Bipolar 2 From Inside and Out

Posts tagged ‘teletherapy’

Everything in Moderation

Support systems are important for good mental health. There’s just something about sharing difficulties and successes with people who truly understand because they’re in the same place, facing the same issues. You get to say how you’re doing and what has helped you. You get to listen to what has helped others and incorporate their insights into your own journey. You get a chance to bitch and moan if that’s what you need to do. And after you’ve vented to people who share your pain, you feel better.

During the pandemic, we learned the value of connecting without physical presence. In many ways, it was ideal. We didn’t have to get dressed and venture out into the people-y world. We didn’t have to risk getting or spreading illness. Most of our therapy sessions went virtual. Mine did—and stayed that way even after pandemic restrictions were lifted.

Social media has also provided many virtual gathering spaces for people with brain illnesses. For example, there are many Facebook groups that create communities of mental health advocates and sufferers alike. These groups vary in what they offer. Some are chat groups. Others specialize in various diagnoses. Still others provide access to resources so people who need them can find them in one place.

I moderate one of these Facebook groups. It’s called Hope for Troubled Minds, and it addresses people with brain illnesses and their families and caregivers, with an underlying focus on faith. (You can find it at https://www.facebook.com/groups/654965125046006.)

I don’t have an awful lot to moderate, so I curate, instead. Every day, except when I’m out of town, I hunt for articles of interest to our group members. I get them from The Mighty, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN Science, blogs, and other Facebook groups. (I subscribed to NYT and WaPo mainly to be able to share articles they print without having members run into a paywall.)

My goal is to post four to six articles or connections a day, and most days I make my quota. The stories I find include first-person articles written by those with psychiatric conditions and their relatives, scientific articles such as those on brain science, and news stories about political and legal aspects of the topic. I also cross-post my own blog posts to the group. I try to keep a balance of different diagnoses so that it doesn’t run too much to bipolar, which is my own disorder and primary interest.

I comment on most of the posts I make to point out interesting quotes or opinions on the issues presented. The group members also make comments and start discussions, though not as many as I would like. Sometimes I post questions that I hope will prompt those discussions.

Recently, I’ve posted links to articles on hospitalization, “high functioning” anxiety, depression and creativity, the difficulty of reaching out, working, eating disorders, ruminating, OCD, DBT, schizophrenia, medication, self-care, co-occurring conditions, suicide, and more.

My goals for the group (and my moderating of it) are to improve member engagement, to seek out some guest bloggers, and to continue to share a diversity of articles.

I’d like to invite you to go with me on that journey. Join our group or tell me what would make it better. Put me in touch with other groups so we can cross-post information. Point me toward blogs I need to be reading and posts I need to be sharing. Volunteer to write for the group and its members.

Help me make Hope for Troubled Minds the best resource it can be.

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Mental Health

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On the Couch From the Couch

(Actually, from my desk chair, but you get the idea.)

This week I tried teletherapy, one of the workarounds that psychiatric patients have turned to in order to promote their own mental health, especially during the pandemic.

I know there are various online companies that specialize in teletherapy, or other health conditions plus psychiatric ones. Among these are Talkspace, Betterhealth, and Brightside, plus meditation and mindfulness apps such as Insight Timer. I wrote about the phenomenon back in January (https://bipolarme.blog/2021/01/10/distance-psychotherapy-is-it-for-you/).

In that post, I said that I hadn’t needed to try teletherapy yet, though I did mention having had telephone sessions with Dr. B., my psychotherapist. These were set up when I was unable to make it to my sessions, whether for transportation or psychological reasons. They helped but were not ideal, of course, because we couldn’t see each other’s faces and body language. Now, of course, with the proliferation of tablets, smartphones, and apps like Zoom, that’s no longer a hindrance,

Lately, I’ve been feeling a need to go back into therapy and by default I had to use teletherapy, as Dr. B. still isn’t seeing clients in person. (I had done Zoom calls for various other purposes, so I knew the drill.) We set up a Webex appointment and I thought about what topics to bring up, since I hadn’t seen her in so long.

I still don’t know all the advantages and disadvantages of commercial teletherapy, but I wasn’t tempted to try it.

First of all, I hate breaking in a new psychiatrist/therapist under any circumstances, as I had to do when my regular psychiatrist retired and moved. At this point, even the Reader’s Digest version of my life – or even just my mental health journey – would take several sessions. And I don’t trust therapy that starts without knowing my diagnosis, my medications (including the ones I’ve tried that didn’t work), what triggers me, at least a summary of my major depressive episodes, what therapy I’ve had so far, what I learned from it, my family and childhood and relationships, and more.

Not to say that a person couldn’t help me at all with my current situation (possible onset of a major depressive episode) without the backstory, but all that history informs what I’m going through now and why. Going through it would take several tele-sessions before we ever got to my current problem.

So, Dr. B. agreed to see me promptly and I appreciated it greatly. I was able to skip all the history and just get to the meat of my problems. She was able to remind me of some of the things that have helped me in the past and suggest some new things as well. And we set up another appointment for next week. One of the things she recommended was that I check with the psychiatrist who prescribes my meds, as I’ve been having some trouble with sleep. (Fortunately, my next appointment with Dr. G. was within the week. I see him only four times a year for maintenance.)

I had my appointment with Dr. G. He refilled all my meds, but had little to suggest about any of my other problems. He heartily agreed with my decision to go back to seeing Dr. B. He told me that one of my meds which I thought I might switch from nighttime to daytime was the kind that built up to a certain level in the bloodstream and it didn’t matter when I took it. And he suggested I make an appointment with my primary care physician regarding a matter that seemed not to be psychiatric in nature. (I agreed, and will do that as soon as the holiday weekend is over.)

So, where does this leave me? In touch with three doctors who know me and know my conditions. Set up with regular appointments to keep an eye – and an ear – on my symptoms. Reassured that my meds are functioning as they should, even if my brain isn’t.

All in all, I don’t feel better, but I feel better about it, if you know what I mean.

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Mental Health

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