Friday, April 29, 2016

Simon says

I always knew that this would be a journal of the different perspectives of life that I experience. It is my view of the world through experiences others may never have. My perspective on something major has changed and I will be sharing about this journey for a while, but let me start at the beginning.
I ignored the warning signs that I was depressed. I justified them. I ignored them. Obviously this is not the best response to take. At the time I was overwhelmed with the many health issues in my life and the fear that it will just continue to decline. We were also facing eviction from our apartment and had searched literally every resource we could. I began to think that Mom's life would be easier without me, that no one would notice or care, and that I could escape the pain. There was a voice in my head telling me I needed to die, that I was worthless, that no one loved me. So impulsively one night I took a bottle of coumadin, a blood thinner used in rat poisons. I then panicked and told Mom what I had done. I stayed in the hospital as a medical patient for 5 days but received no psychological treatment because they felt it was a one time illness. When I got home I began to research which of my medications would be more effective yet not painful. The same voice was almost constantly present telling me how worthless I was and how suicide was the only answer. Almost 2 weeks later to the day I attempted suicide again by taking a bottle of my cardiac medicine. I tried to hide it from Mom but one thing I cannot do is lie to her. I ended up spending all night in the emergency room as they monitored my blood pressure and heart rate. A whole bottle and neither level ever moved. God protected me for some reason. That afternoon they finally found an open bed in a psychiatric hospital, as the need is greater than the supply, and I was transferred to Detroit. I ended up spending a month there in treatment, mostly adjusting medications as we had to go slowly and carefully with my medical issues. I was diagnosed as Bipolar I with psychosis and Anxiety Disorder. I am now on 8 different medications to control everything.
This has been my worst nightmare. I could always handle whatever my body did but to have it interfere with my brain was something I could not imagine. I feel like my brain is floating in chemicals making it harder to think clearly and communicate what I want to say.
I will be writing more about my experiences from the other patients (Names changed for privacy) to medical staff to what I have learned. All I ask is that you please do not judge me as my diagnosis. I am still the same person I was before this happened and I am the same now, a little quieter but also a little wiser.

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