I have just about wrapped up recording April 1st’s podcast of the Bipolar DM. I can’t believe that I am actually ahead of the game for once. I don’t quite know what to do other than start working on April 15th’s podcast in the meantime.
I will work on making mid-April’s podcast closer to my goal of a 30 min show twice a month. I look like I got the twice a month part handled for now. Making the episodes longer without putting a bunch of fluff in it is another challenge.
I want this podcast to be informative and not full of a bunch of useless junk set there just to fill air space.
I got my first email about the show and the website. The writer gave me permission to use their letter in my April 1st podcast as long as I keep their identity anonymous. This person, who suffers from depression and anxiety, brought up a good point about how do you continue to play when you suffer from these illnesses without wrecking the game for everyone else.
To find out the answer to that you will have to tune in on April 1st. However, mental illness affects every part of our lives, even our PC’s lives. It affects how we feel, how we think, and how we play our characters. Learning skills to help manage your illness will just as much affect your game as it will your own life.
Above all else, take your medication or supplements to aid you in controlling your illness. Meds are only one of many tools that you have at your disposal. Sometimes though, we depend entirely on our meds to make us feel normal and neglect our coping skills.
Hone those coping skills. The table is a great place to practice them. In the game you are thrust into many situations that you would face in real life. I don’t mean that we have to worry about a goblin raid or slay a ghoul. But we have social interactions with NPC’s (or your boss), victories, defeats, making good decisions and making poor ones and living with those consequences. All of these need to be handled just as you do in your real life.
Thank you for reading my blog. I have no schedule as to how often as will I post. But I promise to put new content several times during the week or as inspiration strikes me.
Jason
The Bipolar DM 