Bipolar Disorder Community

well your signature line -"You become what you think about" is a bleak finale to your statistic up there.

Lets see, If I'm 43 and I make it to 75 without dying of natural causes I guess it's time to commit suicide. Wouldn't want to let the folks at Psych Central down.

Cindyisme, the above is a statistic, just like statisitcs about any other illenss or disease - ie. it doesn't mean that you are automatically doomed to its numbers. I understand that's hard to see when you are feeling as you described in your post - but that statistic is not "a little more fun to lookf forward to." We all have choices we can make that can disprove any statistic. We all can live as long as anyone no matter what mental illness we have. I belive stats like the above are or can be warnings to us that yes, IF we don't take care of ourselves in our recovery, then those stats can potentially apply to us. You are working on your recovery. You may not be where you want to be right now, but that doesn't mean you won't be. Keep plugging away and you, with your doctor, will find the right meds that will work for you. It may take more time than you'd like, but keep moving forward. Work with your tdoc on the issues medications can't help with and take care of yourself in all the ways you can - by doing those things, what you have to look forward to is a life of mental health, love, joy, and stability. How's that for something to look forward to instead of the outcome of those stats?

Stats are there to evaluate. Based on the outcome of those results, we can make changes to improve the stats. So instead of looking at those stats as your fate, look at them as a challenge of how you can improve the stats.

Take care

Debbie

Hun, dont worry about statistics, I try not to pay any attention to them.

My sister in-law was born with a heart defect and the Dr.s said she wouldnt live past 5 yrs old. Well she made it past 5 yrs old, then made it past 10 yrs old and the Dr.s kept telling her that she wouldnt live past this age and that age. After a while she didnt pay any attention to the Dr.s and she didnt worry. She knew that she wouldnt live to an old age, but she was always so happy and had a great out look on life. Of course the Dr.s kept telling her she was going to die, blah blah blah. My sister in-law lived to be about 28 yrs old. Not bad for someone who was supposed to die before she turned 5.

Bipolars can be stable. I am a heck of a lot more stable then I was 10 yrs ago. I have no intention of killing myself.

So pls dont worry hun. hugs

Hey Cindyisme,

Good to hear your on your way to getting your BP under control.( btw..Your kids will always love you, you're their Mom... )

Many of us know the roller coaster ride your on, and it's very rough in the beginning, (it does get better!) but we are here for you and to let you know your not alone in this journey. Reach out when ever you need to, and keep that happy positive attitude, it can get you through so much in life! Don't let negative things suck you down...There are good and bad stats for everything in life.... maybe we should also see what we can find in the way of positive outlooks?...(like our interesting facts) .......

Have a great day!
Hugs Snowy

Did anyone read the article? it says that psychiatric patients die less from psychiatric problems then measured in the past...they do have a high instance of physical problems...which is an important FACT for all of us.

Joye, I would agree that stats (in either direction) can and are good, and in some cases, can serve as a motivator to change our lifestyles, but would you not agree that statistics are calculated and measured for the purpose of evaluating the progress or lack thereof on any given topic?

For example; where I used to work, we gathered data re member attendance and then came up with statistics based on that data in order to see what our average daily attendance was. We looked at those numbers to see if there was any pattern and made efforts to try to improve the stats.

So my point being - yes, the stats in that article are presumebly true, but it doesn't stop there. Just like with the above attendance stats, I can do something personally to change those numbers to work for my advantage. Statistics are not meant to be blanket statements about the topic - they are meant to evaluate the topic at hand and then manipulate and adjust to change the outcome. That is why I said to Cindyisme in the first place that, "instead of looking at those stats as your fate, look at them as a challenge of how you can improve the stats."

In my opinion, maybe adding something to that effect when you or anyone posts those kind of stats would be helpful for the reader to avoid misunderstanding and even more, to ADD understanding to the purpose of stats.

Just a thought.

Debbie

This is brand new information that shows that psychiatric people don't live as long as others not because of their mental illness but because the are prone to physical illness. This is good important news but no one seems to read the article and wants to discount the facts when they show out odds are better then preveiosly predicted. Just like my complete DNA results, I can change the way I choose to live expecially if I know i need to take better care of myself than other people. This was newly posted on another Board this morning.

Joye, I understand what you are saying. I don't negate stats. I am only saying that some people tend to view certain statistics to mean that to be thier fate, when thats' not what it means at all. Statistics are good but they are not good in and of themselves. Statistics are meant to show the facts of what is being evaluated.

The statistics of the article you shared does not automatically mean that MY life expectancy will be 13.5 to 32 years fewer just becasue I fit into the category. But because I do fit into the category, my personal responsibility would be to make sure that I do whatever is within my power to make sure that I don't become that statistic.

So I'm not saying this particular fact stated in the article you posted is not important - it absolutely is important. What I think should accompany stats are a brief explanation of what stats mean and don't mean and that stats do not automatically doom the group of people the stats address. Some people don't understand that, and it shouldn't be assumed they do. But when anyone posts stats or an article like that without any kind of explanation, then you leave it wide open for all sorts of misunderstandings and even fear.

Debbie

I find it very interesting. It made me think about something I never thought about before.

You hear a lot of information in today's society, it is up to us to filter out what we believe and what we don't. To me, anything I hear about, that makes me think about a something new, is a good thing.

Frankly, I don't want to live to be 90 years old. I will probably end up killing myself, if and when my wife dies before me, provided I don't have any animals which are dependent on me. There wouldn't be any reason left for me to fight through my depressions. My bet would be that many people would think this is crazy. Who knows if I feel this way because I am BP, or just an odd duck. I certainly don't know why I think like that. So, I for one will probably add to the above statistic. And, this is me speaking at the most non-depressed time ever in my life.