Grief and bipolar disorder

I lost a very close friend on December 20 and last spoke to him on his birthday on December 17. I got the email telling me of his death an hour after my child arrived for Christmas.

So I've not been much up to blogging. And even searches of research for how grief plays out in bipolar disorder were quite dissatisfying because basically whatever happens to everyone else happens to us but just more intensely.

What I know is that if it were not for friends I would not have lived through the last 3 months without hospitalization. I made it through teaching and being an economics student and just keeping my head above water. Daily emails from close friends got me out of bed in the morning and made me commit to my well-being. I avoided the psychiatrist and therapist because really I knew i needed more drugs and/or out of my house.

But I made it. I'm out of the tunnel and into a bit of a bright light but better hypomania than the darkness of depression.

This is a science blog and yet i'm not quoting science this post. What I am saying with resounding support from the literature is that having good friends is worth the effort. There is no pill for that. No therapy for that.