Flipswitch

Hey you guys how’s it going? Hope everyone’s summer break or last fewweeks of classes is going well.

So, I wanted to talk about something a friend of mine brought up a month back. She stated that people who suffer from depression choose to be in that state; however, she also mentioned that they should want to get better if they wanted to come out of the depressive state of mind.

As we’ve previously discussed the first comment is FALSE, but I believe the second comment has some truth to it. Depression drains your energy, hope, and drive, making it difficult to do what you need to make feel better; but the key to recovery is to start small and build from there— ie. self-help.

Self-help consists of taking action and setting goals; but just the thought of getting up to do something may seem intimidating at first. Getting up to see friends and exercising may seem impossible but start small and stay focused. Start with a few small goals and try to find some friends or family members that can help you carry them out and build on them.

Here a few self-help tips about building relationships I found online:

1. Talk to one person about your feelings.

2. Help someone else by volunteering.

3. Have lunch with a friend.

4. Ask a loved one to check in with you regularly.

5. Accompany someone to the movies.

6. Call or email a friend.

7. Go for a walk with a buddy.

8. Schedule a weekly dinner.

9. Join a club.

10. Confide in a counselor or therapist.

These are just some tips I found, so try to find some that can work for you. Remember to start with small goals and then build on them.

The key thing to remember is to take care of yourself and enjoy things you like. Take care everyone and hopefully we will hear back from you.

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Howdy all!

Chris and I just finished recording an episode on Procrastination, which will be episode 47 (be sure to catch it), and it got me thinking: It’s been a long while since I’ve done a blog. I could lie to you all and say I didn’t have time and things just began to pile up with school and the MCAT coming up, but let’s be honest—it only takes about 10 minutes to sit down and write. So, I sit here reflecting, much like Gopi (not to as great an extent, though), on how I let procrastination turn an easy 10 minute task into a learning experience.

Procrastinating is an easy thing to do. For me it can take a simple half hour TV show that gets me derailed from what I am supposed to be doing, and let me tell you I caught a couple of them not writing this blog. I also find myself making up excuses like I need to clean my room in order to study. To be honest with you, my room is usually a mess and when I don’t have anything to do it doesn’t make my priority list. So, why do I do it?

Simple anwser: I don’t know. It seems to happen to everyone, especially the people I know at school. Everyone puts off big papers, big projects, and simple homework assignments until it’s almost too late to even get them done. This makes for a hectic time around the end of the year, and with it comes a whole bunch of complaining. I complain, my roommates complain, my neighbors complain, my classmates complain, and it always centers on two things: One, I shouldn’t have done this, what was I thinking?! And two, what was this teacher thinking. He/She assigned too much, this is outrageous to ask me to do, and what is the point of having me doing this anyway?

What does this equal? A WHOLE LOT OF STRESS and it’s all unnecessary. After I go through a hectic period that is caused by my procrastination, I vow to myself that I will be on top of things next time, and not go through this again. What actually happens, though, is Sportscenter is on and is far more appealing than starting to study for the MCAT, and I once again get stressed out.

It’s something I can’t shake, sometimes I am better than others, but procrastination usually pokes into my life at some point and I am left scrambling to get things done.

After doing the show, however, there are several things I can do. I will do my best to implement them and let you all know how it goes!

Cheers, Ryan

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This is the full interview we did with Lizzie Simon, author of Detour: My Bipolar Roadtrip In 4-D. This version is less edited and twice as long as the one that we featured on our last show. In this version, Lizzie expands on a number of topics including the nature of American society to responsibility in youth, drug companies, and being careful on who to trust to disclose one’s disorder to.

Listen Now:

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On this episode, we talk about the slippery concept of personal responsibility and try to nail down just what people mean when they use the word.  We even trip up Ryan when we talk about his taking responsibility for not getting to the gym.

Also, we talk to noted author Lizzie Simon, whose famous book, Detour: My Bipolar Roadtrip in 4D, features her interviews with a lot of people that have dealt with bipolar disorder and been successful in life.  (note: this is an edited 10 minute version of her interview.  Her full 20 minute interview will be posted by itself next week).

Shira stops by from the tech corner to talk about checking your own responsibility at a site.

Listen Now:

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Hey you guys, how’s it going? So, I finally finished up my last semester and it feels great! I can really get used to not getting up at 6am.

The last week of my semester was pretty brutal because I procrastinated ona lot of things I knew I had to get done. I had:

2 lab presentations

4 finals

1 final lab report

….all due within a week and a half.

Obviously,waiting until the last minute was not a smart idea, trust me! I guess I had some trouble staying motivated; I didn’t avoid procrastination and it led to a lot of stress because of the time crunch. But like I promised, I tried using one of the stress tips I gave in a previous blog—meditation. I clearly remember, Monday morning I was so stressed out from all the last minute studying and writing that I had to take ten minutes to just sit and relax. I sat on the ground, took deep breaths, and cleared my head. It sounds silly, but it helped me regain focus.

My point is, people: do not procrastinate! You may think to yourself, “Hey, I have plenty of time,” but after saying that to yourself for 4 days, there really isn’t that much time left. The best advice I can give is: try to make a schedule and follow it! As you all know I love to write things down and use an agenda, but like any college student I “slipped”.

Procrastination got the best of me; trust me it was not a good feeling.

Please listen to me and just try to write things down and follow them. After I realized I was running out of time, my “game plan” definitely saved me. Invest in an agenda…lol!

Gopi

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Hey everyone, hope all is well. It has been a while since I’ve written something since I am finishing up my last semester and it has been pretty hectic. Anyways I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the nice weather, finally!

I wanted to discuss a topic that we will be doing a show on later: how to have fun with out going out drinking and partying. I know this may sound a little hypocritical of me, but there are many other ways that high school and college students can have fun, trust me!

I have not gone out to a party in about a month, but I’ve still been able to have fun while going out to dinner, going to the movies, hanging out with my girl-friends, and hanging out with my family. The reason why I am bringing this up is that as we previously mentioned, it is important for those of you who are suffering from bipolar disorder and or depression to stick to a regimented style of living.

Chris, Ryan, Emily, and I harp on this idea all the time, but this time I am stressing that having fun can consist of many other things instead of drinking and partying. My friends call or text me every Friday night to see what club I am going to, if I say I’m not going out they usually try to persuade me to go out. I just say no because I have other things to do.

My point is that, in college, many kids will try to pressure you to do things, but you need to decide what is right for you! Please let us know if you have any questions because as I mentioned earlier we are going to record a show on this and we can answer any questions you may have.

Well I must get back to studying for my P Chem Final…not fun!!! Take care and please let us know about any questions and concerns you may have.

Gopi

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