Welcome to Blobfish-a-Go-Go!

Welcome to BLOBFISH-A-GO-GO, a blog about living with rapid cycling bipolar 2.

My name is Amy Vaughn. I’m an on-again-off-again teacher, writer, and editor.

My intentions for this blog are twofold: (1) to help me process what is proving to be a new phase of living with bipolar and (2) to maybe help some people better understand their own or their loved one’s experience.

I intend to limit each post to give or take 200 words. One idea in a one minute read.

My mascot, the blobfish, is a public domain drawing I found on Wikimedia Commons. Here are his details: By Gb89.2 - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=103236660

I have another website all about my writing, which I steadfastly neglect. But if you’re interested, it’s amymvaughn.com.

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What Bipolar Does to the Brain

I’ve been researching what bipolar does to the brain and seriously—fuck. There’s both a lot more research than my 25-year-old B.A. in Psychology could assimilate and not nearly enough. A layperson’s book on the subject is sorely needed. Here’s the gist. * There’s solid evidence that the dysfunction during depressive and manic states causes changes that persist into our baseline states. * There are several neurotransmitters involved: dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, GABA (gamma-aminobutyrate), glutamate, and acetylcholine at the least. And hormones that act like neurotransmitters are in the mix, too, like endorphins and oxytocin. * Brain structures yet discovered to be involved/affected include areas of the prefrontal and temporal lobes, the hippocampus, thalamus, and hypothalamus. * Bipolar affects both grey and white matter, meaning both the structural elements of the brain and the connective tissue between them. And by affects, I mean corrodes over time. There’s mor...

Brain Helpers, Part 2b

Besides everything listed in Brain Helpers Part 1 , science has found a number of other ways we can repair, protect, and grow our brains. I’ve collected some of them and divided them into Physical and Mental for posting purposes. Here are the Mental ones. (And here are the Physical ones.) Mental ways to repair, protect, and grow your brain Reduce stress . Too much stress kills neurons, alters brain structures, impairs memory, and leaves us more susceptible to mental illness. In bipolarites, it triggers episodes. The conversation around reducing stress won’t fit here. For now, this Harvard Health article and this NAMI list cover a lot of ground. Do puzzles . This isn’t a global fix for brain health, but it has been shown to help with attention, reasoning, and memory. Be happy . I know, I know , but happy brains are better at memory and learning, and they kick ass at neuroplasticity. There is a huge (like 30%) global increase in function in happy brains. All of this means...

The Week Everything Fell Through

Over the last two years I’ve built a “social calendar” of weekly in-person or, more often (thanks COVID), virtual get-togethers. Mostly they are play (cards with my parents, movies or favorite tv shows with friends), but some of them are work (shared constructive time, support group, therapy). These interactions are super important to my wellbeing. They give me something to look forward to. They offer connection and distraction. They keep me from feeling stagnant and help me feel grounded. One week, not long ago, everything fell through. People had other one-off events, health issues, visitors from out of town. And suddenly my world felt very small. People are necessary. It doesn’t have to be heavy, we just need people to be people around. People to laugh with, to care for, to exist with. It’s everything really, at least to me. Without people to be a person with (as often as it suits you), what’s life about? One week without my people—I went a little stir crazy, the world got a...

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