Have you tried DBT? I went through three months at a university psychiatric department with grad students and wished I could have done more. It's technically for Borderline Personality Disorder, but I personally think everyone should learn it. Just wish I could bring it to bear when I'm in crisis, because I admit I…

Yes. I'm on 200 mg Lamictal (mood stabilizer) which has been upped 3 times and she might up it some more. Two Klonopins a day as needed (and boy are they ever). An Ambien to sleep. And brand-name Synthroid (not the generic) which is not technically a psych drug but boy does a drop in metabolism affect my mental state.

Got any other conditions besides bipolar? Co-conditions help. Also, give it a try anyway. All you need is a good APPROVED stamp by some bureaucrat somewhere. Why not, y'know? Also, re the seeking help from friends thing. You yourself know you're not in the best place, cognitive-wise, and if you're like me you hate to…

Can you get to the Social Security office and apply for disability? (It's so much easier than trying to do it online, which just made me muddle and give up.) It won't be an insta-cure but if you can get approved you then get some moolah (plus if they back-date it to when your illness is determined as having begun, you…

Not to go all Taylor Swift, but OMG that was the best thing I ever read on the subject! Seriously! I totally get it like never before. I've always taken my daughter's refusals to speak on the phone as a personal affront, and also an indication that she doesn't need me anymore. This article truly enlightened me. Thank…

I'm Bipolar I (I think, I get the two confused) plus throw in some Borderline Personality Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Substance Abuse (read self-medicating) so I get that part. The lack of basic help in your community because of budget cuts, which I don't doubt for a sec, just. sucks. Goddammit, that…

Maybe when you're young and your mind is a steel trap. But as a person in my 50s writing my memoir as we speak, I realize how much is now hazy. I have forgotten names, dates, places and other salient details which are now impossible to verify. Also, I'm wise enough nowadays to realize my recollection of events is…

Yeah, Legos! You can get big or small ones, depending on age. And be sure to get her the primary colors ones, and not the pastel ones.

When I was raising my three daughters, I had a friend with three sons. One of her sons loved to play dress-up, in girls' dresses, which made his father apoplectic. He shamed him into not doing it at their house, but when Kevin came to our house I let him have at it with the tutus and tiaras and anything else with…

I think texting is useful, especially for when I don't want to talk to someone but have to relay information. However, it DRIVES ME BATTY that my children prefer to have text convos with me rather than face to face or, God forbid, that old relic the spoken word telephonic communication. My daughter who went to college…

LOL. I know, I hate it when some a-hole on here makes me parse. And now I'm that a-hole. Your original was funnier and I defer to it. Carry on!

Fistful of bumps. Also, for anyone in the U.S., calling 2-1-1 provides free and confidential information and referral for food, housing, employment, health care, counseling and more.

Yes, yes, yes. All you say is 100% true, because the specifics might be different, but I've lived the same torture. I understand and I feel your pain. People call suicide a selfish act. How can trying to escape torture be considered selfish? Fuck you all, y'know? More concerned about how you'll cope with my death than…

They stop doing it to women in their 40s because they're all chasing girls in their 20s. That doesn't qualify as stopping it.

I've gotten the smile treatment. But my fave was the guy I'd known for five minutes who said "You need to walk with your shoulders held up. Makes you look ugly when you hunch down." I hefted my double Ds (which DO tend to hunch one shoulders; you try carrying them around all day) so they were stuck in the world's face…

Hey, that doesn't sound like "the new sincerity" or a refutation of hate and cynicism. I thought your little ponies would have taught you more. Neigh. Neigh, I say.

You're right. I think Talia Shire ought to get an Oscar for that reaction. It was equal parts pissed, woe-is-me, and the pose they put preschoolers in for portraits.

Watch the year where Gwyneth Paltrow wins. Nobody even pretends to be happy about it.

Whoa. Did not know that. Have since read up. Me no likey. Karmaaaa.