How to Manage Mania by Knowing the Very Beginning Signs of a Manic Episode

Originally published on the Bp Magazine Website as Bipolar and Restlessness: What is Pre-Mania?

Learning the very first signs of a bipolar mania mood swing is the only way I have found to stop big manic episodes. If I don’t catch my mania early, I will let it flourish as I want to get things done. Mania almost always gives us little signs that it is staring. I’m calling this “PRE-Mania.” It has the following symptoms:

  • We have trouble sleeping
  •  Other people bother us.  It’s as though they are talking too fast or want to pick a fight with us.
  • We know we need to slow down, but we can’t or we will get behind in work.
  • We take on too much work due to our extra energy but feel stressed when we try to get it done.
  • Our legs are restless and we often shake one leg up and down while sitting to deal with the excess energy.
  • We don’t feel good physically or mentally.
  • Our music choices are stimulating and slightly louder than normal.
  • Others tell us we are talking too loud or ask, “Are you getting manic?” which makes us angry as we are not fully manic, but we are on the edge, so we are prickly.

If you have any of these symptoms, now is a VERY good time to stop what you’re doing, take stock of your actual mood and make a decision to stop the “Pre-Mania” before it goes too far.

It is 5 PM on a Saturday night as I write this. My mind is buzzing and I have way too many to do lists next to me. All I want to do is work for hours and hours and get caught up on life.

The past week was a bit of a downer and work was very difficult. To compensate, I worked too much and I’m now overstimulated. It’s not euphoric hypomania and it’s not quite yet dysphoric hypomania, but it’s right on the edge. If I continued to work for a few hours or decided to go out with friends for something stimulating such as karaoke, there is a GOOD chance I would get hypomanic.

Here is how I take care of this “PRE-Mania” and prevent it from turning into actually mania.

  • I stop working. This means turning off the computer and reading a book, one I hold in my hands! Or I go to a dark movie theater and stay away from caffeine.
  • I take my meds. If I feel I can control this, I don’t have to take extra meds, but if I still have a terrible time sleeping tonight and am still wired tomorrow morning, I will have to take an extra dose. I HATE this. But I will do it.
  • I remind myself to calm down. I can make smart choices around my bipolar.

Mania is not inevitable. It’s not something I can give in to in order to get more done. I’m past that in my management life. I want to be stable. This means saying no to myself, saying no to being overstimulated, taking my meds and shutting off the computer until I have calmed down.

What do you need to do in life to prevent the PRE-Mania from turning into something that WILL disrupt your life?

Julie

Comments are closed



Posted on April 8th, 2020 | Category:

Bipolar Disorder Help During the Coronavirus

This article was originally published in Bp Magazine under the title Stability, Bipolar & Coronavirus (COVID-19) 

It was the first article I wrote when it became obvious that many of us would be staying at home.

**

This is the first time the world has watched a pandemic unfold in real time. For this reason, emotions are high, and uncertainty is raging. What can we do as people affected by bipolar disorder to make sure our BRAINS stay well while the world changes before our eyes?

Let’s Start with the Basics

Bipolar Medications.

Write your doctor today and calmly explain that your bipolar often comes with anxiety, and this virus experience is a trigger. For this reason, ask for your regular meds to be on a double script if possible. Ask for more automatic refills—at least six months out. Thank your doc for continuing to work during this outbreak. If you have to go into the office to get psych shots, take care of this now. If you need blood tests, get one now. Be proactive. Don’t cancel appointments. Simply have them by phone or video.

Irritation.

Getting pissed off is often a by-product of fear. If you’re stuck at home with roommates you rarely see or family members whom you need to avoid for your own stability, make a plan now. You determine your relationships. Make a pact with yourself now. You will not fight or get irritated with others.

Depression & Hopelessness.

A world crisis will naturally affect the depressed brain. If you’re already feeling hopeless and helpless in regular life, you will feel this even more today. Use this mantra: “It’s natural that I feel this sick. The world is off its axis, and I need to focus on my brain and my brain only. I have been through this before and will go through it again. A virus is not a reason to get more depressed. I am going to treat this depression right this minute and get help.”

Anxiety & Paranoia.

If you’re already on the anxious side—and especially if you’re prone to paranoid psychosis, as I am—now is the time to turn off the sources that feed this paranoia. This especially includes politically charged social media. Removing the inflammatory triggers of paranoia and anxiety can cut your symptoms in half. Ask yourself if being “informed” is worth the pain of anxiety and paranoia.

Hypomania & Mania.

