How I Manage Bipolar Disorder Mood Swings

When I have a lot of mood swings, as I’m having now- managing bipolar disorder becomes my job. Everything I do has to be examined- will this help me get better? Will this make me more ill?

It’s hard. I just want to be a person who gets up, works, sees friends and family, has fun and goes to bed. That is my dream! I have lived it a few times, but bipolar always returns.

When the bipolar shows up, I have to be ready for it. I can work on prevention all day long and the mood swings will still sneak in. It is an illness.

This afternoon, I saw a nice looking woman who was in her 50’s walking down the street. She was beautifully dressed. The well part of me thought, “Wow, those are great shoes!” The sick part of me thought, “What is the point of even looking at her shoes, we will all be dead eventually.”   This illness is up and down and our thoughts will be up and down depending on our mood swings.

It takes a lot of work to prevent thoughts like these from taking over your life- you have to know what is real and what is ridiculous!  Managing bipolar is my job when I’m sick. I do it 24 hours a day until I’m better.

Find a way to manage this illness. Use a plan like the one in Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder or the Health Cards to learn your symptoms.  You can get better.

Julie

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