Don't believe everything you think

I voluntarily checked myself in when I had my first episode in 1993, and was involuntarily committed for my second major episode in 2005 and my third major episode in 2012. Promoting Ethics The twentieth century ended and the twenty-first century began with a round of very high-profile business scandals that have made many people more than routinely wary and suspicious of the way businesses do business. Indeed, mentioning the words business and ethics in the same breath may evoke a cynical smile--or frown. The truth is that, in the short run, ethics and business are not always obviously compatible. If John Doe is the only customer you ever plan to have, it makes good business sense to cheat him, if, by doing so, you can make more money. Of course, the fact is that no business exists to make a single sale. This being the case, it is best to stop thinking for the short run and always conduct business--and present your business, products, and services--with the long run uppermost in mind. In the long run--the sustainable span for any real business--good ethics is crucial to good business. Treat John Doe ethically, and you enhance your chances of doing more business with him. Moreover, he is more likely to recommend you to Jane Doe and other customers. And to also start a sentence off with This is really vulnerable for me to share is a signal to my partner or to loved ones that I am in a sensitive space and am seeking a tender listener. It also gives the listener a chance to say if they are available emotionally for the labor of being the listener, and if not, maybe I can find someone else to be the listener. I pray that your vulnerability is kept safe, that you find people who see and celebrate you for exactly who you are. That whenever you start to see yourself, you know that you are right on time. There is no wrong time to emerge. To begin your vulnerable journey back to your center. Someone else has probably walked the pathway before--follow their steps, make your own. Only you can carve out this sacred space for yourself. On Discomfort

When I consider something like my stamina for life, I think a lot about survival. The following is a list of things I learned along the way that can speed up your recovery if you find yourself in a psychiatric hospital. Go With the Flow An important thing to keep in mind when recovering from a bipolar episode in a psychiatric hospital is to go with the flow, rather than trying to fight it. You should trust that the psychiatrist and the nursing staff who are treating you want you to get better and are trying to help. It is in your best interest to cooperate with them and take their advice. You will be in a structured environment where there are set rules to follow. You have set times to wake up and go to sleep, take medications, eat meals, attend group therapy, etc The more you cooperate, the sooner you will begin to recover, and the sooner the psychiatrist will sign your discharge papers. Contacting Your Employer from the Hospital If you are in the hospital and you haven't let your boss know you will be missing work, when you feel up to it, tell the charge nurse you need to call your boss and they will facilitate the call. Decide how much you want to divulge--you don't necessarily have to say you are in a psychiatric hospital, but saying you haven't been feeling yourself and you are in the hospital trying to find out what's wrong can be a valid excuse for missing work. To treat John Doe unethically is to cheat yourself and your business out of its future. If, on the other hand, your plan is to remain in business, generating a reputation for fairness--for high ethics--will help you gain customers. Ethics creates a powerfully positive public image, which promotes business and expands your customer base. Over the long run, your customers will learn to trust you because you are ethical. The object of communicating the ethics of your enterprise is to accelerate the recognition of your ethical policies. CUSTOMER: Do I really need X, Y, and Z? YOU: Much as I would like to sell you X, Y, and Z, the answer is no. As long as you use two of these three items, you'll get the results you want. I do not believe in selling my customers more than they honestly need.

Don't be shy. Not just self-care, but really making it through the day. Because there are so many different kinds of days, ones filled with ultimate and exuberant joy, and ones where trauma and pain and hardship and grief do their best to tie us down. We look inward--which is where the stamina begins. An inward reflection toward self--and asking, What is the next right thing? What is the next right thing I can do to get me to the next right thing after that? These are tools I build in to sit with the discomforts of life. Filling a glass of water seems to be a common theme for me--if I have no idea what to do next, what to do to get me out of whatever brain spin cycle I am in, filling a glass of water is usually a good first step. Jamila Reddy, friend and coach and what I would consider an expert on joy and grief, reminds me often of the importance of hydration. Don't be dry, they say. I carry this with me often. Eventually you may have to own up that you are or were in a psychiatric hospital, but you can cross that bridge down the road. Once you make the phone call a huge weight will fall off your shoulders and you can then fully focus on your recovery. How Hospitalization Can Help Hospitalization can help in the following ways: The hospital is a safe place where you can begin to get well. It is a place to get away from the stresses that may be worsening your mood disorder and symptoms. It's a private way to get help when you need it. You don't have to tell anyone from outside the hospital where you are, even your family, if you choose not to. You can work with professionals to stabilize your severe symptoms, keep yourself safe, and learn new ways to cope with your illness.

You can talk about traumatic experiences and explore your thoughts, ideas, and feelings openly. Communicate your ethical standards. They are a benefit of doing business with you. Selling Green For many companies these days, a big part of doing ethical business is doing environmentally responsible or environmentally friendly business. It used to be a major chore persuading potential customers that doing business with an environmentally responsible company represented a direct benefit to them. Protecting the environment has become a cause that more and more individuals are buying into, however. A good many customers understand that protecting the environment benefits everyone, including themselves. Many might not grasp just how they are directly benefited, but even these customers feel good about behaving in environmentally responsible ways, and as any sales professional knows, making your prospect feel good about a purchase is key to moving that prospect from desire to action. If you have a green policy, promote it as value added to the products or services you sell. Emphasize the benefit to the customer, which is twofold: First, the product provides an opportunity to make a positive impact on the environment, but second, it also provides an opportunity to feel good: Then comes the next step, which is usually pen and paper. What do I actually need to do next today? Maybe I even just write the word NOTHING on a piece of paper. Productivity, what is it? Why do we want it? Because capitalism is maybe too easy to say. Maybe too brief, too simple. But it is because of living under capitalism that we think we should always be productive. Even in my headspace while writing How to Not Always Be Working, or writing parts of this article, I can find myself in this space of wanting to excavate all of these parts of myself in hopes of being more productive.

What if we were still just because being still is important? You can learn more about events, people, or situations that may trigger your manic or depressive episodes and how to cope with or avoid them. You may find a new treatment or combination of treatments that work. You will have time to reflect on your current situation and what improvements you can make. The Ins and Outs of Psychiatric Hospitals Things to know if you are in a psychiatric hospital include: Whether you are a voluntary check-in or involuntary commitment it is up to the psychiatrist treating you to decide when you can be discharged from the hospital. They must grant you permission to leave--you can't just check out. You can make a reasonable number of phone calls. You have the legal right to decide who can visit you and must sign a form giving them the right to do so. Your medicine will be dispensed to you at set times and a staff member will verify that you take the medicine. All of our widgets use 100 percent recycled material, which greatly reduces the carbon footprint both of us--you and my company--leave behind. You can feel really good about using our widget. Generating Urgency in the Prospect Generating a sense of urgency does not mean creating an aura of panic, hysteria, or ballyhoo. Rather, it requires demonstrating that now is the time to buy. Options for creating the sense of urgency include:* Price incentives YOUR SCRIPT: GENERATING URGENCY Here are some examples of creating an appropriate sense of urgency:1. YOU: There's a good reason to act now.