This sneaky symptom may make you less worried about the virus, and, for that reason, you will take personal-contact and especially sexual-behavior-contact suggestions less seriously. If you’re starting to feel manic now, acknowledge it and use your plan to get stable. Now is not the time for wildness.

Pets.

For many, taking care of pets is like taking care of a child. How is the food situation as of now? Does your pet need a vet appointment? What about grooming? Make a list of your pet’s needs over the next three months, be the superhero you are, and go through the list one at a time.

Social Media.

Oh, my goodness. If we believe everything on social media, all of the toilet paper is gone and there is brawling in the aisles of grocery stores around the world!

While no one can deny that there has been some fighting over products, it’s important to know that there is always conflict in stores. It’s not new. We don’t have a “social media IV” attached to our brains. It is up to us, as people with bipolar, to TURN OFF what makes us sick.

Social media wants you to stay, so they will play on your worries. If you choose not to turn it off completely, at least be aware of what you are viewing. Look at the words and images they use to suck you in. Be thoughtful and intelligent and truly see the reality of what they are selling: FEAR.

If You Feel an Episode Brewing…

What if your symptoms are getting worse, and you can tell you’re heading for an episode? I have many articles on this topic, and you can use the ideas step by step to calm your brain and prevent a big episode. I also recommend the work of Melody Moezzi.

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Oh, it’s the stuff Julie always says! ‘Take care of yourself and be a detective and remove triggers!’” Yes. It is the same.

Like all illnesses, bipolar responds to a plan. It’s a triggered illness. You have so much more control than you think, if you’re not feeling well right now.

General Strategies to Stay Stable During the COVID-19 Outbreak

You can take charge of your brain. Bipolar disorder responds to management, and removing triggers is the best way to handle this crisis. If you have my book Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder, now is a good time to read the triggers chapter again!

Yes, I am a repeating robot, but this is what works:

  1. If you are really getting sick, turn off social media and ask stable friends for updates.
  2. If it’s moderate, turn off the social media that raises fear, anxiety, and anger, and focus on what creates positive feelings.
  3. Call someone right now. Say hello with your voice. Leave voice messages.
  4. Don’t cancel support groups. Set them up online or on the phone through services such as Free Conference Call. Make sure you have all of your bipolar appointments. Don’t cancel!
  5. Write/contact every place where you have monthly fees and services and ask the business to waive fees for a month or more.
  6. If you meet with a substance-abuse support group, move it all online or on the phone. Don’t cancel. Even if you do this with a few members, it’s worth it.

Remember…

What we are going through now is not permanent. Seasons change, and the world is up for the task. We are working together. Let’s find the not-so-awful part of this current situation:

  • Is this a time for a deep clean of your room or home?
  • Is it time to reconnect by phone with old friends?
  • What opportunities come up when the world slows down?

We are in control of ourselves. Let’s use this time to be smart about the rotten bipolar symptoms that probably will show up, get help, and then take the time to reflect on what we want in our lives. I am trying to use this system, and, so far, I am not overly panicked—even when facing my worries about money and health. That is pretty good, considering the brain I live with daily!

Julie

Comments are closed



Posted on April 7th, 2020 | Category:

Bipolar? It’s OK if You Don’t Feel Ok Right Now

Comments are closed



Posted on April 7th, 2020 | Category:

How are Your Bipolar Disorder Symptoms During the Coronavirus?

Please hear me now. This is a public service announcement!  Mania cannot be easily managed once it has started.

Mania has to be managed before it starts.

The first signs of mania are when we have to control mania.

If we wait until someone is too sick and starts to ignore coronavirus social distancing suggestions, we have waited too long.

Check for mania in yourself and others NOW.

Let’s prevent mania from taking over during the coronavirus.

End of my announcement.

Julie

Comments are closed



Posted on April 7th, 2020 | Category:

Bipolar? Super Strategies for Super Anxiety

Originally published on the Bp Magazine website.

Feeling Anxiety vs. Feeling Safe

I often get so anxious I feel I can’t go on. I want to do a project like answering email or making a call to a friend, but the minute I even approach the apparatus such as a phone or a computer, I feel a terrible physical reaction in my body that causes me to stop before I even get started.

This is the very definition of anxiety—a FEELING that you can’t do what you want to do. So, you simply stop in place and go back to what feels safe and more peaceful.

Inevitably, what feels safe and peaceful is something like a substance such as sugar, weed, or alcohol; a bad relationship; video games; or the internet. I know, you would never think that a bad relationship would be a choice over anxiety, but that’s how bad anxiety feels!

Anxiety in Turbulent Times

Current world situations now require us to be in our own company a lot more than we might like. This can bring up enormous anxiety that then leads to even more anxiety-avoiding behaviors.

