She's currently taking multiple medications and is in therapy to help her identify both when she's going to experience an episode and how to manage its severity. The combination seems to be working; when she experienced a bout of depression a few weeks before being interviewed for this article, she managed to stay out of the hospital and maintain functionality.
Needless to say, continuing to do her research while battling bipolar disorder has been difficult. But "my advisor has been 100 percent supportive of me coming back after each of these times," she says. And so, she keeps plugging along, and is also doing her best to raise awareness about mental illnesses. At Stanford, she wants to "bring it out into the mainstream so it's not hidden. For a long time I felt very shameful of it, but I've come to realize it's nothing to be ashamed of. This is a physiological condition." Although she wishes she didn't have the disease, "everyone has their challenges in life. This just happens to be mine."
And so, just as someone with a chronic condition such as diabetes might fully expect to finish a PhD, "I plan to pursue a career in academic science," Wiersma says. "There's no reason I shouldn't be able to do that."
That's a reasonable expectation, says Carlos Zarate, chief of the mood disorders research unit at the National Institute of Mental Health. "People can live productive and functional lives," he says, particularly if they stick with their medications and therapy. For instance, he recently heard from a former participant in a clinical trial who'd just finished a degree and was doing well. It's not realistic for all individuals, "but for many it is possible."
See what we're tweeting about
16 Comments
Add CommentPour boiling water on weeds to kill them. Cheap, easy, no chemicals.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf it was as simple as pouring boiling water on the plant then I think she would have experienced her father doing that, instead she saw him try and dig the plant out by hand. As the article mentioned, reaching the deep roots is the problem, the boiling water may be too cool to be effective by the time it reaches them. Perhaps a concentrated stream of water or steam would work, but I have some doubts.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMonoculture creates soil deficiencies of which weeds are symptoms. Bio-dynamic permaculture "ecosystems" solve this problem, or at least make it such that weeds are not a problem. We don't need better chemicals, potions, and poisons to pour into the earth. We need better agricultural techniques.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWeeds are not just a problem of monoculture agricultural systems. Weeds can invade complex native ecosystems and destroy biodiversity.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn fact some of the species promoted by permaculture can be serious environmental weeds.
The Kadir-Buxton Method can cure mental illnesses in thirty seconds, and allow Helen to get on with her job.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1. If you spill hot water on your foot, you wont be worrying about the weeds!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this2. The hot water option for weed control is impractical beyond the back door. It is NOT cheap, and it is not environmentally friendly.
3. I like Wiersma's discovery...its neither a chemical extreme nor an organic extreme, but a bit of both. An intelligent and balanced approach to a problem keeps one out of hot water.
1. If you spill hot water on your foot, you wont be worrying about the weeds!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this2. The hot water option for weed control is impractical beyond the back door. It is NOT cheap, and it is not environmentally friendly.
3. I like Wiersma's discovery...its neither a chemical extreme nor an organic extreme, but a bit of both. An intelligent and balanced approach to a problem keeps one out of hot water.
1. If you spill hot water on your foot, you wont be worrying about the weeds!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this2. The hot water option for weed control is impractical beyond the back door. It is NOT cheap, and it is not environmentally friendly.
3. I like Wiersma's discovery...its neither a chemical extreme nor an organic extreme, but a bit of both. An intelligent and balanced approach to a problem keeps one out of hot water.
1. If you spill hot water on your foot, you wont be worrying about the weeds!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this2. The hot water option for weed control is impractical beyond the back door. It is NOT cheap, and it is not environmentally friendly.
3. I like Wiersma's discovery...its neither a chemical extreme nor an organic extreme, but a bit of both. An intelligent and balanced approach to a problem keeps one out of hot water.
Sorry, could you repeat that?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMs Wiersma,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI like your name. My mother was Wierda and probably like you from the northern province of Friesland in The Netherlands. I was born in Leeuwarden and lived there for seven years, before my family immigrated to the USA in 1960.
Daag
Auke
I have found that 50mg of P5P works well for bipolar disorder.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat is a derivative of Vitamin B-6(pyridoxal-5-phosphate).
I have found that 50mg of P-5-P works well for Bi-Polar Disorder. It is a derivative of Vitamin B-6.(pyridoxal-5-phosphate).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have found that 50mg of P-5-P works well for bipolar disorder. That is a deriva
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have noticed that P-5-P works well for Bipolar Disorder.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisP-5-P is a derivative of Vitamin B-6. That is (pyridoxal 5-phosphate)
get tested at www.pyroluriatesting.com
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this