I have to rebuild everything, work on damage control, and put a prevention plan in for anything I messed. Bring my son home if things where particularly bad and spend time with family. I tend to have long intense episodes where I cycle from depression,mixed,mania, mixed then finally stable again but no breaks in between. So even if I'm cycling for months there's not enough time in the year for me to be a rapid cycles. I use to have shorter more intense episodes with many more stable days over all. I've never had the whole family stable long enough to rest for a couple of weeks but that has to do with two things: Each of us being on as little medication as possible and have a ton of co-morbid issues. We seriously have a bet on who's going to go "bat **** crazy" first and what it'll will start with (mixed,mania, or depression).

Any time my medication is changed even upped I want to flush it. Therapy helps me stay on medication and I'm at the point now that I'm stable enough to deal with my other glaring issues. Even if I didn't have other issues I'd stay in therapy, it's nice honestly to be well enough to get to know a therapist and them to get to know the put together you.

I don't chart, I use to keep a mood/thought/event chart but my therapist knows me well enough now that she knows what types of thoughts are going on in my head during my mood swings.

I really shouldn't but I do.