Mood Reign: Controlling My Bipolar Ups and Downs

By Dani Reynolds

Mood Reign describes how the author struggled with controlling her mental illness and how her family values deeply affected her bipolar moods and dangerous mood swings and suicidal behaviors. Mood Reign briefly addresses how her parents met, their life choices before she was born and how their successful marriage inspired her to be like them in her life. However, while Dani made many mistakes, she deeply punished herself for her abortion because she didn't want to carry a baby and be a single parent. This would disrupt the successful lineage of the whole family in her immediate family dynasty. Because of this guilt, Dani suffered serious mental and physical meltdowns. Because these meltdowns and episodes were so serious; rigorous therapy, medication and psychiatric appointments and group therapy with inpatient hospitalizations were necessary. After years of extensive therapy and psychiatric medication, Dani faced reality and learned to control her moods and erratic and psychotic behavior with supervised skill. At the end of Mood Reign, Dani discusses her life’s purpose, and this helps her to have a positive relationship of her own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796059441

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Copyright © 2019 by Dani Reynolds.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Rev. date: 09/12/2019

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Contents

Part I: Introduction, Early Years, and Student Years

Part II: Sexual Curiosity, Sexual Assault, and Abortion

Part III: Provider Years and Career

Part IV: First Sign of Mental Illness

Part V: Mid-Career Relocation and Relapse

Part VI: My Turn Around Years

Part VII: My Therapy and Healing

Part VIII: Coping Skills for My Emotional Changes

Part IX: My Positive Relationship Toward Marriage

Part X: Conclusion

Part I

Introduction, Early Years, and Student Years

The purpose of this book is to show the world that old-fashioned patriarchal familial tradition can assist people with a mental illness like myself to lead a happy life and fulfilled life. I also learned that when I decided to follow my parent’s example to wait to have sex till marriage and have children afterwards and pursue their dreams before tying the knot of matrimony. Even though I made mistakes when it came to be trying to follow my family’s choices and values, those choices and values still guided me in my life and eventually saved my life; especially when I met the love of my life at the end of this book. However, my life was not easy because after leaving home to transfer to a 4-year university, I was raped at age 20 and got pregnant and a virus at a same time during my latter freshman year of college. That sexual assault changed my life, and eventually led to me having a breakdown to trigger a diagnosis of bipolar 1 disorder with schizoaffective disorder and psychotic features, which I will explain later in this book.

Before I was a twinkle in my father’s eye; much less my grandfather’s eye, my grandmother was unable to have children, just like a mother in the Bible. She prayed for a son. Grandma prayed that if God were to give her a son, she would send him to Bible school and dedicate him to the Lord. Soon, God send her my father and she named him after his father, my grandfather.

Years later, my father grew up in the church and became close to the Lord. He prayed for a wife because he was lonely. The next week, he met my mother at church. Dad prayed for a Godly woman to marry. What he didn’t know was that they went to the same church. All along they went to the same church without their knowledge. They also went to the same university and didn’t know it.

When dad realized that they went to the same university, he would hide in the bushes alongside my mom’s route to her father’s car. All went well until her mom’s father saw my future dad hiding and confronted him about it. After meeting my mother, dad immediately purposed. Mom said no three times to his proposal because she was fresh out of high school and had a dream of her own and wanted to go to college first before getting married. Years later, dad asked my mother’s hand in marriage. He was terrified. He said, ask your dad if we can start dating? my future mom said no, be a man and ask yourself. Anyway, my grandfather approved of them dating and eventually approved of them getting married.

My parents got married in a small church. I arrived months later, along with two younger brothers, nearly 2 years apart. my parents soon felt a little cramped in the little town, so we moved to a larger property, built a