I was asked to write a few lines for a Slovene daily newspaper last week, so I thought I could expand on this subject in my blog. Those who have read my self help book about my experience with mental illness already know the sequence that worked for me: 1. Accept the fact that you have bipolar disorder (or any other mental illness). 2. Find a psychiatrist that you feel you can build a good doctor-patient-relationship with and listen to him/her. 3. Separate your mental illness symptoms from your personality traits. 4. Leave the bio-chemical aspect of your illness to your psychiatrist and the prescribed...

The picture left was taken during a walk in an Alpine valley. I noticed some heaps of white stone in the distance and they compelled me to come closer. I stepped off the hiking path and explored the interesting columns of stone that are usually used as path guiding marks in high mountains and are made by mountain hikers or mountaineers. Since this was a valley, they were probably only a decoration. When I came closer, I noticed a column that was completely different from all others (see picture). It was made of only two big stones, of which the upper one was brown. Then I noticed that this horizontal...

It is actually easy – you will probably never experience a burnout. No, I am joking. But seriously: Who defines a person as a loser? The person herself/himself or others? What are the basic criteria for this kind of a definition? Or is the word ‘loser’ just a label, almost a curse? Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines a loser as ‘a person who is incompetent or unable to succeed’. In my opinion this definition applies more to certain situations and cannot be viewed as a general description of somebody. For example I cannot drive hence I am a loser as a driver. I was trying to drive...

I remember being taught how to do Progressive Muscle Relaxation, while I was hospitalized in a psychiatric clinic. All the time I had a very strong feeling that I already know how to do it. I thought: »Oh no, it’s the déjà vu again.« But it was not. I later looked into a book about yoga and the guidelines for the ending relaxation after a set of yoga exercises were very similar to the guidelines for Progressive Muscle Relaxation at the clinic. It was the book, where I had learned yoga exercises from long before that hospitalization. As Wikipedia states: »Mindfulness practice, inherited from...

Warning for people with a mental illness: Do not try any of the techniques mentioned below, without consulting your psychiatrist first. It might not be the right time for you yet. As Louise Hay repeatedly points out: »The point of power is always in the present moment.« But what about the past? Should we just forget about it? Surely it would not be wise to think about the past all the time and thus miss the exciting present. But we can learn from the past by analyzing it, when we reserve special time for analysis – now and then of course, not too often. I analyze the past in my daily meditations...