Mental Health Notes

25 Things I Learned At 25

by Alicia Sparks, Mental Health Notes on October 8th, 2007

So, like I said, I turn 26 today.

I thought as a way to commemorate the event here at Mental Health Notes, I’d reflect back on what I learned during my 25th year of life - mental health-related, of course.

So, without further ado, I present…

25 Things I Learned At 25

1. I would rather give birth to triplets - naturally, without any pain medication of any sort - in the back of New York taxi cab that does most of its business escorting drunken club-goers home, with only the help of a driver who doesn’t speak English, than go through Cymbalta-withdrawal symptoms again.
2. I am not the first person, nor will I be the last, to experience brain zaps. Too, brain zaps are actually recognized. This all made me feel much better.
3. I will travel to far off distant lands looking for alternative ways to treat depression before I take another antidepressant.
4. Finding the right counselor, therapist, psychologist, and/or psychiatrist on the first try is the equivalent of reaching into the meat cooler at Wal-Mart blindfolded and grabbing tofu. In other words, unless someone who knows you very well helps set it up for you, it’s unlikely. Not impossible, but unlikely.
5. The same goes for medications.
6. There is such a thing as a right counselor, therapist, psychologist, and/or psychiatrist - he or she is right for you, and you just have to search for him or her.
7. The same goes for medications.
8. A man with cancer isn’t called Cancer. Therefore, I shouldn’t be called Bipolar. (Admittedly, I still haven’t figured out how that relates to people with diabetes. I mean, they’re called diabetics and seemingly without insult…?)
9. I am not alone. Despite the stigma that surrounds mental illness, and the secrets people try to keep, I am not alone. Others go through the same things I do.
10. Taking a stand and getting active kicks ass.
11. IT’S OK TO LAUGH AT YOURSELF EVERY NOW AND THEN. OK, I didn’t learn that this year; I’ve known this for, well, my entire life. But I’m now more comfortable telling people it’s OK to lighten up every now and then regarding mental health.
12. My mom understands me more than I gave her credit for. (Her years of unprofessional diagnosis finally led to my getting a professional one.)
13. Bipolar disorder doesn’t define me, nor does it play a hand in everything in my life. I do have thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that my bipolar disorder aren’t responsible for.
14. When it comes to bipolar disorder and medication, it is still very possible to go through hypomania and mania. There is no “fix.”
15. I learned how to recognize the warning signs that depression, hypomania, or mania was getting ready to try to kick my ass. I also learned to recognize my triggers.
16. I learned that I need to do a better job of taking action when those warning signs and triggers appear.
17. My (and everyone’s) mental state and mental health is more important that meeting a deadline at work; meeting any kind of deadline, for that matter.
18. Just because a person is one of your best friends doesn’t mean she should be part of your network of support.
19. It’s important to know who you can go to, and when. For example, if I need talked down to reality, I’m not going to call my pregnant married friend who already has three youngsters running around. While she certainly knows all about reality, I’m going to first call my single friend who lives alone, instead. Why? Because she’s the one who most likely has time to focus on me right then.
20. Doctors do not know everything.
21. I have to stop worrying about everything. All I can do is be concerned and take the actions within my means to help whatever situation it is I’m concerned about.
22. Despite how productive I am at night, and despite how much I feel like sleeping puts me at risk for missing some great opportunity, sleep is important - it’s more than important, regular sleep is crucial - to my mental health.
23. All those years I said, “Music is my therapy,” I was telling the truth.
24. I must keep talking to God.
25. I am more grateful than I can express to every one in history who has done his or her part to get mental health treatment from what it was to where it is today.

Wow, given all the links I’d say it’s safe to assume I’ve been very open with you all since beginning at Mental Health Notes, haha.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned? Today, yesterday, since being introduced to the world of mental health way back in 1981? Share!

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