Dear daphna,
Hello, this is Julie Fast from bipolarhappens.com. Welcome to the latest newsletter. I have had some email issues and you may have receive a double copy of this newsletter. If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, there is a removal button at the end of this document.
Tips for Talking with Health Care Professionals
This newsletter will include an excerpt from my current work in progress: Tips for Talking with Health Care Professionals
Latest News
I have some news. Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder: Understanding and Helping Your Partner will be translated into Japanese for a late 2005 release. I lived in Japan for three years as many of you know, so this is exciting. My second traditionally published book will be called Take Charge of Your Bipolar Disorder and should be published this year or early in 2006. It's great to finally get that book on the market.
Spanish Translations
The Health Cards for Bipolar Disorder and Bipolar Happens have been translated into Spanish and will be available in the next month. I'm exciting to finally have books in other languages. There will be a follow up to this newsletter with a special offer on the Spanish translations.
Psychosis
Of course as exciting as all of this is, it's also stressful and the psychosis has really been hounding me. I really dislike psychosis. I’ve been psychotic off and on for so many years and though I’ve learned to manage it really well, it definitely gets worse when life is busy. I’m working on a new book called Psychosis Happens that will be similar to Bipolar Happens in that it will give tips and tricks for managing psychosis comprehensively. We need a book like this!
My Health Cards continue to grow. I’ve been using my Obsessive Thoughts card a lot lately. It’s helping me stay focusing on treating bipolar disorder first instead of focusing on the thoughts. The cards help my friends and family help me when I get sick. They are an invaluable tool.
I’ve been working on a tips for talking with health care professionals (HCP’s) book for quite a while now. It’s such an important topic. The book will cover ways that people with bipolar disorder and their friends and family members can learn to communicate more effectively and successfully with the people who help them manage bipolar disorder. Please note that though many of the tips in the following excerpt involve ways of dealing with problems, the reality is that our health care professionals are often our life lines and we need them in order to stay stable. There are many positive relationships with health care professionals that this book does not address.
The following section includes some of the tips in the book:
Tell Your HCP What Mood You’re In: Educate them on your symptoms
So many of us assume that our health care professionals understand bipolar disorder. In reality, it’s safer to assume they don’t know what you go through and they certainly don’t know what mood you’re in when you see them. It really is okay for you to tell them how you are as soon as you start your appointment. This goes for all health care professionals from your dentist and masseuse to your general doctor or psychiatrist. If someone knows you’re down, anxious or that you’re slightly manic, they can adjust their services to help you more effectively. For example, if you have a lot of dental problems due to medications (as I do) it may be that going to the dentist is a stressful and expensive process. When I go to the dentist with yet another cracked tooth, I always explain why I’m crying and why the procedure is so upsetting. I don’t go on and on about it, but I feel it’s very important that my dentist knows that I’m not crying because I’m scared of the procedure or that I just dislike dentists in general. I say, “I’m quite upset about having more dental problems. I was on medications for many years and they really wrecked my teeth. Having to come in again brings back a lot of memories and causes me to have a down swing.” My dentist has been very compassionate about this. And whenever I come in, he remembers what going to the dentist means to me.
Tips:
- keep your explanation simple. I’m in a down swing today which means I may cry a bit. It has nothing to do with you and I could use your help to remind myself that it’s an illness
- I’m a bit up today and may talk too much. Can you help me with this?
- Remember that it may take a few times for your HCP to know that they need to know what mood you’re in before they can help you, but they can learn
Write a Complaint Letter
When Ivan (my wonderful ex partner who has bipolar one) moved to England earlier this year he had to find a new medications doctor to help with his Tegretol and Prozac. He was assigned a nurse and waited quite a while for the appointment. His move from France to England had been quite stressful and the depression was pretty strong. He was hoping to get some compassion as well as help with the stomach problems caused by the medications. His appointment did not go well. He called me afterwards and said the person he saw was not understanding. She basically got on his case for being sick. Well, Ivan lived with me for many years and has read all of my books. He knew what to do. He quickly wrote a professional, non histrionic, but very strong complaint letter. He called the clinic and asked where he should send the letter and then actually sent it. (So many of us think of the letters, write them and then don’t actually send them!) Here is his letter and their reply:
Dear Madam,
I had my fist visit at your centre on Tuesday 5/10 at noon with Marion Saunders. The beginning of the visit went fine. At the end Ms. Saunders lost her temper and told me I was not cooperating. She told me I was not giving her enough background information.
I think it is most inappropriate, especially after telling her that I was suffering from bipolar disorder and that I was currently under treatment. It is not professional to tell off a patient and especially one suffering with a mental health disorder.
