What Kind of Soul Am I?

I hate these things, but after seeing this on half a dozen other blogs thought I'd take the test out of curiosity. I had no intention of publishing this, but the result was so interesting I couldn't resist.

This was me 10 years ago - pre-diagnosis and treatment. This test nailed it, right down to my wife's personality as a "Peacemaker". I really don't think this captures my true personality these days, my current hypomania has probably temporarily pushed me that direction again.

You Are a Hunter Soul

You are driven and ambitious - totally self motivated to succeed. Actively working to achieve what you want, you are skillful in many areas. You are a natural predator with strong instincts ... and more than a little demanding. You are creative, energetic, and an extremely powerful force. An outdoors person, you like animals and relate to them better than people. You tend to have an explosive personality, but also a good sense of humor. People sometimes see you as arrogant or a know it all. You tend to be a bit of a loner, though you hate to be alone. Souls you are most compatible with: Seeker Soul and Peacemaker Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

The Personality Test

A company I interviewed with a week ago contacted me yesterday and asked me to take a personality profile test. What are you going to say? "Thanks for allowing me to take this next step!" These things are useless for me. My results change from day to day, and even from hour to hour. Could anyone with bipolar disorder take one of these consistently? Just once, wouldn't it be fun to ask which personality they want me to use?

Question For Discussion

Do my peers with bipolar disorder intend to spend the rest of your lives on medication? Or do you live with hope that perhaps through a combination of self awareness, coping techniques, and therapy you might someday be able to live life drug free?

Atypical Antipsychotics Discussion

A controversial topic here, and I’m not taking sides one way or the other.

Who out there can claim a significant increase in quality of life based on the use of atypical antipsychotics? Atypical antipsychotics include the following medications:

Clozapine (Clozaril)
Risperidone (Risperdal)
Olanzapine (Zyprexa)
Quetiapine (Seroquel)
Ziprasidone (Geodon)
Aripiprazole (Abilify)
Paliperidone (Invega)
Sertindole (Serlect)
Zotepine
Amisulpride
Melperone

Almost all of us can point to negative affects from these medications. Weight gain, long-term health issues such as diabetes or thyroid problems, trembling hands, involuntary muscle movements, and other side effects. But I’m wondering if positive stories outweigh negative where atypicals are concerned.

Next, and don’t bite my head off here, if you need atypicals for occasional relief from anxiety, stress, or mania, would something else, perhaps even marijuana, give any temporary relief?

Next, are you on one of the bipolar disorder maintenance medications? I only know of 2 meds approved by the FDA for maintenance of bipolar disorder, Lithium and Lamictal. If you are not on one of these maintenance meds, is there a reason? Would they, perhaps, be ineffective against the particular flavor of bipolar disorder you have?

Please don’t think this will be used as a condemnation of psych meds, most of you know me better than that. I am truly interested in the responses, and plan to write about these responses, whichever side they fall on.

I would appreciate if you would fill out the polls then leave a comment with your honest response. I’m not interested in a laundry list of the meds you’ve been on, most of us have a long list. I’m interested in whether or not you’ve taken atypicals, and what atypicals have made an actual improvement in your quality of life. Don’t hesitate to answer anonymously if you would rather not be recognized. And please pass this link along to others so they can add their responses. It would be great to have a large number of responses so we can all benefit from this information.

Update: I've moved the polls to the right sidebar

Visual DNA

Got this over at Pax Nortona. If you post one yourself, show us where we can see it.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™