Behavior created by the anxious brain is complex—quite separate from what we know is good for us. If you’re like me and you’re tired of living a life controlled by an unseen anxiety brain wave, let’s work together to get on with life while we have time to focus on our health.

Learning to Manage a New Symptom of Bipolar

I spent 30 years learning to live with my relentless depression. So far, it’s working, and although I still experience a lot of depression, it rarely brings me to my knees. I am now teaching myself to do the same with this rotten anxiety.

As I’ve gotten older and my brain has gone through more traumatic events (such as a serious biking accident in 2012 that resulted in a head injury), I found that my anxiety increased right when I was finally having relief from my lifelong depression.

It is my goal to use the strategies I created to manage mania and depression to help manage my current anxiety. Here are my ideas:

#1 Anxiety Is Real

I taught myself to work when I was depressed. I often cried while working,  the depression was so awful, but I still managed to write books and get on with life. It has not been the same with anxiety. I find anxiety FAR more physical in terms of the symptoms.

Depression makes me feel two different ways—either I feel like I’m completely numb inside and catatonic, or I’m agitated and irritated. But anxiety? It’s simply worse.

It’s imperative to accept that anxiety is serious and terrible, and it CAN prevent us from working. We are not weak, lazy, or incapable of getting things done. Our brain is out to get us, and we have to find a path around the brain that doesn’t want us to work. Now, it’s time for me to teach myself to work through and around this anxiety.

#2 Work through the Pain

I once had a physical therapist tell me that when you have a chronic injury, working through pain—as long as you’re not injuring yourself more—is the only way to get better. This is a rough situation because the pain is scary, and it feels like you’re doing more harm than good; but if you don’t try to work through the pain, you will never get better. It’s the same with anxiety.

It’s often the moving toward something that feels too painful too bear. Thus, we stop before even opening a project or completing a task. It’s like an anxiety hornets’ nest opens up in front of you, and you have to step into it in order to get work done. It’s that painful. With anxiety, the hornets’ nest is metaphysical. It feels mighty real, but we know it’s not.

Feeling the pain of anxiety has to be the first step. To walk into the fire and at least try the project to see what happens. It’s always painful, but it’s the way to get work done.

Feel the pain and walk into it, and get a project done. It’s how I’ve written articles for the past few years. I now need to use this process in order to write a new book. The anxiety has kept me from big projects for a few years, and I’ve worked hard to get this new project ready. So, if you read this one day, and I have a new book out, then you will know the process is working. Just like you, I have to change and try new things to make it through this life with the brain I have.

#3 Get Help

This is especially true for men. Anxiety is not very fun, is it! To feel fear when approaching a project makes one feel weak and ineffectual. I have cried many times from the pain and fear that comes up when the anxiety rises up to my neck. And I have asked for help from health-care professionals and from friends and family. Turn to those around you for support. It’s not a sign of weakness but of strength.

It’s a daily process. Medications can help, but as with most chronic brain chaos, it’s often up to us to figure out what works and what doesn’t. I get help from my own books and the advice of others.

It’s My Decision

We didn’t win the brain lottery. We didn’t get the easy path. I want to live a long life that is easier as I get older. The only way to accomplish this is to grow and change as new symptoms show up. I never thought I would have to deal with this much anxiety, but here it is.

I had moderate anxiety since age 19, and now have had to live with serious anxiety since age 48. That is my life. I know that anxiety is a feeling in my body and not a reality in the physical world.

What I do with my life is up to me. I want peace. I want to write more books, and I want to end this anxiety. I am a work in progress. Join me!

Julie 

Comments are closed



Posted on April 7th, 2020 | Category:

Why I Respect the Bipolar!

Are you heading for a #bipolar break down? If you can tell your car’s breaking down, you don’t purposefully take it on the freeway and wait until it really doesn’t go any more.
 
It’s the same with your bipolar brain.
 
If you’re breaking down… Get help now. There is no need to wait until it’s so bad you can no longer take care of yourself.
 
ASK NOW.
 
Examine triggers and remove what you can. Open up Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder and read the triggers chapter. This will remind you that it’s simply an illness.
 
A full breakdown will result in losing a LOT. Stopping in the middle of a break down and asking for help will SALVAGE a lot.
 
You have a choice. I have a choice. My health comes first.
 
Our health comes first. Bipolar is an illness.
 
Respect the bipolar or it will kick your 🍑 !
 

Julie

Comments are closed



Posted on March 11th, 2020 | Category:
Older Entries »  
  « Newer Entries