[Continuum35]

I know alot of people diagnosed as Bipolar struggle with loneiiness and isolation. Loneliness and isolation from others that understand and loneliness from society is something i sometimes experience. I'm wondering how do you personally counter that loneliness? Is there a special place you can go to? Activity you do or anything interesting that keeps you sane/preoccupied? I'd love to hear feedback from any readers

[Eloise42]

I have a bird. My off-color joke being that you aren't crazy if you talk to your pet bird because they can talk back. As long as I have a bird I'm fine, otherwise I tend to get kinda needy.

Also I force myself to live with roommates that drive me crazy and are irritating. I would rather live alone and that's why I don't, this way I get dragged out of my room and am forced to interact with people when I'm not at work.

[sugahorse1]

I tend to get lonely and in the strangest circumstances. I sometimes feel I am losing friends due to them not being able to understand me and my needs. I often cry out to them for help, and it just all gets too much.
I have a boyfriend who loves me, yet when he is not around I feel lonely too. Even if I know he'll be there in an hour or so. I think it must be closely related to anxiety though. I take a tranquiliser to slow my mind down from over-analyzing, or if it is an option I take a sleeping tablet and go to bed.

[Skully]

When I get lonely I usually call one of my friends or go outside and do yard work with the iPod playing. It keeps me busy and takes my mind of things.

[volatile]

I mostly get lonely at night so I have a body pillow I cuddle. During the day I'll do arts and crafts or play a video game, cleaning helps a lot too. Or I just go to the beach.

[Trippin2.0]

I haven't been diagnosed with bipolar or anything, but totally relate to your situation. I often find myself feeling trapped and isolated, and the 1 I h8 most is feeling needy...i have this need for people to understand me, and it's really freaking me out right about now that they don't...when we (the girls) have our bonding sessions, they try to understand what i go through, but they don't and this makes me feel lonely too. I usually distract myself by counting my blessings, being thankful for my daughter and spending time with her (even when i'm really irritable and don't feel like it) it helps me. but i must admit i'm starting to feel guilty about needing her to feel normal, it's not her responsibility. I suggest you do something you love, dance like nobody's watching, sing like nobody's listening, and stick to music that hold NO emotional value, cos i've discovered that a song that reminds me of a good time makes me feel worse, and needless to say, sad songs are a NO-NO...I hope I've been some sort of assistance,and hope you discover your coping mechanism...

[grizmom]

I am pretty isolated; I live alone and only have 1 friend whom I don't see often. I don't have a car and I am phobic of the city bus, so I don't have many options to go anywhere. I was able to go to a new support group yesterday, and if I can figure out transportation I'd like to go again.

Otherwise, I mostly count on my kitty (yes, I talk to her, she's a good listener LOL) and online support for right now. Thanks for posting this; it will be helpful to me to read the responses also.

[justme1981]

i'm always lonely, scared off my rocke, sometimes i feel that there is nobody out there for my that knows me, understands me, and what not. but i know that there is! and when i get into these moods, i feel that there is nothing i can do about it. i don't have friends here and i cant go for walks. i don't go anywhere for that matter. i cant find a community that i am comfortable with. I'm scared to go out to see other ppl, even if they have my diabilities. so...i guess my answer here is...i can't. never been able to.

[rcsweep]

Originally Posted by Continuum35

I know alot of people diagnosed as Bipolar struggle with loneiiness and isolation. Loneliness and isolation from others that understand and loneliness from society is something i sometimes experience. I'm wondering how do you personally counter that loneliness? Is there a special place you can go to? Activity you do or anything interesting that keeps you sane/preoccupied? I'd love to hear feedback from any readers

i struggle with this one too. i found it very hard to express this in words. but i found a poem that nailed it;

To sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell,
To slowly trace the forest's shady scene,
Where things that own not man's dominion dwell,
And mortal foot hath ne'er or rarely been;
To climb the trackless mountain all unseen,
With the wild flock that never needs a fold;
Alone o'er steeps and foaming falls to lean;
This is not solitude, 'tis but to hold
Converse with Nature's charms, and view her stores unrolled.

But midst the crowd, the hurry, the shock of men,
To hear, to see, to feel and to possess,
And roam alone, the world's tired denizen,
With none who bless us, none whom we can bless;
Minions of splendour shrinking from distress!
None that, with kindred consciousness endued,
If we were not, would seem to smile the less
Of all the flattered, followed, sought and sued;
This is to be alone; this, this is solitude!

lord Byron

for years i threw myself into work, but that's a short term fix. i make an effort to reach out to people whom might have similar interest. it doesn't always work but nothing ventured nothing gained.
i also am pursuing more artsy things and learning new things

[RRU96]

I have lonliness issues, but I was always under the assumption that it was a "mixed" diagnosis with BPD. Being the whole, false beliefs of isolation.

What saves me is a cell phone, and good friends. I dont go to wal-mart unless I have one or the other. Whether its my wife, or a friend on the way to fishing. If I cant get either, I have to stay on a cell phone with my wife. I dont like being away from someone. 3am, if I am coming back from fishing, I call my wife and talk to her the whole way because I dont want to drive home alone. I have family a little over an hour away, but I dont go if my wife wont go.

It's a struggle.... I dont know how much I can help, but you arent alone.

[sugahorse1]

Just checking in to see if you're feeling better...?

[Typo]

I struggle with this too, and I"m very bad about isolating when I hit my low

For me it's my dog, when I get low and in a rut, I take her out and we go hiking and walking around the park or around our property at the house.

I live in a rural area, and when classes aren't in session I'm stuck in town and I stay at home or work, it helps that I have a very close friend that when I start isolating she drags me out of the house or checks on me.

Another trick I use is I go to the coffeeshop, it's a good half hour drive, but when I start getting so lonely I feel I may just start crying and breaking down I get up and go sit in there and read, it helps just being around other people and in a busy enviroment for me, since I live in such a rural and partially isolated area.

[sugahorse1]

I get lonely when I start thinking too much and analysing where I am in life, where I want to be, when I start wondering about my emotions...
Therefore I try keep myself as busy as possible. I either go onto the internet (Coming here to offer advise to others works well for me) or read a book, or research something.
Or take part in a hobby. Anything to keep my mind occupied, as it tends to wander :-)

[bp*april]

I struggle with loneliness, especially when dep symptoms start to get better. I was going to join a choir, but just couldn't make it out of the house. I also tried to go to a support group and ended up sabatoging myself by sleeping thru it. Talking on these sites helps, but I think it would be helpful to have some real friends.