How I Got Over Bipolar Disorder

Wambui Bahati wrote the  inspiring and highly acclaimed book: “You Don’t Know Crazy – My Life Before, During, After, Above and Beyond Mental Illness.”

In the following article, she outlines how she gained control of her life by simple things such as watching what she put in her body and focusing on honoring, valuing and loving herself and others.

Bipolar Disorder – How I Got Over It

For 45 years I was treated for some type of mental disorder. The list includes depression, personality disorder, and psychosis. At age 44 I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I received all the regular treatments which included mood stabilizers, antidepressants, therapy and hospitalization.

There were times when I made irrational decisions. There were also times when I could not get a grip on my emotions or my thoughts. However, it was when my daughters were sent away to live with their father because of the bipolar disorder that I felt my world ended. At this point I decided I had two choices: I would live or I would die. If I lived, I told myself, “It will be on my own terms”.

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For all the wrong reasons I ordered some motivational tapes from a man on TV that got me believing I could reinvent myself and got me wanting to try some new things – like alternative treatments. I felt like I had nothing to lose. My children were no longer with me. I was taking several medications and was told I would spend the rest of my life in and out of mental institutions. My doctors told me there was no cure for bipolar disorder.

When I told my doctor I wanted to try some alternative treatments for bipolar disorder, he told me I needed to stick to the program they had prescribed for me or they would close my case. He said they could no longer be responsible for me if I did not do what they thought best. He said I would probably get sicker and eventually come back worse off as I had done before. I thought about that for about two seconds and then I said, “I’m willing to take that chance”. I walked out of the clinic that day and never looked back.

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Was I scared? Yes, I was scared. But this time I had a plan. I wasn’t leaving because I was angry with my doctor or because I was fed up with the side effects from the medication. This time I really wanted to get better. I wanted to feel good and be happy. I figured the worst thing that would happen is I would die. However, I was more afraid that I would continue to live a life that I hated, taking medications with side effects that I did not like, and in and out of mental institutions because of bipolar disorder.

I started listening to more tapes and reading other books with positive and uplifting messages like the ones on the audiotapes I had ordered. I started researching how what we eat affects our mind, body and general well-being. I changed how and what I ate and made various other lifestyle changes and checked for toxins in my environment (including toxic people).

A very long story made short is: I realized that if I did not eat sugar, white bread and dairy products, I felt great. I think clear. I don’t feel foggy. I realized if I drank only pure water and ate mostly fruits and vegetables, I was energetic and felt happy. I found that if I meditated and stopped trying to please everybody – and learned to love myself and forgive myself as well as others I was okay. No, my life isn’t all roses. But for the most part I truly experience and feel the joy and peace that I never thought I would ever feel.

I have recently met others who traveled the same road I was on  – the mental illness road that eventually ended when a path to mental health and feeling good was found. Many of them tell a similar story about how they regained their sanity with diet and lifestyle changes.

So, I wonder, what was all of the hospitalizations and countless medications about? I wonder how come no one told us it could be as simple as watching what we put in and on our body temple and focusing on honoring, valuing and loving ourselves and others. Sure, everybody is different and what helps one person may not help everybody. In fact, just the opposite can be true.

However, it leads me to believe that there are so many stones unturned when it comes to how to treat and manage bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. Maybe I have just been in remission for the past 12 years. Or, what if after all those years of psychiatric treatment, it was as simple as, “No more milk and cookies for you”?

Wambui Bahati “Miss Inspiration” is a professional speaker, entertainer and lifestyle coach. She is the author of the important, inspiring and highly acclaimed book: “You Don’t Know Crazy – My Life Before, During, After, Above and Beyond Mental Illness.” http://www.you-dont-know-crazy.com

As Wambui says, everybody is different and what works for her may not help everybody.  However, just as easily the opposite can be true, and it can be and option worth looking at for bipolar sufferers.