Birth of a New Brain by Dyane Harwood follows her harrowing journey of living with mental illness – something she thought would never happen to her. But, honestly, who does? Dyane takes you on an amazing adventure as she shares her whole life with her readers.
Today, I would like you to give a warm welcome to a special guest – and new dear friend of mine, Author Dyane Harwood. Dyane took a timeout to participate in a fun Q&A session with us for her book Birth of a New Brain–Healing From Postpartum Bipolar Disorder. I hope you enjoy reading Dyane’s answers as much as I enjoyed asking her the following questions.
When you stand up for someone or report the bullying to either a teacher, a parent, an employer – whoever – you may be saving someone’s life without knowing it.
I am on a complete rant right now! So please forgive me. I can’t help but wonder if it is only me, or if it is everyone who writes for this specific website.
I honestly feel terrible right now – physically and mentally. I am so congested and it even hurts to breathe. It feels like it was not too long ago I had the summer flu that went around my area. I am absolutely miserable which always tends to bring my mood down quite a bit. But who doesn’t feel miserable when they are sick, right? I just want to take my meds, lie down, and go to sleep for the night. However, I am eagerly waiting for the edits for my book to come through my email since tonight is supposed to be the night.
Last night when I went to bed, I just had this gut feeling that I was not going to be feeling well the following day. Sure enough, I was right. I woke up feeling sick as all hell. I am a massive drama queen when I get sick. Although, I am nowhere near as bad as when a man gets sick! Sorry, fellas, but it is so true. Most guys act like they are literally dying when they just get the common cold! I feel too awake to rest, but yet feeling slightly fatigued at the same time. I didn’t know you could really have one without the other.
I am so happy that my friend asked me to go to the Halls of Horror with her in Palmerton, PA. I had such a blast. I was worried about my heart rate for nothing because it had actually dropped to 65 bpm instead of rising like a normal person’s heart rate should when they are scared or anxiety fueled!
This was my first time at a haunted attraction. I much say that I highly recommend putting this place on your bucket list.
Right now, it is 53° outside, and I am loving every second of it. Fall is my favorite time of year! I also happen to love Halloween, even if I don’t get to go Trick-or-Treating anymore. I am so tempted to buy a Halloween costume, one with a mask, and try to go collect some free candy this year! Haha! I am only 5’4″ so I may be able to pull it off and say that I am a tall middle schooler! It just may work… Lol.
40 Odd Things About Me… Continue reading to see what they are.
If you have been following my blog for a while, some time ago I was having issues with my heart rate skyrocketing above 200. I even had to have a Holter monitor put on for 48-hours. They had detected that my heart rate dropped to 35 during strenuous physical activity, and then it had gone up to 189 or so during rest. This is normal. My cardiologist, at the time, said that it was a fluke and that it would never happen again. He was wrong. It has happened three times since, and two of those times happen within this past week.
Today is World Mental Health Day 2018, and today is also my dear friend Dyane Harwood’s book’s one-year birthday. 🎂 Yes, Dyane’s memoir Birth of a New Brain–Healing From Postpartum Bipolar Disorder was published one year ago today on October 10, 2017! We have a real treat for you guys today. To celebrate her books birthday, Dyane is giving away free PDF copies of her amazing book–and I highly suggest checking it out!
Today had been a very long, hypomanic fueled day. I was very productive and got a lot accomplished. I was able to get half an article done for BG — I know half an article doesn’t sound like much, but I haven’t been writing a lot for them. So, half an article is amazing for me right now — I was also able to find 5 people to on the Lehigh Valley Mental Health Awareness Walk with me in May. I talked to countless people today because, well, being extra talkative can be a symptom of hypomania. I was pretty upbeat and kept myself busy with randomized tasks most of the day. But like always, a minor situation arose that spun me head first into an agitated bipolar state. (Continue Reading)
I know May of 2019 is still a while away, but I found out through Facebook that The 4th Annual Lehigh Valley Mental Health Awareness Walk will be on May 3, 2019, from 9am – 2pm. The Lehigh Valley is in Pennsylvania and I am looking to get a group of people together to walk for this amazing cause that I am highly supportive of. Mental Health Awareness and helping others is the whole reason behind My Bipolar Mind.
Depression Unwinds A Poem | Samantha Steiner Trying to stay positive But at times it gets tough Life just keeps giving me One blow after another How much am I honestly to take I just can’t catch a break I… Read More ›
Check out this VLog on the benefits of journaling for mental health and addiction. Plus, I added ways you can journal as well!
I am a bit disappointed to say that I did not make it to the National Suicide Prevention Foundation’s Annual Out Of The Darkness Walk. In part, it was not fully my fault. My boyfriend and I must’ve had some bad KFC yesterday because when we woke up this morning we both didn’t feel well.
Once again, I am surprised that I am still awake after taking some many different things that could probably knock an elephant out. Okay, so, maybe I am exaggerating, but you get the gist. I may try adding a little CBD oil to tonight’s medication regimen. It worked well to help me calm down earlier, so perhaps it could help me wind down for sleep as well tonight.
I guess WordPress is going to be having a new editor so I figured I would play with it and check it out. Plus, maybe writing a bit will make me feel better. I didn’t fall asleep until like 5:30 p.m. and I woke up around 11 a.m. I was in a pretty good mood to start and then part of my plans got canceled, I felt kind of bothered by social interactions, my stomach started to hurt, and the list just goes. I feel like just canceling the rest of my plans for today because I honestly don’t feel like socializing and being around others today.
Normal people are asleep right now. But as for me… I’m up like, “Yeah, let’s get productive!” I guess this may be the start of a hypomanic/manic episode. In all honesty, I don’t mind it as long as the agitation that is sometimes associated with mania doesn’t show up. I’d choose mania over a depressive episode any day!
A majority of us only keep one journal and fill it with both negatives and positives. Not many of us even consider keeping more than one journal to write in. However, there may be some positive benefits in keeping two separate journals. One to document your lows, and one to write out when you are at baseline and feeling well.
