Lived Experience Forum

[Sans911]

Hi and welcome to the forums @saharagirl . I have been using the Daylio app for a couple of years now too , and actually upgraded to the paid version. I find it's really useful to keep track of all my appointments, be that for medical or mental health reasons.It's great to hear that someone else likes it as well.

[outlander]

hello @saharagirl and welcome!

[saharagirl]

I absolutely love it. And have paid version of it too. I got it after diagnosed bipolar more definitively so I could track changes in my mood, and it's been really good for that but I extend it beyond that and track activities too since that also gives me a good indication of my health and mood too. It really is good to see others find the app as helpful as I do!

[Judi9877]

Hi @Stephanie 

I'm glad you decided to put something on the forums for BPD as I have this condition as well. Thank you for reaching out. Like you, I was diagnosed with Bipolar Spectrum Disorder as well as other mood disorders until the medicos decided that I had BPD along with depression and schizophrenia- a great mix. I haven't had anything to do with DBT although I did try CBT in many forms over the past 15 years. I find that journaling helps me as I get to know my triggers and I can reflect on what has happened and try and learn from them. I agree with @Sans911  try not to question if what you are experiencing is BPD or not. For me, I have been told that labels are restrictions and that they are only important in the medical areas. This is something I learnt from a uni counsellor many years ago.

Feel free to tag me in any conversations you may have.

Keep smiling

[Stephanie]

Thank You, to everyone! I am very grateful for everyone's support and insight into their own lives.
@Sans911 I look forward to discovering what this site has to offer and the different discussions that take place.
I am still working out the ins and outs of this page, like what's the difference between a "reply" and "quick reply"?

I live in the Hunter region, NSW. I am in my young 30's and live alone; always have really, I love the independence. I have a dog who is my everything.

Along with living with mental illness (and admittedly feel I am my diagnosis a lot of the time) I also have a history of substance abuse. I also feel this plays a big part in who I am today. I wonder if anyone else is battling with substance abuse as well as mental illness? I can see that my whole life I have been experienced extreme emotions, but have only been diagnosed for about 5 years. The substance abuse has been in my life for 13 years, and between the two, I feel they have, well, shaped the woman I am today.

[Sans911]

Hi@Stephanie

Nice to hear from you again. A 'quick reply' is where there are no added 'extras', so you have to actually type the @ symbol & user name instead of having the drop down menu finding it for you. And it doesn't have the extras like attaching a photo, link, emoji, etc. I use it a lot because it's a little quicker, and people I chat with a lot are saved in my frequently used words (on my keyboard) so I just have to type the first letter and it comes up). I mostly use my phone for this site, again it is quicker. I hope that makes sense for you.

There's lots of different threads, pages and discussions to discover. There's one just for dog lovers, there's other about DBT, crafts, all sorts of things. If you a search you'll find them. You can join a conversation anywhere, and some threads/discussions are specifically for Good Morning, Saturday Soiree, Friday Night Feast-these are light hearted ones more for general chit chat.

And while I don't use substances, I know others here do, so you could do a search on that as well, and find people to connect and share with.

It takes a little bit of time to navigate these forums, but it isn't hard once you know how. I've been in these forums almost 3 years now, and I'm learning constantly about myself, others and things I never knew. Best of all for me us the understanding I get from my peers, and the support and live that comes from people who have similar experiences.