Author Topic: Quiet these days  (Read 11313 times)

paulm

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Quiet these days
« on: May 03, 2015, 12:36:05 am »
Hello Everyone. It's been quiet on the forum these days and I know that I haven't been real active myself, but then for those that know me, they also know that spring isn't a great time for me. Plus I've been busy. Of course busy is a word with many meanings. For me it means taking 4 hrs to do 2 hrs work, but I'm getting there.

 In the last month I've meet a lot of people, most of them with mood disorders, so that has been a bonus this spring. I'm taking part in a research project with Crest BD(bipolar Disorder) which has been really interesting because they actually ask me what wellness tools that I use, rather than telling me what wellness tools I should use. Plus there has been a series of webinars on various parts of our lives living with bipolar.  They also work with doctors to improve techniques.

 They have just launched a wellness centre, it has some pretty interesting things and is worth a look. http://www.bdwellness.com/

 Last Saturday I was able to get together at a forum that the MDAO provided for facilitators of peer support groups and it was a pretty interesting day. We had a person from ARCH disability law speak and Becky C from the MDAO provided a workshop on safeTalk.  I hosted the whole event, so of course it was an interesting day  LOL.

 I also attended a Suicide awareness event in April and to close, rather than have a speaker they had some MDAO comics from the laughing like crazy show, so that was pretty good too.
 
 In June, the 3rd to the 6th, I'm attending the International Bipolar Society Conference in Toronto, so I hope that during one of the evenings I can meet up with some of you.

 Finally, every day I look at my van and think that I never wished Rich a happy birthday, so I hope that you had a happy birthday Rich.   And no I haven't lost what few marbles I have left, my license plate actually has the mth and day of Rich's birthday.  Take Care. paul m

Rich

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Re: Quiet these days
« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2015, 10:33:28 am »
(At work, must keep this short!)
Hey Paul, don't worry - I have a birthday every year - possibly for many more years!  :-)

I've been busy too, but now bookkeeping and income taxes are all done!  Yay!

Rich

Soozan

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Re: Quiet these days
« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2015, 11:34:28 am »
How sweet of you to remember Rich's birthday Paul! He isn't getting older he is getting better!

- Soozan :)
Deep, meaningful saying goes here... got one?

paulm

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Re: Quiet these days
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2015, 12:43:51 am »
Hello Soozan. As I said, his birthday is literally on my licence plate. My plate reads BRTH 04/11. (that's not the correct date, but anyone who wants to find out the actual date just has to look at my licence plate.)

 In regards to him getting better with age. I've known Rich longer than Soozan has and he really only had one way to go and that was up :). Just kidding.

 I've known Rich for a long time (almost 9 yrs I think) and while I'm sure he suffers from depression from time to time, you would never know it when you are talking to him in person. Not that he hides things, he's just good at listening to others people's problems and putting them first.  I won't comment on whether or not he get's a little manic at times LOL.

 One of the reasons I have met so many people who post on this forum is because Rich has organized so many get togethers. So all and all he's a super guy , even if he does tell my wife all the time that I'm crazy LOL. 

 Of course I don't want Rich to get a swelled head or to leave anyone out , so I will close by saying that through this and previous forums I have met a lot of great people and for that I will always be thankful. Take Care. paul m P.S. however Rich does seem to stand out, perhaps it's his passion for wearing plaid and pocket protectors LOL.  Again just kidding, Rich does stand out for a lot of good reasons

 

Dragonfly

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Re: Quiet these days
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2015, 09:43:51 pm »
Hi everyone,

I have been on holidays for over two weeks. Started May 2. Came back on Monday of May long weekend. Went with my two girls. We had a very good time. Only one day of rain. Warm temperatures. We went camping.

So good to get away from everything. Wanted to stay away longer. Missed my son and two grandkids and my two cats though.

Hope everyone is well.

Dragonfly

paulm

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Re: Quiet these days
« Reply #5 on: May 22, 2015, 10:46:52 pm »
Hello Dragonfly. I'm glad that you enjoyed your two wks. We were away at MacGregor provincial park for 4 days and I don't think that I could stay there for two wks and then come back to civilization LOL. It's so peacefully and quiet , no phone, no bad news on the TV, events that have to be attended etc.

 I'm glad that you enjoyed your trip. Take Care. paul m

Dragonfly

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Re: Quiet these days
« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2015, 07:41:08 pm »
Hi Paul,

MacGregor is one of my favorite parks in Ontario. My family and I have gone there many times over the years. Another favorite is Rockpoint by Dunnvile. That would probably be too far to come for you and your wife.

Glad you enjoyed your time at MacGregor.

Can't wait to go camping again. Not sure when.

Dragonfly   :-*

Peace

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Re: Quiet these days
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2015, 10:30:49 am »
Hi everyone,

I haven't been around much, but I think of everyone often. I'm not doing well at all. I was hoping to go to Homewood, but have found they don't have ward beds open. I'm not sure what the reason is, they just wouldn't put me on a wait list. It's primarily my OCD creating turmoil in my life.

This is a good example of how OCD impacts people to a certain extent:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnKZ4pdSU-s

There is very little OCD specific therapy. It is a horrendous condition that can destroy a persons life, and standard therapy does nothing to help it. I've spent months and months trying to find therapy for myself. There is none available I can access. I'm slowly going insane. If I ever recover, I will make an effort to address the lack of therapy with whoever it is I can address it with.

Missing everyone.

Dragonfly

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Re: Quiet these days
« Reply #8 on: May 27, 2015, 11:24:06 pm »
Peace my heart goes out to you. I watched the youtube link that you wrote about it. I know that OCD people repeated things over and over again. I didn't realize it was to that extent. I empathize with you. I don't know how to help you. Are there any famous people or people you know that suffer from this? I know Howie Mandel does. Is there anyway at all to deal with this. Forgive me I don't know much about this. I hope you will find some help soon.

Thinking of you.

Dragonfly

paulm

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Re: Quiet these days
« Reply #9 on: May 28, 2015, 04:22:46 am »
He;;o Peace. Sorry to hear that you are having so many problems. In regards to homewood, it is what is known as a semi private hospital. That just means that while it gets 85% of it's funding from the gov't, the owners get to take home any profits and it is profitable. They are only required to keep one ward style room for us common folks and hence the line up is huge. The rest of the beds are all private and/or semi private and either you or your insurance company has to pick up the extra tab.

 In regards to inexpensive treatment, the best one I found was on line. It is long and involved, but then no treatment plan is going to be short. It also combines CBT , as CBT is part of helping someone with OCD.

 There are some on line sites that have self help for free or next to nothing. One of them is   http://www.get.gg/mobile/ocd.htm   and http://www.get.gg/ocd.htm   , where they deal specifically with OCD and on the same site  http://www.get.gg/cbtstep1.htm    . This a self help generalized CBT course . If you follow the steps, you can down load the worksheets for free. There is a small cost to download any verbal sections, but you don't have to down load them.

 Another on line CBT style course is mood gym  https://moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome  . This not developed for OCD , but does contain some pretty good info on how to change our thought patterns.  Changing our thought patterns is part of what overcoming many mental illnesses.

 OCD Ontario also has some info and a list of support groups. http://www.ocdontario.org/peersupport.html   

 And the international Foundation for OCD has more info on OCD and closely related other illnesses https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/related-disorders/   Take Care. paul m