I would like to get an apology from Ms. Saunders as I don't think her behavior was appropriate. She may need some training in how to work with someone who has bipolar disorder. Could you, please, make sure that this doesn't happen again? I suggest she looks at www.bipolarhappens.com. I designed this web page along with my partner who writes books on bipolar disorder.
Yours sincerely,
Ivan Kanis
Here is the reply:
Dear Mr. Kanis,
I am very sorry that you were very unhappy with your consultation with Ms Saunders on 4th October 2004. I have now had the opportunity to discuss this with Ms Saunders and also with Dr Wharton the Clinical Support Doctor.
Through our discussions Ms Saunders detailed the consultation that you had with you and we all agreed that communication was the issue in this particular case. Ms Saunders does apologies that the consultation was not an easy one, as a result of this Ms Saunders has used this opportunity to review here consultation skills and also the problems associated with mental health.
I would like to thank you for your feedback, it is important that we do hear the views of our patients. If you would like to discuss this further I would be happy to meet with you.
Yours sincerely,
Greta Evants
Practice Manager
Understand Health Care Professional Burnout
Some doctors are simply burned out. They need a break and they need more time with their patients, but the system they work in dictates how much time they get with a person, how much they charge and what medications to use. This is tough.
Even though we have raised doctors to near mythical heights in our society, your health care professionals are very human. They may have struggles that you can’t see and on top of it all, they have to help sick people all day. They worry about suicide and whether you will be okay after the visit. They have to learn not to take your problems home with them. They struggle with wanting to help and not wanting to burn out. They struggle with insurance and paperwork and the medical system that often worries about money more than helping clients. They are often the only thread that keeps a person alive. Just imagine that responsibility the next time you see your health care professional
When I started writing my books, my entire goal was to help people find relief from bipolar disorder and depression. I had been very ill for many years and when the Health Cards gave me my life back I wanted to share the system with other people. I also wanted to finally be able to support myself as I was not able to work full time for many years. I had this vision of writing my books and helping others find a way to live a stable life.
I had no idea what a struggle this would be health wise. I became a health care professional without even knowing it. Soon I received thousands of emails asking for help. People wrote who were suicidal, angry, depressed, manic, psychotic and very, very worried about work, family and life in general. I received letters from absolutely desperate friends and family members. At first I answered all of my email. I reasoned with myself that answering this mail and helping others would make my books stronger. But the toll on my health was much more than expected. I understand what a doctor must feel. There is only so much one person can do. Eventually I had to create a form letter than explained why I could no longer answer email. People kept writing anyway and some accused me of only being out to make money off of sick people. Those emails were not what I needed, as you can imagine.
I’m learning to find a balance, but it has been hard. I imagine it’s hard for your health care professional as well. They may have a burning desire to help people who are ill only to be burned out by the bureaucracy of the health care field.
One way to create a stronger bond with the people who help you stay well is to ask them about this and maybe get some more insight into their lives. The next time you see a doctor who seems tired and worn out, ask them these questions:
- What is it like for you when you have to see so many ill people day after day?
- How do you manage to keep your spirits up when you see so many people who really have a tough time with mental illness?
- It’s hard for me to only see you a few minutes at a time. I feel I need so much more. Do you get frustrated with the time limits you have to impose on your patients?
You can think of other questions to ask. This lets them know you see them as human beings and not just machines who are there to help you get better.
Who knows what defense mechanisms a doctor has built up over the years in order to deal with the pain they witness daily. If you talk with them honestly about what they go through, there is a good chance you can create a stronger bond during your office visits.
*** end excerpt***
The book includes over 50 more tips on talking with health care professionals: From learning to be reasonable when you state your needs, What to say when your doctor ignores your concerns about weight gain, talking about medication side effects, firing your doctor, teaching your therapist to help you stay stable, tips for friends and family members and much more.
The book will be available from the web site in the next month.
How are You?
On a scale of one to ten, with one being well and ten being sick, how are you? If you’re in a mood swing, what one are you experiencing? Are you using the Health Cards to stay stable? If you love someone with bipolar disorder, do you feel you have enough tools to help them stay stable. This is a complex and serious illness. It has a difficult prognosis if the person with the illness is not using a comprehensive treatment plan to stay well. Medications are very important, but for most people they are not enough. What do you need to do today to improve your stability?
I know that I still struggle with accepting this illness, ten years after I was diagnosed! But it is getting easier. My life gets better every year and no matter what the illness throws at me, I know I will survive it because I have a system in place that works. I want the same for you!
********* Ordering Information ********
Click on the following link to read more about The Health Cards System
http://www.bipolarhappens.com/healthcards.php
Click on the following link to order Bipolar Happens! and the Health Cards
http://www.bipolarhappens.com/ordering.php
Bipolar disorder is an illness, not your life. You can get better.
Julie Fast
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