The Lady Behind the Glass

Did you ever stop to think that when you go to your psychiatrist's office, the lady behind the glass is more afraid of you than you are of her?

A secretary dissed me the other day by doing my business through a plate-glass window. I think she was afraid of me. She was a new secretary and not used to being around mentally ill people (i postulate).

If this happened to you, would you tell your psychiatrist about it?

Signs of our Mental State

Did you ever wonder what the world would be like if we came with mental health manuals. These manuals would list all of our mental maladies, our social maladies. They would tell someone if you're a control freak or if you have a very bad temper.

There are no signs like that, no manuals. People must watch our behavior over time to get a handle on our mental state(s).

I guess I'm not a big one for first impressions. They really don't mean anything.

The Big Picture

Life is a struggle. When you add in children, it’s even more of a struggle. How does one cope with all the pressures that come from being a parent?
I’ve devised a great little trick that I remind myself of whenever I get bogged down. The trick is looking at THE BIG PICTURE. Doing this relieves one at least momentarily from the drudgery that is the day at hand. Most often, we look at the LITTLE PICTURE, the one that’s closest to us. For example, in the little picture, you hands are covered with poo; your kid is screaming; the dinner is burning on the stove; the phone’s ringing, and your dog is eating a diaper.
But in the BIG PICTURE, you’re a stay-at-home mom raising a loveable toddler, who used to be a little infant, who is doing very well, thriving, you might say.
It’s simply a matter of changing the focus.
LITTLE PICTURE #2
Your purse contains an empty baby bottle, crumbs from Goldfish crackers, a dried-up baby wipe, a baby spoon and a crinkled unused (thank God) disposable diaper. You can’t even find a lipstick. And anyway, who wears lipstick?
THE BIG PICTURE
You’re a stay-at-home mom raising a loveable toddler, who used to be a little infant, who is doing very well, thriving, you might say.
LITTLE PICTURE #3
Your basement floor is covered with laundry. The washer is broken because you didn’t use one of those mesh bags for the baby socks (there’s a sock stuck in the machinery somewhere); the dog is vomiting; you have no clean clothes, and you’ve got to take the baby out tonight. But wait a minute, there are a clean pair of pajamas, and they look a little like a respectable shirt and pants...
Repeat after me: THE BIG PICTURE
You’re a stay-at-home mom raising a loveable toddler, who used to be a little infant, who is doing very well, thriving, you might say.
LITTLE PICTURE #4
Your mother tells you she wants to travel in her old age, not babysit. You call the nearest daycare, only to be put off. They have an opening on Fridays only. You don’t really trust anyone with your child. You can’t bring yourself to begin to call more daycares. You decide to quit your one link to the real world–your part-time job.
To the music now: THE BIG PICTURE
You’re a stay-at-home mom raising a loveable toddler, who used to be a little infant, who is doing very well, thriving, you might say.
This little BIG PICTURE trick works quite well. It’s a matter of substituting something ugly with something nice, or at least neutral.
You might have heard of this kind of psychological trick before. Psychologists and self help people have been advocating for years what they call "positive visualizations" as a relaxation technique. What one does is visualize a beautiful, stress-free environment for several seconds. For instance, one might imagine one is standing on a pine porch, looking at a beautiful, ice-cold lake in the Norwegian mountains. With this visualization, one is to begin to relax a bit.
The BIG PICTURE Mantra works in the same way.
What the mantra ultimately does is give you a few seconds away from the hellishness you’re in, and the body naturally relaxes and feels better.
By changing the focus and language, one remembers that, overall, one is not in TOO DEEP of DOO DOO.
Try it. Since you’ve decided to take the plunge and have a child, you’re certainly brave enough to try a little self-help advice. Try it.
It worked for me.

Wanted: Physically Disabled Person who's Married

Hi. I'm writing an article for a magazine about disability weddings. As you can imagine, I wrote the mental disability part of the article; now I need to write the physical disability part. I need physically disabled people who are willing to talk about their wedding. Any takers? Anyone want some publicity?

Actually, Phobias might be part of the bipolar game

You know, phobias might be right on the subject of bipolar illness. What do you think? Do phobias come with your bipolar illness?

Is the bipolar person more phobic than the average person?

Would You Buy a Lipstick on Ebay?

Germ Phobia article notes:

would you use your spouse's toothbrush?
would you French kiss on the first date?
would you eat an apple right off the tree w/o washing it first?
would you buy a bra at Goodwill?
would you eat a piece of toast off of a stranger's plate at a restaurant, if the stranger had left the restaurant?
do you sit down on public toilets w/o putting paper down on the toilet seat?
do you share a glass of diet coke with your best friend?
do you immediately shower after sex?
would you buy lipstick on ebay?


hello, guys. yes, this is still bipolar literature, but i thought i'd show you what i'm working on right now. i'm working on an article about germ phobias.

mood is pretty good. it's so rainy here, and cold. i'm fixin to turn 45 on Feb. 17. seems old. how's your mood?