you greatly on the loneliness mental illness can bring! I often feel down like this too, and what helps for me is to think about people who have it worse than me, and help them if possible. I was reading your writing and thinking..."I wish I was Bipolar, and not Schizophrenic..." My diagnosis started as Bipolar, then schio-affective (bipolar with voices), now just schizophrenia. I long for the days I could enjoy a beach...even if I get myself out there...and breath deep the salty air....the voices leave me not one moment of peace.... . I can't think very well, or concentrate, or enjoy most things anymore.... . I only tell you this, not to make you feel bad, but to encourage you and to help you to realize you are special! And you are Blessed!!
With Love
Jackie

Nice post...Thank you for sharing some good things!!

Hi Christian. Thanks for dropping by.
- Natasha

i have enjoyed reading thank for sharing your story Greeting.

Hi Herb,
Thanks for dropping by. I'm not sure what this represents, exactly, but it is positive, and I am grateful to be here. And yes, Susan is amazing. We've actually chatted.
Thank-you for your kind words. "Charming" is good one.

Hi Natasha,
Good for you and I wish you good luck with this new opportunity.
I hope your stepping out of the shadows also represents a breakthrough and cessation to the downward spiraling you’ve been experiencing.
I place a great deal of importance upon socializing although real live contact is probably the ideal this may have to suffice at the moment. I was going to suggest an additional alternative such as Skyping when I came upon your recent blog entry. I thought Skyping for both you and Susan might be beneficial as both you young ladies have much to share while at the same time supporting one another at the most difficult of times at little or no additional cost.
In your video I think you also omitted about yourself the word “charming”.
Once again, the best of luck and most important of all I wish you wellness.
Warmly,
Herb
VNSdepression.com