I'm still learning to cope myself. I had a terrible spell of depression for over a week, then I got hypomanic on the evening of June 30th, it lasted throughout yesterday, and this morning I just feel good and normal. I blame the severe depression on the Effexor and coming off of it as being a help.

For me, the only thing that has helped are the useful meds and talk therapy. I'm on Wellbutrin in the am for energy and Seroquel in the pm so I can sleep approx 8 hours. I didn't use to be able to count on getting sleep and that can worsen an already troubled mood.

Understanding bipolar has been half the battle for me. I didn't know I had anything but depression before a few weeks ago when I got diagnosed. We discovered in therapy some serious manic periods in my past, plus the hypomania that allows me to write and accomplish things. However, as you probably know by now, the longest stretches of time for bipolar people are the depressive episodes. One thing I do is tell myself that my mood will swing the other way if I give it enough time. And it always does, but even one day of depression seems endless!

If I'm feeling really bad, wish to disappear or sleep interminably so I don't have to feel this way, I schedule an earlier appt w/my therapist or call my P-doc to see if we can adjust my meds. That's what I finally did (call the P-doc) on Monday night because the depression was so unbearable. So I got prescribed Lamictal and after I'm completely off of Effexor I will start this new mood stabilizer on Sunday. Will tell you how that goes.

If you have a friend coming into town and you want to feel better before she arrives, I'd recommend changing something, anything. Whether it's your meds, or talking to a professional, or to a close friend. That's what they're there for. Just the expectation of being able to get some help often improves one's mood. Reaching out is hard when you're so low, but believe me, well worth it. It's better to not let things go any further because I'm sure you don't want to wind up in the hospital. No one does. There's no stigma attached to going to the hospital if you truly are at that point and need it to get your meds stabilized fast, but if you're not having any ideation, just not feeling like you can go out or accomplish anything, crying for no apparent reason, etc., I'd say call one of your Dr's or have someone call them for you.