I’ve been up and down lately and amazingly, more up than down! I could say HALLAJUILIULA\u00a0 (really, where does our spelling come from!) or I could do what I’m doing. I’m getting home early and watching Dancing with the Stars. I’m avoiding stimulating situations such as karaoke or dinner parties. I’m aware that I’m on the cusp of not sleeping. I’m using my Ativan instead of trying to force myself to sleep. There is a lot I can do now before it goes so far.<\/p>\n
Here are my subtle signs of mania: I’d be interested to know yours.<\/p>\n
#1. Cooking. I cook a lot more when I’m manic and I often make pretty complex dishes. Today I made chicken Marsala. I then tend to cook a lot of dishes to go with it, but I stopped myself today.<\/p>\n
#2. I chop too quickly and tend to fling knives and cutting boards around when I’m washing them. I cut my finger today.<\/p>\n
#3. Music sounds good- normally I find music depressing – as I once heard someone describe mania- everything becomes interesting when you’re manic!<\/p>\n
\u00a0#4. I don’t have a problem with the dark weather – though just a few days ago this weather depressed me.<\/p>\n
The list goes on and on. If you don’t have bipolar disorder, you may say, “But I do this stuff all of the time and I’m not manic!”<\/p>\n
That’s what makes bipolar disorder so hard to understand. People do experience what we experience, but to a different degree. Also, people tend to have patterns that make sense. My change from not being able to work just a few weeks ago, to being able to jam for hours all day and then not be able to sleep is a sign that I’m not stable.<\/p>\n
\u00a0I am going to use this hypomania to my advantage by getting my 200+ email taken care of.<\/p>\n
What is your current mood swing? Are you stable? If you care about someone with the illness, can you tell when they’re manic?<\/p>\n
Julie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’ve been up and down lately and amazingly, more up than down! I could say HALLAJUILIULA (really, where does our spelling come from!) or I could do what I’m doing. I’m getting home early and watching Dancing with the Stars. I’m avoiding stimulating situations such as karaoke or dinner parties. I’m aware that I’m on the cusp of not sleeping. I’m using my Ativan instead of trying to force myself to sleep. There is a lot I can do now before it goes so far.<\/p>\n
Here are my subtle signs of mania: I’d be interested to know yours.<\/p>\n
#1. Cooking. I cook a lot more when I’m manic and I often make pretty complex dishes. Today I made chicken Marsala. I then tend to cook a lot of dishes to go with it, but I stopped myself today.<\/p>\n