My Support Forums - View Single Post - Tips For Me To Avoid Texting/Calling/Emailing Whne Raging and Irritable

bpcyclist · Jun 02, 2020 at 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BethRags

Ohhhh, yeah...I hear you, bpc! I've fought that battle many, many times. In fact, it's the toughest part of having bipolar disorder for me.

Okay. So. At the risk of sounding cliche

Breathing.

Seriously. Practicing my breath every day, several times every day, is like money in the bank. When I need the emotional "nest egg", the calm and stable feeling of steady, whole breathing is available for me to take from my "bank" and use.

Meditation is ideal, but I'm not even suggesting something that organized and lengthy. My suggestion is to stop several times, every day, and do some relaxed breath work. 1 minute. 30 seconds. Any time you can give to noticing and using your breath pays off.

If I do the breath work, as soon as I start to flip out (anger, irritability) I stop (it is hard, but I force myself). I take some relaxation breaths. Doing that gives me a minute to self-check, to step back and ask myself, "Do I really want to proceed in the direction I'm about to go? What are the consequences if I do and what will it take to FIX the action I have taken?"

Sticky Notes and/or any image or a meaningful object you can hold in your hand that is a symbol for you. Stop, take a breath, relax your shoulders and entire body, and check yourself and check the action you are contemplating. What will the outcome likely be and how much energy will it take to fix the consequences (if they can be fixed), should you continue with your anger?

I find an object most helpful. I can hold it inside my closed hand, feel the object, and use it to connect with the promise I made to myself to step back and turn the other way; to stop facing the thing I'm prepared to attack and place my energy on self-care, instead.

Those are a few ideas I have. If I can think of more, I'll post them.

Some good practical tips, Beth. Sticky notes have always worked well for me. I can go get some.