u/luminaizo

I’m diagnosed with bipolar disorder I and I’m scheduled to have my first EMDR session later this month.

I’d really like to hear from anyone else who has gone through EMDR. What was your experience like? Did it help? Did it affect your mood in any way (for better or worse)? Did it trigger an episode (despite being stable on meds)?

Were there any precautions your therapist took before starting?

I’m especially interested in hearing about how you coped between sessions if processing brought up intense emotions.

I know everyone’s experience is different, but I’d appreciate hearing any personal experiences or advice. Thanks.

I’m diagnosed with bipolar disorder and I’m scheduled to have my first EMDR session later this month.

I’d really like to hear from anyone else with bipolar disorder who has gone through EMDR. What was your experience like? Did it help? Did it affect your mood in any way (for better or worse)? Did it trigger an episode (despite being stable on meds)?

Were there any precautions your therapist took before starting?

I’m especially interested in hearing about how you coped between sessions if processing brought up intense emotions.

I know everyone’s experience is different, but I’d appreciate hearing any personal experiences or advice. Thanks.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Out of no where I am refusing to take my medication. My TikTok feed is filled with videos of people who are clearly in psychosis and or manic. I don’t feel that way though. All my faculties are in check. However I do note that my restrictive eating patterns are back. But that has nothing to do with this. Idk what’s going on and I hate not knowing. Anybody has any experience with this?! For context I was diagnosed with BP1 w/psychotic features.

I plan to discuss this with my psychiatrist, but I wanted to get some thoughts from people who may have experienced something similar.

There seems to be a recurrent pattern lately. Even though I’m taking my medication at the same time every night, I can’t seem to fall asleep until around 1–2 am. The strange part is that I’m waking up around 5:20 am and not feeling tired or sleep deprived.

I don’t feel unstable, euphoric, irritable, impulsive, or unusually energetic. I actually feel pretty stable. The only thing remotely impulsive I’ve done is spend about $70 USD on a virtual world game, which is more than I’d normally spend, but nothing else reckless has been happening.

Should I be concerned about this change in sleep? Has anyone experienced reduced need for sleep while otherwise feeling “fine”? What ended up happening for you?

So I’m dealing with something that’s thrown me for a loop. A bit of backstory: I’ve been in the kink/BDSM community for a while and always identified as submissive. I’ve had relationships where I was comfortably in that role, and honestly, I thought that was just… me. My ideal dynamic has always been a dominant partner who could take control and make decisions.

But then I met my girlfriend.

She’s relatively new to the scene (or new to me, at least). She’s submissive, pouty, sweet, super adorable, and honestly? I have this intense urge to be dominant with her: not just sexually, but in a protective, caring way. It’s completely different from anything I’ve felt before.

Here’s the problem: I have no idea what I’m doing.

I’ve always been on the receiving end of dominance. I know what it feels like from a submissive perspective, but actually being the dominant one? I’m absolutely clueless. We haven’t established a formal contract or anything yet, and honestly, that thought terrifies me. What if I mess up? What if I can’t give her what she needs? What if I fail to uphold my side of the dynamic?

I’m genuinely anxious about this. I want to explore this new side of myself, especially because it feels so right with her, but the stakes feel high and I don’t want to let her down.

Has anyone else experienced a similar shift in their dynamic? How did you navigate the learning curve? Any advice for someone who’s about to enter a role they’ve never explored before?

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TL;DR: New relationship with a submissive partner has awakened dominant/protective feelings I didn’t know I had. Never been in this role before, and I’m anxious about failing her when we eventually establish a dynamic/contract.