The www.Bipolarhappens.com Web Site—Information You Can Use
By Mani Sanford of NAMI Michigan
www.Bipolarhappens.com is a website promoting Julie Fast’s Health Card System and her books. The site is comprised of two major sections: The first is about Julie Fast and her Health Card System while the second presents her free articles on bipolar disorder.
“So,” you may ask, “Who is this Julie Fast?” Well, she is the bestselling author of: Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder, Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder and Get it Done When You’re Depressed. Julie is creator of The Health Card System of tools for dealing with bipolar. She is also the winner of the 2007 Mental Health America Journalism Award for writing the best mental health column in the U.S.
The Health Card System will help you recognize a wide range of bipolar symptoms; will help you communicate with your friends and family, and will help you recognize the difference between your typical behavior and your bipolar behavior. Each Health Card is comprised of three sections. The first section is a list of typical bipolar symptoms such as thinking: “What is the point?” “I have no friends,” or “I wish I were dead.” The second section responds to the first by giving a list of actions I can do to help alleviate those symptoms, such as: reminding myself that it is ok to get less done in a day, or reminding myself that it is an illness. The third section helps by giving a list of actions that others can do to help us with bipolar, such as saying: “I can see that you’re depressed. How can I help?” or by offering to take a walk with the bipolar person.
The Health Card System also allows you to create your own personalized health cards for your own set of symptoms. All together this system provides a really personalized way of mediating your relationships and getting to know your own symptoms better. Vanessa from Seattle says, “I use the treatment system with all of the people in my life. Some of them told me this is the first time in the five years since I was diagnosed that they’ve understood what I’m going through. This has changed my life.”
The second major section of the www.Bipolarhappens.com website is composed of five free articles describing: “The symptoms and triggers of bipolar disorder,” “the distinction between bipolar I and bipolar II,” “medication side effects,” “partners and families” and “teenagers and bipolar”. These articles are updated regularly, so get registered on the site and you will receive these Updates, free of charge!
Julie’s site also offers five free Podcasts in which she talks about the differences between bipolar I and II, about mania, about being overextended and helpful hints for mothers. She also has a blog available where you can respond to her site or air your concerns about bipolar disorder. So if you are a person with bipolar, try visiting her site. You may learn something valuable.
