I am off to NZ next Saturday for the Christmas holidays and I won’t have a chance to wish you all Merry Christmas. I am managing a sausage sizzle next Saturday at the Wecker Rd, Mansfield, Bunnings Hardware if you want to support me and buy a sausage or even better help me cook/burn a few on the day. All proceeds go the the Bipolar Expedition. Then I am jumping on a plane until Christmas.  These past few weeks have been hot, hot and hot. I dropped down to the Bunnings last weekend to ask the other charities if they had any advice on their store. Be organised and bring a radio was about it. The group was the local Polish Scouts who were raising money for their group to travel back to Poland for a Jamboree. I bought a sausage, went back to my car and went to drive home. I’d only driven a few hundred metres before the police pulled me over and gave me a big lecture of eating and driving. So the moral of the story is please come and buy a sausage from me but eat it before you drive away.

Cheers!!

Lisa

In the November issue of New Scientist, the article, “The e-Doctor will see you now” found a plethora of mental health programs providing online treatment with minimal medical support. There are sites for depression, and more recently more complicated disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder or panic disorder with agoraphobia. The one that perked my interest was an e-therapy program to treat Bipolar Disorder called MoodSwings. Patients with bipolar disorder are usually prescribed mood-stabilising drugs and one-on-one therapy. MoodSwings includes a psychologist-moderated chatroom, and is intended as an alternative to one-on-one therapy.

The MoodSwings program is actively seeking participants to be involved.  If you are interested please register your interest at www.moodswings.net.au

Another online self help tool for depression that has been around for awhile is MoodGYM. MoodGYM is a free, fun, interactive program consisting of different modules. Check it out at www.moodgym.anu.edu.au

I leave for New Zealand in two weeks… I can’t wait. I have never been to the South Island and the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch and the Franz Josef Glacier are both on the top of the list! I thought i better get some educational insight to the Antarctic and then have a trek on a glacier to test the cold. I have done a day trip on a glacier ten years ago when I went to Chile and Patagonia for a Scout Jamboree and it was fantastic. We are hiring a car and planning to travel right through Christmas. If anyone has any tips or suggestions of where to go please let me know! I will endeavour to keep updating this blog while I am away.

We are now one year away from the first leg of The Bipolar Expedition! As we build momentum towards this awesome event, we are looking for people to help us with awareness and fundraising activities. If you would like to be involved in ways large or small, come along to our informal information meeting at 3pm on Sunday 23rd November. Meet us at The Nag’s Head Hotel, 162 St Johns Rd, Glebe. We will make ourselves easy to find - look for a sign saying ‘The Bipolar Expedition’. You can register interest via email n.zappert@bipolarexpedition.org , or call Nimmity on 0431 467 965 - or just come along!

Have you got your Christmas Cards yet?

We are registered as a community on a website called ‘Our Community’. They are running a Christmas Card campaign, where if someone buys Christmas Cards via their site, they will donate $1 from every card to the community group of their choice. All you have to do is get the donor to put ‘The Bipolar Expedition’ as the nominated community group in section 4 of the order form. You download the order form here or you can print off the order form and use it yourself.

One great thing is that it also has the facility for businesses to add their logo and a short message to card (at no extra cost). So if you have any contacts at small businesses, this could be a great way to get some extra donations, as many businesses still send out christmas cards to their contacts every year. Postage within Australia is included in the cost of the card. I know I will be letting everyone know about it.

In preparation to writing this Blog I spent some time having a look at current blogs on the net. I was pleased to see this article listing the Top Ten Bipolar Blogs for 2008. Maybe this one will make the list next year?

Psych Central’s Top Ten Bipolar Blogs of 2008.

In particular I quite enjoyed reading the second top blog called  Pole to Polar: The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive
Seaneen, a woman in the UK with characteristic wit and a gift for metaphors, keeps a blog that is much like the disorder: it ranges from hilarious to melancholy to very serious. Even the serious bits are wry, though, e.g. “The crappiest thing about [her recent suicide attempt] is that I lost the eBay auction for the camera that broke on me.” She’s someone you can’t help but feel affection for. Like the author of the top ten bipolar blogs, I was sidetracked into reading her archives for hours. Highly recommend it.

I was on the treadmill and I glanced up at the SkyNews just in time to read the words the Prime Minister and Bipolar in the same sentence. “What was that?” perked my interest. It took another 15 minutes of persistence treadmill before the sentence appeared again. “PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd will join rugby league great Andrew Johns on Sunday as he kicks off a six-day walk to raise funds to help tackle bipolar disorder.” Hey that walk is nothing compared to our trek to the South and North Pole. How come we haven’t been successful in getting the Prime Ministers interest in our trek?

Johns, a veteran of 249 first-grade matches, 21 State of Origin appearances and 26 Test matches, went public about his battle with bipolar disorder last year.  Australia loves its sport. If there was a key sports player on the expedition I am sure there would be enough media interest to assist us with our campaign.

Mental illness in the past was something often hidden behind the family home. Since embarking on this journey I have started receiving some really positive emails. Some are from strangers but others are from people I know who have have been touched by a mental illness in their lives. One of the recent emails I wanted to post today is about the impact of children when there is mental illness in the family.

There are some internet sights that do list carer support for young adults and children. Reach Out! is a web-based service that inspires young people to help themselves through tough times. The aim of the service is to improve young people’s mental health and well being by providing support information and referrals in a format that appeals to young people. Does anyone else know of good support networks aimed for supporting and education children in mental health?

Come and join me from 7:30am to 3:30pm at the Mt Gravatt Bunnings Store where I will be managing the Saturday Sausage Sizzle! All sausages and drinks sold will go towards the Bipolar Expedition.

Right before Christmas 13th of December will guarantee lots of Christmas sales!

Address: Cnr Creek Rd & Wecker Rd, Mt Gravatt 4122

Thanks to Bunnings Hardware for offering me a place in their Community Sausage Sizzle.

Well the fundraising has been slow but constant so I should be happy with my efforts so far. Slow and steady wins the race. That’s the best way to be. Always when I trek I keep this mantra of slow and steady. I don’t have to be the fastest but I get there in the end. Donations are still coming through on the go fundraise website which is good. I am demonstrating 1 to 2 Tupperware parties a week which is an extra $200 to $300. Also I have just received notification that the local Bunnings have allocated me a Sausage Sizzle Fundraising day in either November or December. Bunnings is fairly competitive to get a space so I am lucky to be accepted. I registered over six months ago but had not heard a response so the email was very welcomed.

I am also holding a wine fundraiser at the moment. About 5% of wines ordered will go towards the expedition. If you would like to order some wines for Christmas the order form can be found here: sth-pole-wine-order-form.pdf

I have been thinking of holding a Bipolar Art and Sculpture Exhibit next year with other Brisbane expedition fundraisers. I know of a few artists who have offered to donate their work but I was thinking of having a theme to tie it all in. How about the “Art of the Extremes?”