Hey glamslam. Sounds like you are with an awful lot of pressure right now. Sorry about that.

I react a lot to stress too. I am probably bipolar II or just cyclothymic, they don't know for sure yet. So my episodes are not that intense, I don't ever become full blown manic or psychotic. Anyways, when under a lot of stress it is probable that I will first turn hypo, put myself under even more stress, maybe turn into mixed and then become severely anxious and in the end depressed.

I am right now in a stress based hypo phase that turned kind of dark. At some point I reach that moment when I am just so aggressive and irritable and on the verge of a panic attack that i know I have to reduce all the stressors.

So what i do is I cancel everything that is not 100 % necessary. Usually I have difficulties distinguishing what is necessary and what not. Moreover I am a very responsible person and hate cancelling on work or friends or sports or whatever i consider i have to do. anyway, that sometimes keeps the episodes from going bad, if i take myself out of almost everything at the right moment.

other things - sleep routine, workout, no new friends or topics or projects (i just forbid them to myself), healthy food and a lot of time alone. being alone calms me down usually. and soothing things - tea, comedies, fluffy blankets (sounds stupid i know)... stuff like that. i hope you will be feeling better soon.