Arthane's advice column | Arthane's Advice About Mental health

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Q: how do i ask my mom if i can go to the doctor for bipolar? we dont get along. what do i say.
what do they do at the doctor to see if you are?

There is a test that you can take (so I've heard) that can distinguish if you are bipolar or just suffer from depression. There are many types of depression. I also suffer from a sever type of depression. Anyway here's a site that I found that might answer some of your questions. And about your mom, I would go straight up to her and ask her. If she shuts you down, go to a close grown up. Ex. aunt, uncle, grandparent, teacher, best friend's parents. Ask them for help, I'm sure they will offer as much as they can give.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=62706

IF THIS DOESN'T HELP, TYPE IN BIPOLAR DISORDER IN YOUR SEARCH BOX. OR JUST TYPE IN ANY QUESTION THAT YOU HAVE. THAT'S HOW I FOUND THIS SITE.

Q: Ok, this is sort of long. Female/17. I had OCD when I was young and took medicine for it for 8 years. I guess I still have it but I don't notice it anymore and it isn't noticable to anyone else either. At this point it is pretty much nonexistant. Anyway, when I decided to stop taking pills last year i felt fine, but i've noticed one thing: i get depressed a lot easier. So I don't know whether or not I have depression because it comes and goes pretty fast and i usually don't act depressed around other people, but it's there. My question is, what can I do to feel happier and better without taking pills or getting professional help? I don't believe pills are necessary unless you're a threat to society, so I know i don't want to take them ever again. Any advice would be good.

Well, take it from another person that battle with depression. It's going to be a hard journey, but with help and support, you'll get through it alreight. Right now I'm in the hospital because of my migranses. I initially got really depressed over not only this but, having to have a teacher come and teach me my lessons at my house, and getting fired because of my headaches(migranes). But during this time, I've created an advice columnust page, and I'm writing a book. It takes alot of perserverance, but believe me it heops. Anyway, I hope this helps out your situatuion even a little bit. Good Luck!:)

Q: I'm a teenage girl who has way more maturity than any other teenager you'll meet. I suffer from depression, and well everyone in my town is a shallow preppy conceited betch who only cares about their nails/hair/clothes/etc.

The problem is i just choose not to obsess over that inane stuff (to a certain extent- It's not like I disregard my appearance completely) and people think that's really weird.

I'm a thespian and musical theater is all I care about.

Why am I the only person in the world who has REAL values, and would rather spend time doing something REAL, like musical theater, instead of just doing something inane like shopping?

I cry about it all the time.

everyone asks me "what are you so sad about?" and i never know what to say. :(

Take it from me, a fellow thespian who battles with depression that your not alone in your conflict. Americas standards, and values have been declining over the years, and now it's just getting worse. Alot of theatre people battle with depression (ex. Robbin Williams, you, me) and we don't really know why. When people ask you why your sad, don't turn on your acting skills and just say some lines you've ran over and over in your head, tell them exactly how you feel. Who knows maybe they deal with the same thing, and are just afraid to tell anyone. When I get depressed I usually listen to my broadway, or musical CD's, I don't know, somehow it just helps. Some of my favorites are Wicked, Chicago, Rent, Cats, The Light in the Piazza, and The Phantom of the Opera. I hope this helps you out. In our cases, the main thing to focus on is how to cope/function with the depression in our day to day lives. Carpe' Diam, Sieze the Day, Make the most out of life, and If you still need support, I'm always here for yah.:)

Q: Ok well recently I've been feeling sad that all ym friends are like not caring about me anymore and I know this happenes to everyone but I feel so bad!

Recently, I found a person on the internet who i can atleast complain my problems to but now it's like the same thing and he just seem to be really mad at me..

What should I do? I can't feel happy anymore

Believe it or not this sort of thing happens to alot of teens these days. I believe that there are two senarios going on here. You don't have to agree with me, but the same thing was happening to me and this is what I did. I found out that I had a real bad issue of dealing with depression. Depression? I couldn't believe it, I was active, had alot of friends, how could I possibly have a problem with depression. Then it hit me, our brains are active 24/7, and it records evreything. I realized that because I was abused as a child, my brain stored all of thoes negative feelings, and as a result of that, I was dealing with depression. Now I'm not saying that something that traumatic had to happen to you in order for you to get depressed. But it could be all the little negative things in your life all squished together in one single mass, and your brain is trying to deal with it. Secondly I found that I was complaining alot. It's okay to let your friends know how you feel, but when they hear bad news all the time, it sort of brings them down too. Im not saying that these are definatly your problems, but they could be possibilities, they were mine. Hope this helps you out.:)

Q: Ok Ive put this under mental health, cos thats what Im supposing it is..

Well where do I start... Since I can remember, Ive noticed Ive been doing some really strange things, mostly which are coming out now..if Im walking along the street, I tend to roleplay something over and over in my head, and sometimes Ill end up speaking it out loud.

If see a car, ill imagine a whole crash, and sometimes if I pass a car park, Ill pick whichever car I would have if I could have any.

Theres lots of strange things like that, sometimes Ill breath ot the beat of a tune, or Ill just imagine some really strange stuff. Its hard to explain.

I told a friend for the first time last night, he suggested it being that Im intelligent and my mind is under worked, so now its over active?

But Im more worried about it being serious. I suffer from panic attacks aswell, just incase that helps.

If you could just give me an idea of what you think, dont diagnose me with everything under the sun, with panic attacks, Ill diagnose myself with whatever you tell me Ive got, I dont want that :)

Thanks!

What you have is a bad case of being a normal teenager. People evreywhere do those very things. When I go to a store, I usually pick out in my mind what things in the store I would like in my house someday. Puffing a beat or humming a tune, same difference, you have a song stuck in your head. I once had a song stuck in my head for 6 days and I always found myself tapping, humming, and even doing the dishes to the beat of that song. I also suffer from panick attacks, I don't think that the attacks have anything to do with your overcreative mind. I always imagine the, what ifs, or the, What would happen if this was there. All this is, is your brain entertaining you, it can also be a learning mechanism. Don't sweat it, whats happening is perfectly normal, happens to evreyone. Or we could both have the same brain disease called creaivity. Anyway, hope this helps.:)

bio

I travel the world all the time, so I'm a very well rounded individual when it comes to giving and receiving advice. I'm currently writing a book, but my other hobbies include photography, acting, singing, giving advice, traveling, and movie critiquing(?spelling?) I have many siblings so I understand what sibling rivalry is like. I am also an abuse victim, so I also know what that is like. On one of my traveling escapades I was stung by the second most venomous scorpion in the southern half of Africa, I almost died, but thank God I didn't!