Hey everyone! I know I said I’d write again after my therapy session but I got distracted with other things and didn’t get around to doing it. I’m sorry about that! (not that anyone was waiting around for me to come back and bore you with details of my life lol). For the record, therapy went well. She’s very understanding of me and genuinely wants to help. It’s hard to find a good fit, but I think I really have with this one. I like she leaves me every session with something to help. Another tool in the toolbelt, so to speak.

So, I mentioned I wanted to pose a question this weekend to everyone to think about. Again, I want to stress this isn’t something I expect you to share or even spend considerable time doing if it isn’t something you want to do. It’s just I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the topic of “quality of life” and what aspects we can control and ways we can improve it. Obviously I’m looking at myself with the questions but I thought you all could get some benefit as well. So, here it goes. I will propose a series of questions and a few commentaries pertinent to me. The idea is maybe pick 2-3 questions in the list and think them through, and expand on how you can improve OR how much your life has improved because of specific people or things in your life.

1. When was the last time you did something just for yourself?

- I think treating yourself is important to a healthy lifestyle. It can be big or small, but always give yourself some comfort. It can be anything really – a new pair of shoes, a donut, 30 minutes in a bubble bath, a 15-minute power nap, Lazing in nice weather, spend some time in a hobby you life etc. Stress is a major component that make things like that seem not feasible. I think a lot of us underestimate the amount of psychological stress we can have from restriction for say, diet. Stress tells us there’s not room for these things in the day or time we can afford... but we can make it. For me personally, I treated myself to some slim jims. I have a craving for savory and meaty things. I am trying to eat healthier and obviously “mechanically separated chicken” among other wonderful ingredients in my meat sticks isn’t ideal for healthy eating. But life isn’t about being miserable. Give yourself a little love once in a while.

2. How readily do you allow others to help you?

- I touched on this the other day, but it’s something I really struggle with. I have to start by acknowledging I am part of a team of people wanting the best life for me. I have a psychiatrist, a therapist, family members who care and want to help me. Reaching out and allowing for it can be difficult but it’s really worth it in the long run. I wholeheartedly believe we should advocate for ourselves and the primary decision maker and person to help you is indeed yourself – but you can’t do it alone. I mean logistically you probably can’t prescribe yourself medicine, or give yourself therapy. Those things require others. Sometimes we need a shoulder to cry on or an ear to hear us out. Sometimes it’s a forum to just vent when we can’t seem to anywhere else. I told myself this the other day “Trust yourself enough to put a little trust in others”. In that same vein – show gratitude for those who love and support you!

3. Medications are never perfect, but are they doing the job?

-A question kinda hard to answer for most of us. Side effects can be killer. I remember my sister when she was put on Depakote, she gained like 50 lbs in a very short amount of time. She made the comment “I’m depressed because I’m fat and I’m fat because I’m depressed”. That’s the conundrum, right? Are the side effects tolerable or worth the benefit? Here is what I’m getting at despite my extreme example – are your meds helping you the best they can? I know I am guilty of living with side effects because or marginal help with mood stuff. I know I’ve been disheartened to find the right meds. This question varies a lot and depends on where you are with your mood and medications now but basically I’ll put it like this – If you are stable: are your meds doing all they can to help? Is there anything that can be done to make it better? Is minimizing side effects a reasonable goal at this point? I like to check in with myself before my psychiatrist appointment to ask myself questions like that. Medicine isn’t everything, but it surely can make a world of difference to manage our conditions! For me, my meds are at a good place. I feel OK and I don’t have any real noticeable side effects at the present time. I’m just glad my mindset is in a good place because I have meds that work (my therapist even made that comment).

4. What facet of life is most important to you right now and what can you do to improve it?

- The easy part is knowing where the end goal is in that area, I recommend coming up with a one or two minor things that can be done now to get there right now. Right now, my biggest goal since my mood has stabilized is trying to re-enter society by working perhaps, or just socializing or going places. I need to get used to dealing with people. Long term goal defined, my minor thing to help get me there is to post on this forum more and try to be more tolerant of others when disagreements arise (and they have in the past lol). I can’t say I can overlook past issues, but going forward I will try my best to be considerate, for my own personal growth

5. Do you know your triggers? Do you actively avoid them? Do you know how to manage and maximize your mental health?

- I know this one seems simple, but honestly education is the single most useful tool I think with mental illness in order to combat it. Bipolar is no exception, and in fact may be exemplar of why it’s so important. It’s important for you, and those who care about you. Personal stuff like knowing your triggers, patterns of cycling, etc. Just knowing how the disorder is categorized and how it affects others, how it works so to speak, is crucial. Brush up on your mental health and take down some suggestions to help combat some issues that come with it. For me? I keep a log of my moods. I also have more bouts of depression than (hypo)manic moments and so to help combat depression try to get 15 minutes of sunlight a day. (this is easier in the summer!), and finally, I read a lot of literature (for fun!) on psychopharmacology and new treatments and therapies for different disorders. I do it both because I like it and because it may give me some ideas. Remind me to talk to you guys sometime about the blue light and bipolar disorder!

Well, that’s it. Hopefully you made it through and don’t feel exhausted. I promise to keep my posts to a minimum from hereon out. haha