Boxenkin

What's the best type of therapy for type 2?

How to handle stigma from my family? My dad told me that it was because of the devil. My mom holds no such beliefs, but she does struggle with understanding it.

Do you ever feel like your emotions are fake? I have that issue when a mood swing hits?

Can it be commonly comorbid with an anxiety disorder?

And finally, can trauma trigger bipolar to manifest earlier in adolescence instead of adulthood?

Oh wow, that's interesting. I take Lamotrigine, and I found that it decreases the rate and intensity of my mood swings. I still get depression, but it is significantly less than when I was unmedicated. Most of my mood swings go up now, instead of down, and they aren't as bad, though that may be because I don't have severe depression to drop in afterwards. I have the type of bipolar where the mood swings happen in the span of an hour, I used to go from euphoric or dysphoric highs, then drop into numbing depression multiple times a day. I only found this out after being put on Zoloft, and then I began to go, essentially, haywire. And I continued to have that same frequency up to getting onto a proper dosage of Lamotrigine. I can tell you, my grades fell and rose like the tides during that period, and I had so many migraines from it.

Thank you! I should've clarified about my family. My mom is supportive of me and wants me to continue getting therapy and treatment, there are just moments that she doesn't understand that sometimes my mood swings just happen, or really have an idea what a day to day is like. She mostly just knows the horror stories and movie depictions of bipolar. She used to work at an ER and saw a lot of suicide attempts and given my history, she worries a lot. Which is understandable, and I appreciate she cares about me, but I would like her to not worry so much.

My dad, well. I've since broken ties to him for multiple reasons including the 'satan is trying to gain control of you,' rhetoric. They've been divorced since I was young, and I currently moved in with her to escape him.

I currently don't have insurance or stable income, but I still have my medications. Once I finally get an answer back from Medicaid, I'll be getting a medical team.

Thank you! I just want her to be happy. I really do appreciate this, thank you again.

I have a cousin who is absolutely obsessed with NASA and space. She's still really young, 7 years old. How should I support her to follow this dream that doesn't include buying her toys and watching space documentaries with her?

I have a meteorite stone I plan to pass to her at her upcoming birthday, and she has so many NASA stickers, hats, clothes, etc. She's wicked smart, and I want her to have the best chance to getting to wherever she wants to go as more doors start to open up to her. I worry though, because she has bad anxiety at school, and I don't want that to stop her.

I know that perhaps she'll move on to something else as she gets older, but she certainly does have a love for science that I believe won't ever go away.