Category : Mood Stability
This is my opinion based on personal experience and is not research based or an opinion that is shared by the majority of people who propose helpful strategies for controlling and maintaining mood stability. I’ve been in cognitive therapy off and on for many years. The therapists I’ve seen have all been licensed and well educated. Each and every one of them had years of practice and were sincerely interested in helping their clients. I enjoyed talking with them and they were very good at helping me problem solve.
The one thing that they were not was able to do was pinpoint that I had bipolar disorder and direct me to a psychiatrist for help. In fact all of them were adamant that I was a “normal neurotic”. I’m not sure exactly what that means but if felt good to be reassured that I was within the normal spectrum.
During my most recent manic episode my therapist assured me that everything that I was doing was good for me including leaving my husband of 30 years, running away from home, etc. Even after the manic episode was under control my therapist refused to admit that I was bipolar or that I’d had a manic episode. She said that I was so self confident and self-assured and she was convinced in her mind that my actions were perfectly rational and in my best interests. Then she watched me crash and saw the other side of the illness. I stopped seeing her soon after that because I was not confident in her ability to help me pinpoint when an episode was starting up.
I learned a very important lesson from all this. If you do decide to participate in therapy whether it is cognitive, cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal & social rhythm therapy, just be sure that the therapist you select has a lot of experience working with clients who have bipolar disorder. Your psychiatrist may be able to recommend therapists with expertise in mood disorders.
I’m not sure any therapist could have kept me from making the mistakes that I made during my last manic episode, but I truly believe that a therapist with experience dealing with bipolar clients could have helped me minimize the damage that I did to myself, my family, and my bank account.
There are several parts of bipolar disorder that can make you feel awful. The up feeling is called mania and the down feeling is called depression. The in-between part is a mix of both mania and depression and is called a mixed episode. Many people suffering from bipolar disorder say that a mixed episode is the worst. Then there are times when you may be episode free and feel pretty good.
During a manic episode you usually have tons of energy, are sometimes irritable, and often overly self confident. During a manic phase you may schedule more tasks than you can accomplish. Risky behavior is also a symptom of mania. You might spend too much money or experience an overly active sex drive – this is called hypersexuality. Your judgement recedes and you might make choices and engage in behaviors that put you at risk.
During a depressive episode you can feel very isolated and tired. You might feel slowed down, sad, and have changes in your sleep and eating habits.You may also have difficulty with memory and concentration.
Some people who suffer from bipolar disorder will also have psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions. If a person is hallucinating with bipolar disorder they will see or hear things that are not there. Grandiosity is common. Usually these symptoms happen during a severe manic episode but not always.
Approximately 6 million Americans have bipolar disorder. You could have bipolar disorder and not even realize it. For me, a diagnosis of bipolar disorder explained so many things in my life. If you suspect that you have bipolar disorder contact your doctor and ask for a referral to a good psychiatrist (pdoc). Pdocs are highly trained physicians well qualified to diagnose and treat bipolar disorder.
Stress often plays a major role in making Bipolar Disorder worse. Stressful events can induce manic or depressive episodes or just make you plain miserable. Research studies suggest that controlling stress is one of the most powerful tools you can use to take control of your life. Developing skills to minimize the impact of stressors in your life will help you manage your illness more effectively.
Begin by identifying the stressor(s) that are causing you to feel unstable. Once you have identifed the stressor(s) you will want to start thinking about a strategy for resolving them. For example, imagine that you’ve been through a manic episode and you’ve charged tons of money on your credit card. You can’t pay your bill on time and you are worried about mounting debt and you also feel very ashamed about your behavior. First of all, feeling ashamed about behavior that occured when your frontal lobes were offline is not useful. Give that up. It won’t help you or anyone else.
Now, you are ready to prioritize the issues creating the stress and define the action steps needed to alleviate them. I find making lists to be very helpful. If you are unable to identify the stressor or prioritize the issues and define action steps to resolve the problem, then you may have some kind of barrier that is keeping you from doing so. Gather more information about the stressor and problem that has resulted from it. Continue to gather information until you understand it thoroughly. It’s quite all right to ask friends and family for help in removing barriers and clarifying issues so that you are able to know what steps you need to take to fix the problem and reduce the stress.
Create an action plan. In this example you might call the credit card company and ask them to work with you on a payment plan that will minimize interest payments and help you pay off your card over time. Another action you might take it to make sure that your credit limit is lowered to an amount that will not create a debt problem for you if you happen to max out your card again.
The steps in this stress reduction plan include: identifying the problem, deciding on a strategy for solving the problem, listing all the steps needed to implement your strategic solution, taking the steps you’ve outlined, and then evaluating how well your solution worked.
Another key to being able to do this is to drop all guilt for your behavior and take steps to move your life forward in positive ways while reducing stress. Doing these things can help ensure that you don’t end up repeating behaviors that wreak havoc in your life.
It’s a good idea to learn how to be proactive in monitoring your moods and behaviors so that you can detect an oncoming episode before it becomes full blown. The sooner you can pinpoint the early warning signs, the easier it will be to treat the episode, and the sooner you will be able to get back to being in control of your life rather than having Bipolar Disorder control it for you. Family and friends may also be able to help you detect early warning signs. Preventing an episode is far preferable to going through one and then having to deal with all the potential damage you may do to yourself and others, not to mention all the work you will have to do to get healthy and stable again.
Some of the early warning signs of depression include finding yourself feeling extremely tired in the afternoons even if you’ve had a good night of sleep. You may start to become reclusive and find people bothersome and annoying. I usually have no energy to do simple tasks like make dinner or do anything that takes any amount of energy. I can sleep for 10-12 hours and still not want to get up in the morning. I always crave carbohydrates and chocolate, so I’m not convinced that either of those are a sign of bipolar depression, but some clinicians believe them to be among the early warning signs, so I’m adding them to the list. Finding that you have lost interest in activities that you previously enjoyed, or feeling as though you can not concentrate are also early warning signs. Having thoughts about suicide is a warning sign that you must not ignore.
For hypomania, you may find yourself energized and excited about things that you found pretty dull and boring only a few weeks ago. You might notice that you are spending many more hours then usual doing work or receational activities. You may throw yourself into your work, read tons of books, or do most anything in a fairly intense and compulsive way. I find that I become very productive when hypomanic, but as I progress into an episode, I become dysfunctional and anxious. But that’s another article. In this article, we are focused on early warning signs.
Let’s move on to mania. For me, the early warning signs are the same as for hypomania, but more intense. I am pleasure seeking and overly self confident. I have lots of energy and I’m often very talkative and “charming”. Or at least I think I’m charming. When heading towards a manic episode, I become easily distracted and can become irritable and impatient with other people who seem very dull and as though they are moving in slow motion. Also, I am unable to sit still and I find myself continually moving around. It becomes impossible for me to relax. I am impulsive and my decision making processes go out the window.
You’ll want to do all you can to monitor and detect the early signs of an oncoming episode. It’s no fun having an illness take over your life, your behaviors, and your thinking, while you tag along for a potentially dangerous and destructive ride.
Recent Comments