[beauflow]

I see a therapist in about two weeks, I did a screening last friday and the dude said I maybe bipolar due to what I told him of my swings, sleep, spending habits, and also seeing my mom and brother are and dad seems to have traits.
To be honest, a mood disorder is not a shock to me:

Prior to this screening and making appointment, I have been trying to do a mood book, I got a agenda book to help me with days, I've been trying to journal on the side as well.
but these two weeks I have been doing the mood book with the agenda, I find it is filled with my moods through the days that effect me.(well my best I miss noting some)... If I get upset about a thought or something, I put it in, if I have unknown burst of happy I put it... But its filled, I am like not enough room for all of me.

Today I'm going to different color stickers and assign each sticker to specific moods or thoughts that I have recurring. and try this these two weeks.

I was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions.
I like the mood tracker on here, but my mobile does not show it to change it...

thanks!

[Anneinside]

For your pdoc you might want to limit what you write to your triggers and the lowest and highest moods of the day. I would also write down self harm/suicidal thoughts. Your pdoc doesn't have the time to read a "book" so you have to limit the info to the most important details. This is not to say that you shouldn't write everything you want but that you keep 2 journals. You can use your book entries to write your synopsis for your doctor.

[Phoenix_1]

I was diagnosed in June. Since then I've been keeping a mood tracker in an Excel Spreadsheet. That way I can show a graph to visually see how I'm doing. I put down a few words for each day, then give it a score from -5 for so depressed I'm suicidal to 5 for so manic I'm off the wall. I find most days are from -2 to 1.

I also have a separate journal that I type in - in Word. I have arthritis and carpal tunnel and I can type for a lot longer than I can write.

I spoke to my T about it and she said to sort out which moods are from the BP and which moods are situational. The moods that are caused by situations in my life are normal if they aren't too high or too low (not hugely over-reacting that is). For example, it was 90 degrees in my apartment 2 weeks ago and my daughter and son-in-law brought me an air conditioner that they had been storing for me. There was a piece of metal in the hole where the air conditioner went, and I needed the building manager to come take it out. He didn't come for 10 days and I got really irritated. I didn't allow myself to take it out on him or my landlord ( because then he would never come and I might get evicted), but my mood was so irritable I couldn't stand myself. My T said this is normal, and any normal person would have been mad too. So my BP didn't cause me to be mad, and I shouldn't count it. It's hard to tell the difference sometimes, but she walked me through the process.

Also the DSM-IV uses set of criteria to tell if you have a disorder. That is, if you are consistently hypomanic all the time for 4 days or more, you may have BP II. If the manic mood lasts for 1 week or more you may have BP I. If you have major depression, the DSM-IV says it lasts at least 2 weeks.

Go here to see the criteria for BP mania and depression:
http://psychcentral.com/lib/2007/sym...ic-depression/

I don't know anything about rapid cycling and how it works. I don't have it. Sorry I can't help you with that one, but there are others here who can.

My point is:
1. give your moods a score - use a number system you are comfortable with.
2. sort out normal moods that any person would have from unreasonable moods that could be caused by BP.
3. if you have a hypomanic or manic mood consistently for at least 4 to 7 days, or consistent depression for 2 weeks, there may be a problem.
4. don't make it so complicated that your T or pdoc won't have time to read it - they are very busy people.

Hope this helps a little.

[Miss Laura]

Hey Beauflow,

I agree with Anneinside

I would definately do the colour co-ordination.... that's what I do and it helps Psych see how I do on a daily basis. Mines goes yellow for date, blue for sleep, orange for mood, pink for other and green for important info. The pink is anything that might have triggered me or I tend to use it as a what activites I did that day as I have a social phobia so it's good for him to see if I am struggling there.

I hope you find some solutions

[zbmom]

I've been using this to chart my moods. It's been really helpful, I just write down how I'm feeling in the morning and then in the evening. It uses the E scale and P scale. http://www.livingmanicdepressive.com/D_030.html

[jk2833]

Hi I use the mood tracker on here for the graph and the diary I was told to do which is 100% normal mood,1% suicidal, with a comment for each day,for example yesterday I was 15%am 10% mid day 5%pm with a comment of 'very anxious today' and that's it.
Dont get me wrong when the psychiatrist told me to do it I thought how stupid,numbers indicate my mood but I also need to put something about how I feel,however it is easy to get carried away with organising a diary but I agree with the other members they simply don't have the time to read it all unfortunatly.
I go from severly suicidal for weeks with a few days of hypomania but these days are not together they sometimes only last a day,I don't know what that means but its just how I am,we are all different.
My Pdoc suspects bipolar and BPD however he did not divulge much more as he wants this diary first.
There's a lot of good advice from fellow members on here who have experienced a lot of mental health issues for years and for me there my main support,hope this has helped
Best Wishes
JK

[BlackPup]

sometimes I write lots, other times not much... writing can be really good to work things out in your head. Like talking to people only on your own!!!!
Just remember to keep a record the way that your pdoc likes it when you are adjusting meds...

[beauflow]

thanks all, I will try these weeks with writing less in the mood diary and continue to keep my journal.

I agree the journal is more for me to sort out my feelings thoughts and so on, I wasn't going to embelish to a therapist due they are long.
with some days like two or three weeks ago I was going throw rapid swings, makes it hard to get everything down, and Idk its sometimes hard to depict for me if I'm over reacting or if my agitation is ''normal'' with things...
Suicidal and self injury thoughts I neglect to write I noted a week ago, Idk why, they are rather important. I will try harder to be more organized I guess.

Very helpful suggestions everyone thanks again