Lithium Limerick

Good morning/afternoon/evening!

I appreciate those of you who have stuck it out with me this far! :)

So for this post, I'm going to share a poem that I wrote for a class when I was in graduate school. It's one of my favorites because it's informational and fun. It's called "Lithium Limerick".

The class was psychopharmacology. We learned about the different medications that are prescribed for different mental health disorders. My favorite part of this class--and this is going to sound weird--was learning the brand names vs. off-brand names of different medications. What I found fun about it, was figuring out ways to match the two with something that would be easy to remember. For example, you have Lorazepam, which is the off-brand name of Ativan. Now, Ativan/Lorazepam is a benzodiazapine which is a drug typically used to treat anxiety. My connection here was that my friend Laura ([Lora]zepam) drives a van (Ati[van]). I think anyone would agree with me that these fun little things are just one of the ways you find to entertain yourself to get through grad school.

My friend Karri and I were in this class together. I must digress and talk about Karri for a moment. She is such an amazing person. She is so caring and sweet, motivated about mental health, exceptionally smart, and so incredibly strong. She and I were typically attached at the hip in grad school and to be honest, I don't know if I would've made it through without her.

So for this class, we were given a different than the usual "pick a topic to present to the class," final assignment. Our professor wanted us to do a creative project to present to the class. She didn't give us too much instruction on this so we still did the boring PowerPoint presentation as well; we didn't want to not give enough information: there's that anxiety again.

So I worked on the Lithium Limerick and she worked on the hands on portion. I have to give her credit though as she helped with the rewording of a few sections of the poem.

While we took turns reading each verse of the poem, we provided play-doh and asked the class to create what they feel it would look like to be suffering from bipolar disorder. It was definitely my favorite project as art and play therapy are my favorites! I think they're extremely helpful no matter the age and I actually have used journaling/writing/drawing/etc. through my own experience of therapy.

I wish I had pictures of some of the creations that came out of this, unfortunately I don't. But imagine how you think suffering from bipolar disorder would feel, how you would present that in play-doh form, and I think you can imagine some of the great projects that we saw.

Alas, what you've all been waiting for...

Lithium Limerick

At the ripe age of twenty five,

My boyfriend thought I was high,

First I was happy,

Then suddenly snappy,

He was threatening to say goodbye.

I got so much accomplished,

I did everything I promised,

I had so much time,

I thought I was fine,

But it certainly was causing a conflict.

There were times I didn’t sleep for days,

I assumed it was just a phase,

But he got worried,

And asked that I hurry,

And make an appointment without delay.

I went to the doctor so he wouldn’t stress,

And explained how he thought it was an illness,

So I said, “It’s nothing, right Doctor?”

He looked quite awkward,

And sent me to mental health with a quickness.

I wanted to scream, “I’m NOT crazy!”

But my lack of sleep started to make things hazy,

So I followed his orders,

I didn’t cut corners,

And went straight to her office without being lazy.

This doctor was quite different than the last,

She was unlike any I’d seen in the past,

She was so pleasant,

And clearly present,

She openly answered all of the questions I’d asked.

She said I am suffering from Bipolar Disorder,

But with the right treatment we can move forward,

It can be treated,

However not deleted,

But the treatment can bring our lives back to order.

She prescribed me with an anti-psychotic,

She said it would help my life be less chaotic,

It acts on my CNS,

My brain and spinal cord, I guess,

The doctor also said I won’t become robotic.

The medication is called Lithium, Eskalith, or Lithobid,

I asked her to explain it and she did,

It’s studied and old,

And so I’ve been told,

All the kinks have been worked out and forbid.

Lithium is widely distributed into the CNS,

It interacts with neurotransmitters and receptors, yes?

Increasing serotonin,

Decreasing Norepinephrine,

And significantly decreases my risk of suicide success.

I’m taking one in the morning, afternoon, and night,

I’m trying to do so without any spite,

1800 milligrams a day,

If it works this is where I will stay,

And then my future again will look bright.

There are some things they call side effects,

And so I will have many follow-up checks,

To make sure I am good,

And the meds are doing what they should,

Without causing me persistent perplex.

I could be frequently thirsty or have to pee,

Poor concentration or impaired memory,

Hair loss or Acne,

Weak muscles or drowsy,

Gaining weight is probably my biggest worry.

I’ve been taking the meds for a while now,

My boyfriend and I are settling down,

Mixed with counseling,

It’s really working,

That’s my happy ending, Ciao!

 I hope you enjoyed, because that's one of my favorite projects and it was so fun to write. 

Have a great week and I hope to have a great story for y'all next week!